By Staff
Does anyone remember how we got through the day before computers? They are everywhere - at work, at home, at businesses and at schools.
Our local school systems are now taking advantage of that technology to help improve communication.
Escambia County Schools have introduced a new online service called Edline, which allows parents to keep up with their children's grades and school activities by simply logging on to the school district's Web site.
The site is a convenient source for grade and attendance data, daily anouncements, lunch menus, classroom news and other information.
While we hope that parents will keep an open dialogue with their children's teachers, the Web site is a great place to find information quickly and to keep daily tabs on how students are performing in class.
Meanwhile, Brewton City Schools have introduced Talk About It, an e-mail system that gives students the opportunity to talk about their problems with the protection of anonymity. T.R. Miller High School is the first school in the state that will use the program, whose messages will be monitored by faculty, health professionals and counselors. Students are already using similar networking sites like Myspace and Facebook to communicate, but this program could help bridge the gap between students and faculty when serious issues occur.
While nothing can replace the face-to-face contact between parents and teachers and between students and counselors, these new programs take great advantage of the technology we use every day to improve communication and understanding.