Watch for curves ahead: Navigating interesting times

Derek Nichols

The world is currently experiencing a trying and unique time. While we all navigate these twisting roads together, we're rounding up as many helpful and important links to assist in making your situation easier.My first car was a manual transmission pickup truck. Dad taught me to “drive stick” through the hills and mountains near my home. With a little practice and patience, I learned when and how to shift, how to maintain a safe distance from other vehicles, as well as how to safely handle every curve along our travels.  

Like many of you, we’re taking steps to “flatten the curve” of the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread by working remotely and increasing “social distance.” We’re using tools to complete our projects at home and to communicate regularly via message systems, emails, videos, and teleconference calls.  We shift our gears and manage the curves ahead of us.  

With that in mind, here are some of the resources and tools already available to your schools. Please note that we know Higher Education needs and challenges are specific to Higher Ed but in the spirit of providing all of our customers with the most comprehensive set of resources possible to help in these challenging times, we wanted to share this post with you.

General resources 

• Education management Coronavirus resource page – view best practices for using Blackbaud Education Management tools to shift to remote learning 
• Higher Education Online help – view teacher resources, how-to procedures and help topics, tutorials, release notes, links to our YouTube channel, links to Training curriculum, and more 
• Blackbaud's Education management videos – view how-to videos on our YouTube channel 
• We've also created a Distance Learning playlist, curated with videos to assist educators and students who may have moved to a virtual style classroom. We'll be updating this playlist in the coming days with more videos so make sure to bookmark it or check back soon.
• General events and fundraising (including information for Raiser’s Edge users) - view best practices for managing events and fundraisers safely, plus additional resources for the entire social good community 
• Techsmith, whose tools we use for some of our images and videos, is one of many companies currently offering longer free software trials during the pandemic for newly remote users. Discover the screen recording tool SnagIt or video collaboration tool Video Review now through the end of June.

Communication resources 

• Learn how-to post an emergency bulletin that appears as a banner message when users login
• Create sign-in messages to prompt users to update their contact information or to take other actions 
• Include your latest news in PushPage newsletters which you can email to families  
• Record a reassuring video message from your school admin (Techsmith, whose tools we use for some of our images and videos, is one of many companies currently offering longer free software trials during the pandemic for newly remote users. Recommend your favorites in the user community.)  
• Use announcements and news to keep website visitors and your school’s app users well informed 
• Remind users to view any emergency procedures and policies that your school previously posted to resource boards 
• Use official notes and more to communicate academic information internally 
• Use school directories and community groups to enable families to network and socialize virtually

Extend your solutions

• Enable integrations with third-party partners (such as Google and OneRoster) to extend the functionality of your school app. 

Miscellaneous policies and procedures 

• Review and update your policies and procedures for tracking attendance with remote students; perhaps your students are tardy/absent if specific assignments aren’t submitted to the teacher on time or if students miss a virtual group lesson (via Skype, Google Hangout, etc.) 
• Use school forms to request families update their emergency contacts, contact information, and medical needs; use them to request acknowledgement or permission; and more 
• Review how your school cares for medical needs 
• Use lists and reports to group individuals for various efforts and to review data to drive your next actions 
• Cancel and reschedule athletic games, practices, and events 

 Blackbaud information 

• Business continuity plans 

Stay tuned for more blog posts on this topic. 

 
We also strongly encourage you to share your tips and to recommend resources to your peers in the user community. By working together, we’ll navigate this unprecedented time.