This would be a great feature to integrate with ClassCloud, which is a cloud based classroom management system. I hope the class pager guys release an API! Would make my life easier.
Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
31–40 of 41 posts
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#32This is really neat. A few of my relatives are high school teachers that I'm sure will love this. I'll forward it to tem. Also, great name. I've seen others in this space with names that aren't quite as clear as yours, which is important for the demographics you're targeting – teachers and parents.
I'll forward it too, I know several high school teachers. Are you targeting secondary school teachers or college professors as well?
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#33Here's what I think:
1. Great idea, especially considering the attention span of a student can be somewhat diluted with so much modern technology - incorporating that same technology is a great hook.
2. Color scheme is good, and so is simplicity, but while erring on the side of simplicity is better than erring on the side of a very busy screen, it's still erring. While your concept is clear and concise on the home page, I personally feel as though there is too much white space (again, this is not a color scheme issue, but an issue of not enough going on).
3. What is the stated problem that you are trying to solve with this technology? In other words, what is the hook you can use to relate to your audience and persuade them to use the product?
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
That service seems to compete more with http://polleverywhere.com than this. I see a definite familiarity with http://remind101.com/ though, with which I have some moderate experience. EDIT: On a closer look, both even use the same @CLASS subscription method. That's honestly a little sketchy.
Yes, there are many different angles. To be clear, the technique of messaging in a special code to a number to "subscribe" to a service has been around for many, many years before edtech companies started using it recently. But it's a good approach. And there's one big difference: services like Remind101 offer broadcasting, but they don't allow the students to reply. We're out to open up and optimize the communicatio…
For what it's worth... I sent your site to my sister who teaches highschool biology and she replied:
I've been using remind101.com. Looks like the same thing except with mine I can have as many classes as I want for free. I can't do the questioning thing, but the kids aren't allowed to have their phones out so I can't use it anyways.
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, there are many different angles. To be clear, the technique of messaging in a special code to a number to "subscribe" to a service has been around for many, many years before edtech companies started using it recently. But it's a good approach. And there's one big difference: services like Remind101 offer broadcasting, but they don't allow the students to reply. We're out to open up and optimize the communicatio…
For what it's worth... I sent your site to my sister who teaches highschool biology and she replied: I've been using remind101.com. Looks like the same thing except with mine I can have as many classes as I want for free. I can't do the questioning thing, but the kids aren't allowed to have their phones out so I can't use it anyways.
Hmm, thanks. We'll have to work on the front page copy.
Do her students never reply to the text messages she sends out? That's the core of the value-add -- whether inside or outside of class, students can reply to ClassPager and we show it to the teacher on the web site.
If she doesn't want students to be able to reply at all (i.e. she wants it to be totally 1-way communication) then I'm actually inclined to agree -- Remind101 is definitely the best and most cost-effective choice there.
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#36Here's what I think: 1. Great idea, especially considering the attention span of a student can be somewhat diluted with so much modern technology - incorporating that same technology is a great hook. 2. Color scheme is good, and so is simplicity, but while erring on the side of simplicity is better than erring on the side of a very busy screen, it's still erring. While your concept is clear and concise on the home pa…
Good feedback -- thanks.
For #2, do you have any suggestions of other things that would work well on the home page?
And for #3, I went into detail on use cases/specific problems that we solve here: https://www.classpager.com/more -- Are you suggesting some of that be moved to the front page, or are you saying that the hook there is still unclear/not compelling?
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#37Here's what I think: 1. Great idea, especially considering the attention span of a student can be somewhat diluted with so much modern technology - incorporating that same technology is a great hook. 2. Color scheme is good, and so is simplicity, but while erring on the side of simplicity is better than erring on the side of a very busy screen, it's still erring. While your concept is clear and concise on the home pa…
Good feedback -- thanks. For #2, do you have any suggestions of other things that would work well on the home page? And for #3, I went into detail on use cases/specific problems that we solve here: https://www.classpager.com/more -- Are you suggesting some of that be moved to the front page, or are you saying that the hook there is still unclear/not compelling?
Actually, you could solve #2 and #3 very easily by moving some of that material onto the homepage. Personally, I'd go with a simple, clean cut demo video. "Meet Martha...Martha is a high school teacher. But..." etc. and then later on in the video describe everything you put into pictures in more detail. Keep the graphic and diagrams though, in case users like those more than the video. And between those two, you'd get rid of a lot of white space hanging around. As for explaining it, the hook is very compelling and clear if you put one or both of those onto the homepage. Because the homepage as it stands now gives a basic idea of what the tech can do, but no examples of why what it does is useful. Having a teacher say, "Remember class is in room 142 today!" via text broadcast is more compelling for teachers than the comparatively less descriptive graphic you have on the homepage right now.
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#38This is really neat. A few of my relatives are high school teachers that I'm sure will love this. I'll forward it to tem. Also, great name. I've seen others in this space with names that aren't quite as clear as yours, which is important for the demographics you're targeting – teachers and parents.
I'll forward it too, I know several high school teachers. Are you targeting secondary school teachers or college professors as well?
Thanks! Yes, I've been talking with some college professors, and it looks like the software would work well there too.
There may need to be some customization of the analytics to handle their larger classes, which we're open to -- we've basically just been building features based on the requests from our teachers.
Feel free to pass on my email -- m [at] classpager.com -- if the teachers/professors have any questions.
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#39Nice Concept. We're just starting the school process (4yr old), and I'm amazed to see all the use of tech in schools these days. When I was in school, we were lucky to have an Apple ][ in the library!
*Question: On your business model, are you hedging that paid classes ($9.99 / month) will just stay under 1,000 texts (Based on twilio .01/per rate) in aggregate and thus leave a little profit for you, or is there more to it?
If there is not more to it, it seems like the 'unlimited' could be risky (unless your unlimited is really like AT&T's 'unlimited' data plan :-) ).
A class of 25 students might encompass 35-40 devices (including parents). @ 40 devices 1 broadcast per school day is $8.20 cost to you. This does not include for responses, multiple sends per day, etc..
I know you've thought through all this, and probably have great answers, I'm just always interested to hear how others think about their price models. Thanks for sharing.
Re: Show HN: ClassPager lets teachers send reminders and run live Q&A over SMS.
#40My wife is a middle school teacher and created a system similar to this using a Gmail account. She creates groups for each class, then emails to their SMS address (phonenumber@att.net or similar). This looks so much nicer than jacking around with all the various carrier email addresses manually. I'll have her pass this along to her district. Best of luck!
How does creating a contact group in Gmail connects it to a SMS number? I am curious.
Sorry for the slow reply, but, that in itself doesn't connect it to an SMS number. That's just so she can contact a class as a whole, rather than individually.
The SMS connection lies in that every mobile number has an email address associated with it. So you can send an email to that address and it will be delivered to the device as a text message.