Choosing a learning journal system can often seem like a daunting task, as there are quite a few to choose from. Are you about to move from paper based to digital learning journals? Or perhaps you are just considering moving to another system? Before making a commitment, you may wish to fully investigate what they have to offer, and important questions should be addressed.
Some perform better than others and ease of use, functionality and versatility should be a top priority for you and your team. Unfortunately, not all learning journal, learning journey or learning diary systems provide the same functions, support, or service…
Here is a short checklist which covers some very important questions to consider before switching to another system. This is not a comprehensive list, but it should assist you to fully assess the best system, service and support for your nursery or school.
Who designed this learning journal system?
With most companies, it’s software developers. This is their field of expertise but if they don’t have childcare or teaching experience, they may find it difficult to fully understand exactly what is required in a very busy nursery or school.
The ILD learning journal platform has been developed with the highly valued input from our early years and primary educators across the U.K. and worldwide. The 1st version of the ILD was launched 13 years ago, piloted in U.K. nurseries and we have always adopted a ‘when you talk, we listen’ approach to anything you may require.
Is the system easy to set up and use and do they offer a free trial of a live system?
Every company will of course confirm emphatically that it’s very, very, easy to use. But is it? You will only discover this if you are offered a free live trial and really investigate what is on offer.
Some companies only offer a non-functional demo version during a trial. You can view the functions but cannot begin to upload data, use them, and really test how they perform in real time. Problems are usually only discovered after you have purchased the system.
You may wish to avoid attempting to trial 3, 4 or more systems at the same time. This really can be a recipe for disaster… Trial one system at a time and fully assess and investigate what it does. With more than one, it’s very easy to overlap and confuse one system with another. You could mistakenly believe that a learning journal system includes a function which it doesn’t have. It does happen and occasionally the wrong system is chosen.
As many of our team have an educational background, we know just how busy you are. We offer a 30-day free trial of the live ILD system with full unlimited support. This assists with fast familiarisation and a problem free set up. Any data uploaded is safely retained if you decide to join us at trial end.
Is there a long-term contract commitment to use this learning journal system?
Important. Before signing up with a system, you should read the contract. With any contract, always remember the quote “the large print giveth and the small print taketh away” Some contracts include a long-term 12-month cancellation clause. Some are even longer! If you have made the wrong choice, you must give them at least 12 months’ notice that you are leaving their service. This of course means that you also must continue paying for a service that you no longer wish to use.
With the ILD system, there are no long-term, complicated contracts. Our nurseries and schools use the ILD because they want to, not have to!
Is support and training or orientation provided if required?
This is very important because this can vary across different learning journal suppliers. You and your team wish to focus on what you do best. Childcare, child wellbeing and education. If assistance is required, it should be provided asap. Nursery and school teams are extremely busy people. Some companies use support ticket systems or email only and response times can be anything between several days and weeks. Some provide training but there is usually an additional cost involved.
With the ILD system, we provide almost immediate support by Live Chat, telephone, and email. Free bespoke training and orientation are also provided.
Will this system assist with my personal pedagogical approach to teaching and learning?
As stated earlier, not all learning journal, learning journey, or learning diary systems are born equal… Many systems are quite restrictive, and the functionality only permits certain child development tracking tasks usually based on a specific curriculum. Flexibility is often limited. We believe that learning journal software should assist, not restrict what you wish to achieve in childcare and education.
Another point to consider is will it provide enough detailed evidence for your next education inspection? Your nursery or school performance inspection report helps parents to decide whether to use your service or not.
Whichever pedagogical approach you have adopted, the ILD provides the functionality and versatility to record and track child development at any level you choose. The Interactive 360 app also includes our Child Zone function which allows children to record and share activities and learning with their friends. This assists with child centred learning and provides clear evidence that all stakeholders are actively involved in the children’s development. Staff, parents, and children.
Can I modify or create a curriculum in the system?
Again, many systems are quite restrictive with curriculum functionality. With some, you are not offered the option to choose the curriculums you require. Apart from the ones they think you require; you may also receive a mixture of curriculums which can be confusing during everyday use.
With the ILD system, you simply choose your curriculums. If you wish, you can modify these or create your own bespoke curriculum with our optional ILD Curriculum Builder.
Can this system assist with parent participation, relationships and allow comments and feedback?
Some systems do, others don’t. We know that good parent partnerships and participation play an essential part in a child’s development and wellbeing. The ILD Parent Portal and Interactive 360 app have been specifically designed to make it very easy for parents to use.
These combined with our Pupil Timeline function allows parents to instantly receive and view their child’s activities, receive updates and participate in your latest nursery projects and send their own feedback, contributions, and observations from home.
Similar to posting news, photo, audio or video on social media, with the Interactive 360 app, they simply ‘post’ you their child’s latest activities and achievements. When received, you just include these in the child’s learning journal. With parental consent, grandparents or other family members can also be registered for the Parent Portal and app. It’s all free and part of our service.
Our nursery has poor wi-fi coverage, can I use this system?
Again, functionality is different across all the systems available. With some you can, others you can’t. It depends if their system is wi-fi dependant. This can create potential problems if you experience poor wi-fi coverage. If several members of staff are attempting to record children’s activities simultaneously, the wi-fi network can fail and you could lose important data. As you know, you will occasionally experience a one-off magic moment with children and only get one opportunity to record and save it. If your wi-fi network should drop, it could be lost.
The Interactive 360 app has been specifically designed to compensate for this. You can record children’s activities and observations virtually anywhere without access to a wi-fi network. This is ideal for large outdoor play areas, outdoor centres, and forest schools.