Now educators can get more done without needing to be in front of their computers.
Playground, QikKids’ educator platform, simplifies everyday tasks for educators and enhances parent engagement through its convenient and practical features. In its initial release, the Playground app focussed on ensuring every child’s safety through features that track and document health and safety events. Other useful features, such as programming and planning, required educators to log in to the Playground web platform.
We are thrilled to announce that we are upgrading the app experience as we bring in core web features, such as programming and planning, into the Playground app. With this functionality made available on mobile, educators can efficiently accomplish programming and planning tasks and ensure compliance even when they’re on the go.
“Direct access to the programming and planning records via the Playground app means educators are able to create meaningful documentation and record experiences with greater flexibility. The app will enable educators to interact with the platform in ways that suit them best, saving time and supporting increased engagement with Playground and shared decision-making with children,”
Kirsten Holland, General Manager of Program and Practice of Catholic Early Ed Care
Adding to this innovative mobile-first planning experience, Playground also offers Documents, Tables and Canvases in the app. These features make it convenient for educators to create and share learning journeys with parents to report on and track each child’s learning outcomes and progress. Canvas gives educators the ability to make their plans more creative and visually appealing.
Our commitment to empowering the early education sector is always a priority. In line with this, we consulted with an education advisory group of five pedagogical leaders and engaged with them to learn how to improve our software for the wider sector. The initiative reveals that adding programming and planning functionality to the Playground app would be a transformational benefit to educators across the sector.
Another leader in the ECEC sector, Dr Melinda Miller, the Director of Early Learning, First Five Early Learning, expressed how the new update addresses the modern needs of educators.
“When digital platforms are responsive to the nature of educators’ work in early childhood education settings, documentation can become more meaningful and accessible. The evolution of Playground web functionality into the app is responsive to the time-critical nature of educators’ work, a need for flexibility in how documentation is accessed and recorded, and opportunities for working with digital documentation in more innovative ways for and with children.”
To take advantage of this cutting-edge functionality, users must update to Playground app version 2.14.0 on their iPad or Apple mobile device. After the update, educators will be able to save time and enjoy the freedom of completing programming and planning tasks while on the move.
To learn more about how Playground can benefit your service, book a demo with us.
by Patricia Podolig Donaldson, Marketing Content Specialist
-
First published: 29 November 2022
Written by: QikKids