As we approach Bett show, it’s a perfect opportunity to catch up with some of the developments that were successfully implemented last year and to take a peek at what’s coming up for our UK and international schools in 2020.
The many enhancements to Frog - which now provides the backbone for a school's full digital learning strategy - ensure schools are supported individually to provide a modern standard of teaching and learning.
Here’s what was new in 2019...
It was an exciting year for us as we saw continued success in our UK state schools, welcomed schools across the whole of South Australia and forged a record number of relationships with UK Independent and British International Schools. In product terms, there were some exciting highlights too...
Frog Messaging
Being able to communicate quickly and effectively with stakeholders is an ongoing challenge for schools. Reaching parents in particular is often difficult and it can be hard to ascertain if the messages have got through.
MyFrog Messaging provides an invaluable free messaging solution to help schools reach students, teachers and parents. Messages can be instantly read by parents from their phones and best of all, the school receives information on who has and hasn’t read the message. This free service - now accessible to all schools with FrogLearn - has a number of applications including, school messaging, general surveys, parent permission slips and parent’s evening information.
Frog Markbook
Frog MarkBook takes teacher mark books to the next level. The clear, colour-coded format presents student work and progression - both in class and as homework - for an instant picture of attainment. With individual and class-level data together in one place, Frog MarkBook is both a teacher and a whole-school tool:
- See all homework activity.
- Share resources with colleagues.
- Gain insights on student and class progress.
- Simplify marking and save time with everything in one place.
- Share class mark books between staff to promote transparency.
Frog and iSAMS
In response to the current interest in Frog from UK Independent and British International schools, Frog continues to develop integration with leading MIS providers such as iSAMS, WCBS, Doublefirst Engage and Schoolbase.
Most recently, Frog's Single Sign-On (SSO) with iSAMS allows for seamless integration, putting Frog at the heart of a school's digital learning strategy. For teachers, this means that they login to one platform to enjoy full access to everything they need, from taking a register and inputting awards and sanctions data in iSAMS, through to access for all teaching and learning tools and resources.
For parents, everything they need to know about the school and their child is in one place. Homework, progress, pastoral and co-curricular life is presented to parents alongside timetables, assessments, reports, attendance, awards and sanctions and finance.
Social Media Themes
Social media is an integral part of student life and can hugely enhance learning. The concern for schools is how to integrate social media safely and securely. With the new social media themes in Frog, students and teachers can be socially active whilst posting and sharing in a protected space. These themes are a great way for students to learn how to use social media safely and they’re ideal for clubs and extra-curricular activities.
The Frog Academy
The Frog Academy continues to give schools real value for money and 2019 saw a number of exciting new releases. Solutions borne out of the academy are co-created with our schools, based on their initial vision for how Frog might support their digital learning strategy, We work with these schools to build a bespoke solution for their vision for free, on the proviso we can share it with our Frog community. The Frog Academy portfolio now includes:
- Appraisal, CPD and Lesson Observation
- Behaviour Management
- Careers Hub and Action Plans
- Data Security
- Digital Planner
- Finance Portal
- HR Portal
- IT Helpdesk
- Primary Planner
- Progress Dashboard
What's coming up?
With innovations in technology and education happening all the time, we continue to look to the future by understanding current trends. We offer the best, but we never stand still. Here are some of the exciting projects we are working on now...
My Child’s Progress
It has long been Frog's vision to give a holistic view of every child, based on key systems across the school. My Child's Progress brings us a crucial step closer to this vision. A record of each child, surfacing their progress in all subjects, against pupil characteristics and teacher judgements, gives teachers a powerful tool in furthering personalised learning. and communication of student needs.
Microsoft
Frog's integration with Microsoft is deep and seamless. Single Sign-On (SSO) between Frog and O365 as well as direct integration with OneDrive provides a great platform for further integration. The use of Teams in many of our schools has surfaced some key ways in which integration between Frog and Teams will hugely enhance a school's use of both platforms. Watch this space for more!
Frog Courses
An end-to-end suite of assessed online Frog training courses, studded with practical tips and exercises, will support schools in making Frog the heart of their digital learning strategy. Delivered in bite-sized chunks, accessible anytime, anywhere, across multiple devices, courses is an easy way to assign learning modules, oversee progress and give Frog mastery real value for staff.
Certification ensure all staff gain tangible recognition for their mastery of Frog. As well as empowering staff to raise standards by fully exploiting digital pedagogy in their own teaching, Frog Courses certification means that all staff gain tangible recognition for their mastery of Frog.
FrogPlay Live
Bringing a new level of interactivity and engagement to the classroom and beyond, FrogPlay Live enables simultaneous quizzing where participants can compete in class. Ideal for both large and small groups of learners enhanced by all the usual benefits of FrogPlay assessment data to identify knowledge gaps and inform planning.
