Before the pandemic, a paper-based notebook was the default communication option for the schools to communicate class information with pupils and their families. The implementation of any other tools and platforms was up to the individual teachers and schools.

In the new remote learning environment, schools needed to create a new system that would allow them to pass on information about upcoming virtual classes, transfer homework assignments and learning materials, and keep pupils and their parents informed about all of the above. 

To overcome the challenge, a solution was needed quickly. 

Fortunately, a veteran educator, François Jaeger from the cantonal school administration, quickly came up with an idea. He had previously used a collaborative calendar app, Teamup, to publish a calendar of school holidays and school weeks. He thought the app might lend itself to this kind of use as well, so he brought the idea up within the cantonal administration.

Within one week, Jaeger managed to set up the first iteration of the Teamup system in the school environment. It covered class information across 93 schools within the canton’s public education system and linked over 92,000 pupils and their families with nearly 10,000 teachers. 

The biggest strength of the Teamup system from day one was its simplicity. 

François Jaeger and his team set up a calendar with individual links for all the classes: approximately 4,900 classes in total. 

The situation was stressful for everyone back then, François Jaeger reminds us. Families had to juggle remote work, childcare, and home-schooling, while teachers were forced to adapt their teaching method and adopt new technologies overnight. 

In a complex situation like this, a simple one-click solution was like a gift. Jaeger points out that the Teamup interface is also extremely easy for teachers to use as it reminds them of a text editor. No additional, distracting features: just quick, functional tools to allow them to focus on their work.

Another challenge many technological implementations face is resistance to use of new tools and systems. The educational teams in the canton of Vaud worked through the implementation phase with the help of easy, actionable training. 

The core of support given to teachers and users of the new Teamup calendars were video tutorials created by Jaeger’s team.  

Tutorials were short and sweet, 2-3 minutes maximum, to keep viewers engaged. Teachers learned quickly to create events and upload documents to Teamup. Pupils and parents could easily access the learning materials at home from the link they received.

While the goal of the first implementation was to offer a functional solution to ride out this crisis, the following summer and autumn months gave the implementation team a chance to revise the solution and upgrade it in ways that are more flexible, efficient and sustainable. 

Over the autumn semester in 2020, the cantonal school administration improved the customisation of links, so that a link shared with families automatically only showed the information relevant to their child’s class. Changes were also made to sharing settings to gain better control over the editing rights on lesson plans and content.

Thanks to a highly skilled implementation team at the cantonal school administration in Vaud and the generous support by Teamup, a year-long pilot project allowed each of the schools to independently explore best ways to match their practical needs with Teamup’s unique capabilities.   

The pilot was successfully concluded before another new school year started!

Teachers continue to use Teamup as an efficient way to share learning materials with pupils and parents. As of March 2022, the total number of calendar events surpassed 450,000 and more than 250,000 documents have been uploaded to the Teamup servers.

While the crisis has subsided and schools have avoided mass closures, Teamup has become part of the everyday school life in Canton of Vaud. 

The schools have also found innovative ways to leverage the system; for example, many schools were able to use Teamup to manage resources, reservations or integrate class information to schools’ websites. Integrations with Microsoft Teams and other calendar systems have been adapted as needed.

What started as a fervent search for a functional system to link schools and families amidst the pandemic has turned into a successful digital transformation, which has improved the communication between schools and families in the long term. 

By now the schools have adapted to the system well and use it in their own unique ways. The teachers and schools are discovering many new ways to make things easier as they get more familiar with Teamup.

For example, thanks to Teamup’s unique access permissions, the teachers can create draft lessons on Teamup without revealing the unfinalized plans to other users of the calendar. When a lesson is ready to be shared, it takes as little as a drag-and-drop over the calendar grid to move it to the respective class calendar, and it becomes immediately accessible to pupils and parents. 

Why was the transition launched?

Schools were closed as part of a nation-wide lockdown in the beginning of COVID-19. Our education system was not prepared for such a sudden shift to remote teaching and learning. Teachers needed an efficient and simple way to communicate with families and pupils.

What made the situation challenging?

The schools weren’t using a platform or a tool that could have been adapted to meet the needs of teachers as the COVID-19 crisis hit. 

Why Teamup?

The responsible team members had good experience with the software previously, and it met the required criteria of simplicity and ease of use. It was quick to set up under exceptional conditions. 

Which challenges were confronted along the road?

The implementation needed to be extremely quick, however most staff did not have experience with Teamup. The challenges were met with high-quality video tutorials on how to use Teamup.

What makes Teamup a great tool for schools in the future?

Teamup is extremely scalable and adaptable which makes it a perfect solution for
quickly changing and dynamic environments.