Features

As of November 8th, 2011 This list contains features which are only available in version 3.0

Student management

• Importing lessons/courses directly from CSV-files or from address book groups
• Automatic take-over of photos into the course overview and personal details view; this feature significantly simplifies memorizing new student names and summarizing parent-teacher meetings
• Photos can be added or assigned without an address book entry as well
• Direct access to existing address book data sets from TeacherTool without exiting TeacherTool (e.g. to call the student, to add a picture, send an email, look up the address…)
• Accidently deleted students and courses can be recovered within a designated timeframe.
• Separating first- and last name just like in “contacts” – liberal setting options for sort and display sequences
• Identity check based on name: Identically named student in different courses are handled as the same person

 

…and more: Groups

• Up to three other identifiers, in addition to a persons name, can be made and used for sub-groups within the course, e.g. to separate male and female, religious denomination, class letters (for cross-class courses)
• The assignment to groups can be implemented during the import procedure directly from the CSV-files
• The three sub-groups can be named liberally. This provides you with a clear and simple overview

 

Grade management

• Issuing an unlimited amount of grade categories per course (e.g. exams, verbal participation, homework assignments, presentations, others…), which are able to interact with each other (e.g. you can summarize categories such as “lecture conversations”, “homework assignments” and “verbal participation” in one category)
• Each grade category and individual grade can be weighted against the other categories with a 0-50 factor (e.g. exams receive more points than homework assignments; 0 points means the grade is not valued and can, for instance be used as a notation for preliminary grades)
• Renaming the categories and grades, changing the weighted-points and sequence is possible at any time
• Hiding partial segments of grading is possible (e.g. to reduce the overview to the necessities)
• New grades/categories are automatically dated
• Easy take-over of a grade-name from the course manual entries
• When creating a course, categories and weighing points can be derived from other courses as a template
• Evaluation schematics can be copied in an easy and flexible manner and applied multiple times
• An unlimited number of grades can be created in each category
• Each grade can be tagged with a description (e.g. column “protocols” in the “homework assignment” category)
• The creation date and the date of the last update is saved for each grade
• Each grade/category can be assigned its own grading system (e.g. System ++, +, o,… for verbal grades)
• Graphic “class reflector” (statistic histogram) for each grade (!)
• Changing the grade sequence is possible at any time
• Each entered grade is automatically dated at the most recent update with an optional comment (e.g. grade for “style resources” in column “essays” in “homework assignment” category; or also, e.g. “down graded 2 tendencies due to orthography” in the exam column “exam 1” in “exam” categories).
• The current average value is calculated for each category and displayed as the rounded value (corresponding to the grading system), as well as the decimal grade.
• The average value can be designated as the grade point average or the median value
• The calculation accuracy of average values can be significantly influenced (exact, rounding/cutting off at 1st or 2nd decimal point)
• Categories can also be recorded “flat” in the grade calculation; more specifically, instead of forming the average value, each grade is entered in the overall calculation as an individual grade.
• Grade entry is also possible as a decimal grade in all grade systems
• A suggestion for a report card grade, which you can alter if necessary (liberal entry of report card grades incl. comment is possible), is derived from the grades weighing points category
• Extremely fast switch from student to student with an “erase gesture” – even during grade entry; time requirement for a grade entry: approx. 2-3 seconds, more specifically, familiar or quickly decided upon grades for a course are recorded within a minute.

 

Grading systems

TeacherTool is familiar with all traditional, national and international grading systems (amongst others, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK, USA). Detailed:

• Australia
• Bolivia
• Bulgaria
• Denmark
• Germany ((Grade schools, primary-/high school of Hamburg, classic 1-6 (with and without tendencies), quarter grades, SII points)
• Estonia
• Finland
• France (Points 0-10 and 0-20)
• Greece
• Great Britain A*-U
• Italy
• Luxembuorg
• Macedonia
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Austria
• Peru
• Poland
• Portugal
• Russia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Slovakia
• Spain
• Czech Republic
• Ukraine
• Hungary
• USA (A-F with tendencies)
• Venezuela
• General grading system ++, +, o, -, –
• General grading system with smiley / emotions

 

Full pass word protection and strict encrypting

• All data is always filed strictly encrypted, even in the event your device is hacked into, it is not readable: At no time is personal student data left on the mass storage device without an encryption!
• Creating individual passwords for TeacherTool databases protects them from unauthorized access. This password protection is additional to the still usable device code-blockage.
• All TeacherTool data exports are always conducted with password protection and strictly encrypted.

 

Printable data export

• All course data (performance data, course manual, absentee times) can be exported as a CSV file in TeacherTool and transferred to any desk top computer per email
• For the printing process, the CSV files are inserted and attractively designed in an open document – excel workbook.
• This enables the option to secure the course journal at any time – as a PDF file as well (with traditional export function of OpenOffice and MacOS X) – Example available here. (German).
• Export seating charts
• Export student index cards with all performance- and other data
• Export per email or to iTunes possible

 

Lesson plan- or annual schedule

• Entry options for lesson plans from which TeacherTool derives the current status information
• Integration of up to 53 different lesson plans in one annual schedule sorted by CW.
• TeacherTool extracts the current number of lessons from the lesson plan (single or double lessons…) and automatically references it when recording absentee hours
• Each day consist of any number of liberally definable, freely namable time periods (e.g. “1st hour”, “2nd hour, main break”). The duration of the time period is absolutely free – you can integrate e.g. break supervision or deviate from the traditional 45-minute roster (e.g. for weekly plan work, WA’s or schools that have different time-rosters).
• Each day has its own time periods and for each day a different time-roster than for other days can be used (e.g. for seminar activities, activities at different schools etc.)
• Each time period can be provided with a main entry (i.e. the course-/lesson description and a supplement (e.g. room information).
• If one opens the lesson plan the current time-frame is displayed in color and moved to the center of the screen.
• One can move to the displayed courses directly from the lesson plan.

 

Annotations

• A general annotation list is maintained for each student
• Each previously entered annotation can be stored as an annotation template (e.g. “no performance in AFB I”, “late”
• The time and date is automatically added to each annotation.
• Automatic text supplementation with text components derived from the template if liberal text entry is used.
• Each annotation can be reviewed again. TeacherTool always suggests the day on which the corresponding course is entered in the lesson plan
• Similar annotations for multiple students are automatically maintained as check lists.

 

Course manual

• Course manual for documenting the lesson activities
• Recording lesson contents, homework assignments, absentee times, annotations and cancelled lessons
• Automatic determination of the total absences for each individual student

 

Managing absentee time

• Quick recording of absent students (function “absent is…”); direct recording of excuse-status.
• Display of missed lesson balance in personal details and the quick recording option (e.g. “8h (6e /2u)”)
• Unexcused absences are recalled automatically for as long as you desire.
• Absentee times can be recorded in hours, days or minutes (tardiness) and are balanced separately
• Non-balance absentee times can also be recorded (e.g. for school internal excused absences)

 

Seating plan

• An interactive seating plan can be created for each course
• All data can be viewed directly from the seating plan – THE killer-feature for your parent-teacher conference

 

Quick view

• With a touch on the student photo in your course list or the seating plan, you can display a quick view of all data (similar to the OS-X quick view feature)

 

Managing annual databases

• Each year can be filed separately, renamed and uploaded back to the storage unit
• This way you can, e.g. create templates or continue working with the old data in a new database after a semi-annual change
• Flexible importing of courses and lesson plans from other annual databases
• Export and import per email or with iTunes-file sharing

 

Security copies on your desktop computer

• Export- and import options of password-protected TeacherTool annual databases (eff. iOS 4)
• You can create secure copies of your data as well as share your data with colleagues who utilize TeacherTool.
• You can also drag secure copies from your device to your Mac or PC with the aid of iTunes
• Recovering data, e.g. in the event of a device exchange or subsequent to a defect, is only a click away!
• …and therefore just a tired smile, so to speak – compare this situation with the loss of your teaching schedule or course manual