For ages, I’ve been taunted by GOOD.is, one of my favorite websites and magazines, with their occasional projects, challenging readers to put their brains and creativity to work to make something interesting. I say taunted because, until recently, I didn’t have the time to participate in these designerd throwdowns. As luck would have it, the first challenge proffered during my new era of creative freedom really inspired me.

“Redesign the report card,” they said. But in keeping with my inner nerd, before any redesigning, I believe there should be some substantial rethinking. I knew immediately that I wanted to move the report card to an online platform and include some data visualization.

After the break is my submission cover letter to GOOD explaining various elements of my redesign, the strategy behind the format as well as how I imagined the new version of progress reporting could bring parents, students and educators together to improve students’ educational engagement and success.

SUBMISSION NOTES:

One vital aspect of student educational success is an active, engaged and enthused relationship between student, parents and teachers. I’ve envisioned an online, interactive report card that utilizes social media and data visualization, encouraging students and parents to interact with educators in a dynamic, comfortable environment.

A simple number or letter grade once every quarter or six-weeks doesn’t sufficiently equip parents to play an active role in their children’s education, so this platform provides an in-depth, up-to-the-minute progress report on student activity. Students, parents and educators would login to the platform to view grades, track progress and interact with each other.

Some key features include: a tabbed section highlighting detailed grading criteria for each course with pop-up details for specific assignments, a news feed of extracurricular activities, a Twitter-style feed of instant teacher comments, a highlighted comments area to encourage dialog between parents and teachers, links to additional information in course syllabi, contact links to educators, and various reminders about upcoming school assignments and events.

As a side note, in creating filler copy for this edu-active report card, I used the names (or variations thereof) of my favorite educators and educational influences. Thanks to all those who encourage students to succeed!