5 reasons why I prefer Flinnt to Facebook
I have all the right to say that I prefer “something” over Facebook as I have been using it religiously for my social networking since the past 3 years and Facebook has now become an integral part of my life. There were many old friends with whom I had lost touch although we were living in the same city, I have established contact with them through Facebook.
I first heard about “Flinnt” six months back and I thought of exploring it as I was already using Facebook sporadically to post some of my school happenings. As soon as I understand the features of Flinnt, I realized that Flinnt is definitely the right choice to share my learning content. The reasons why I choose Flinnt over Facebook as follows:
1. Parents respond on Flinnt whereas friends respond on Facebook:
On Facebook updates/ images/ happenings shared by me are always liked and commented on by friends, it gives me a recognition amongst friends. But on Flinnt, I get a daily response from the parents of my learners. My updates and activities are always appreciated by them, this motivates me to keep posting.
For instance, once I shared on Flinnt the live images of the “Pyjama party” in the school. Most parents were apprehensive about their kids cause it was first time that they were leaving their kids for such a longer period. But my continuous updates and images made them quite relaxed. And once the event over, one of the parents told me “you are mother to our kids”, this is one of the best compliments that I have ever received. It gave me immense pleasure and reinforced my decision to use Flinnt over Facebook.
2. Sharing specific updates:
Sharing particular events/ images / updates pertaining to school is difficult on Facebook as I don’t have all the parents in my friend list as I don’t want to mix up my professional relationship and personal relationship. Also, my friends won’t like to get the updates which are not relevant to them. Whereas on Flinnt my objective, the school’s objective as well as the parents objective is common and clear.
3. Announcement and reminders for specific group:
With announcements or reminders there is the need to ensure that the communication reaches everybody instantly. In such cases it is easy and convenient for me to announce any particular event and happenings on Flinnt. The message goes directly to parents and they can revert in no time on the same message. Facebook is not the platform to make announcements to a certain group of friends.
4. Acknowledgement about the receipt of the message:
Getting the read receipt of the message is one of the best features of Flinnt. I can monitor which parents have viewed message. I can then take other steps to ensure that those who have not viewed receive the message through an SMS or through a phone call. This ensures that everybody receives the message and their feedback and queries reach the whole group. This acknowledgement becomes a lifeline at the time of emergency announcements as we can’t reach to everyone through phone or through Facebook.
5. Key role in Professional Development:
Flinnt has marked a milestone in my professional development. Though I was always inclined towards technology, with Flinnt the inclination has turned into a passion. I can explore more and more ways to ways to engage with my learners and their parents.
We also have a separate group for all the preschool teachers where we exchange thoughts and ideas to engage our learners. On the group we also share details of any upcoming workshops/seminars, group members can then register and attend such events, this has given a boost to my professional development.
I have also been writing poems and have always pondered on where to share my creations. I feel the teachers group on Flinnt should be a good place to share the poems.
In a nutshell, Facebook is definitely a medium to connect to your friends but Flinnt is the right medium to connect with your learners and the parents. All of this is possible only when the the institution head is like our Principal Ms Gita Sikdar, she brought in Flinnt and supported us through the time when we were learning how to use it. So Flinnt with a supportive leadership is the formula for technology integration in a preschool.
