Tech & Learning — February 2018

24 | FEBRUARY 2018 | WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM

By Joan Gal Peck

Quality and Effectiveness: Bloomz is an app that enables teachers

to connect, coordinate, and communicate with parents, other

teachers, and administrators. It’s secure, simple, and can replace

other, time-consuming communication tools. With Bloomz teachers

can share updates, maintain calendars, arrange sign-ups, post media,

and manage contacts. They can schedule conferences online, for

example, and exchange communication with individual parents

beforehand if needed. Bloomz enables teachers to share photos of

field trips and class events and add student work to timelines and

portfolios as well. They can also invite administrators to the class.

Users can communicate via a post (e.g., what’s happening today),

an announcement (e.g., who won the award), or alerts (e.g., school

is getting out early) that can be pinned to the top of the page to

draw parents’ attention to such important items. Teachers can also

coordinate with parents on events (e.g., a class picnic), either as a

group or individually.

Ease of Use: After downloading Bloomz from Google Play or the App

Store, or by using the desktop site, teachers can create an account

easily and form a class. Teachers can invite parents to the class

manually or create a class

access code. Even parents

who aren’t enrolled

with an account receive

updates through email.

There’s a complete guide to getting started, with a 36-minute video

walk-through, as well as quick in-app tutorials, teacher resources, and

a comprehensive support site as well. Users can also follow Bloomz

on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with updates, news, events, and

resources.

Bloomz makes it simple for teachers to:

 allow a room parent to take over tasks, giving them limited

access to part of the program

 communicate behavior management information to parents on

individual students (for negative and positive reasons)

 publish school and class calendars

 manage events like school trips, class projects, and holiday

parties

 quickly manage and schedule meetings or conferences, with

parent feedback

 set reminders for deadlines.

Creative Use of Technology: Bloomz combines and integrates

the functions of many different tools in one effective, easy-to-use

app. From updating a profile picture to maintaining an interactive

calendar, teachers can use Bloomz to streamline often difficult, time-

consuming communication with parents.

Suitability for Use in a School Environment: Bloomz allows

teachers to have two-way communication with parents, as they

can chat online. Teachers can also give parents access to chat with

other parents to set up carpools or playdates. Organizing classroom

activities like conferences helps teachers save time and involves

parents in the process, so the communication can be ongoing. Bloomz

also allows teachers to combine lots of simple but important tasks

such as sending out posts, announcements, or alerts.

PRODUCT REVIEWS

BLOOMZ

bloomz.com n Retail Price: Free for parents, teachers, and administrators. Upgrades available to unlock premium functionality.

TOP FEATURES

• Simple, downloadable app that’s easy
  to set up.


• Saves teachers time by combining many
  tasks in one place.


• Increases comprehensive communication
  with parents.

OVERALL RATING: This

outstanding, easy-to-

use app enables teachers

to communicate many

pieces of classroom

information to parents,

easily and effectively.