Mobile Computing

FreshGrade Debuts Parent Engagement iPad App

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 03/03/15

FreshGrade has released a free new iPad app, also called FreshGrade, designed to help teachers efficiently capture, document and share student learning with parents in real time.

FreshGrade allows teachers to document learning through videos, images, audio, notes and assessment scores. Those artifacts are then tagged with one or more students' names for automatic posting to learning portfolios accessible for review through a parent app. Parents and students are able to comment on portfolio activity to collaborate with the teacher.

"For older grades, teachers can also set assignments for the students and have them document their own learning, upload files and make self-reflections through the dedicated student app," according to a news release. "These flipped classroom capabilities are particularly useful for reducing workload for secondary teachers that have multiple classes."

"Right now, report cards are a periodic event that provides limited insight into the progress of a child's learning, the work that the teacher does to support that child or context for why the specific grade was given," said FreshGrade CEO Lane Merrifield, in a prepared statement. "Our goal is to provide more meaningful information in real-time rather than at the end of each term."

The FreshGrade app is available in teacher, parent and student versions. More information is available at freshgrade.com.