Simplifying parental life:
Homepages for day-care centers and school classes, accessible on the web and the mobile phone
When is Robbie due back from the outing, should Alice bring a packed lunch on Thursday, is swimming on Tuesday or Wednesday, what’s the number to Edward’s friend’s mother? The daily life of a parent to a 2 to 10 year old is a logistical nightmare!
Vinnova, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, has funded a research project to connect Stockholm day care administrators, teachers and families using the mobile web. Eighteen classes at six day care centers serving approximately 300 children and their families have been brought on line. Parents now get useful information from the day care center on the web and in the mobile phone.
The day care teachers build and maintain their own homepage using a simple web tool developed in the project in cooperation with Squace (a mobile IT start-up based in Stockholm) and a research institute (Swedish Institute for Computer Science). The tool is so simple that even the average day-care teacher can use it to build a homepage. And it’s for free!
The result? The day care centers have significantly improved their service to parents and guardians. About 600 parents get everyday information from “their” class on the web or in the mobile phone, e.g. calendar, notice board, contact info to other parents and the day-care center, daily schedule, lunch menu etc.
Does your child’s class have a proper homepage? How about mobile access? Why not build one yourself! The service is very easy to use and open for everyone at: www.forskolanimobilen.se (day-care centers) or www.skolanimobilen.se (school classes).
For the time being the service is only available in Swedish. However, drop us a line if you think this sounds like a good idea where you live too. Maybe we might be able to develop a version based on your specific needs!
Share your story; please let us know how you using Squace and what your favorite links are. Send an e-mail to: mystory@squace.com