Sketch |
Explanation |
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This is the login screen for ConnectEd. Ms. Frizzle will type in her password and log in. |
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Upon login, Ms. Frizzle sees the main page of ConnectEd. At the top of the screen she can use the notification center (news) where she can get updates on the latest activities, such as a change in schedule. |
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When she picks a class (3A Hebrew) the layout of the screen will change, and she will have specific options for this class. |
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When Ms. Frizzle hovers over the forms button, it will change into two sub-buttons. |
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When Ms. Frizzle clicks the new form button, a pop-in window will allow her to create a new form. If she presses escape or clicks the X or cancel button, she will go back to the main page. In the pop-in window she picks a template for the form, fills in the activity name, picks the classes that will attend this activity and sets the date of the activity. |
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Ms. Frizzle can preview the template by clicking the preview button. This will also allow her to manually change the text in the template if she would like to do that. After she is done with the form she can send it to her class. |
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When she clicks send, ConnectEd will email all of the parents in the class with a link that will take them to the login screen of ConnectEd on their computers. |
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When she receives the email, Arnold's mom will sign in to ConnectEd using her username and password. |
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Arnold's mom's main screen shows her the latest news for all her children in each category. She can she the current classes that Arnold takes, check his grades, check his assignments, check for incoming messages, address forms she has to read and sign, and learn about upcoming events in the calendar. |
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When she clicks on that form, a pop-in window shows her the form. She can either approve it by checking the "I give permission ..." and approve button, or she can deny or asked to be reminded later about this slip. |
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Back to Ms. Frizzle's computer! Ms. Frizzle would like to know how many students are attending the activity, and how many parents did not yet sign the permission slip. She hovers over the forms button again and clicks on view existing. |
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This pop-in a window (that can be closed by pressing escape or the X or cancel button). She can search for the form by typing the name of the activity in a search menu, that will give her options for appropriate slips, based on autocomplete. When she finds the permission slips that she wants, she can either click on it, press enter or press view in order to view it. |
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The previous screen will be replaced with the following table. |
Analysis
*Learnability:
Pros:
- Buttons have good information scent, each button has an image that tells the user what will follow.
- Parent can view all sections (class list, gradebook, assignments, etc) in the notification center. No need to learn a complicated layout.
- The teacher notification center teaches teacher about new features. Notifications will introduce the teacher to new concepts.
Cons:
- Parents notification center have a lot of information in it. Parents might get lost.
- Changing buttons (form button changes when the mouse hovers over it) may be confusing and hard to remember.
- It is unclear to parents if they can or cannot find and review old information.
*Efficiency:
Pros:
- Parent receives e-mail when teacher uploads/updates forms. They don't have to actively check the website.
- Autocomplete when searching in existing forms
- Teacher sees all parents who approved, denied, and have not submitted the permission slip
- Teacher can resend to individual parents (and to all parents who did not confirm yet)
- There is only one screen, buttons pop up windows. No need to navigate through the website.
Cons:
- When the user clicks on a button, the button changes in place. The change might not be visible enough and restricts the user's mouse area.
- Parents' notification center has a lot of information in it. Reading through the information might be time consuming
- Searching for old information requires scrolling through the entire notification center.
*Safety:
Pros:
- Parent needs to check a box in order to confirm their approval.
- Parent has to login with a password, so their kid won't be able to approve his or her permission slip.
Cons:
- No extra safety on form approval. If a parent left the website open, their kid can sign for them.
- Parents can't change their minds after approving or declining a permission slip.
Please note: After the comments we received regarding our GR2 presentation, we decided that it may be a good idea to try to add capability for parents to write a note/comment to the teacher when they sign the permission slip (or deny their child permission). We would accomplish this by simply adding an optional text field for comments in the parents' interface and including a link to see parent comments in the teacher's view.