Thank you, CapeDad. I've had a Yahoo ID for years, and am in many groups, even had my own for a long time. And until your post I never knew you didn't need to have a Yahoo ID!
Originally posted by pam1500: One of the biggest difficulties I can see with a Yahoo group is that, in order to obtain the fullest benefit, you need a Yahoo ID. It's free, and easy to do, but still it can stymie some people. What do you do about this?
Pam
It depends what your goals are in using the group. They need a Yahoo ID to access the web-based things (view calendar, download files), but a Yahoo ID is not required to be on the mailing list. They can send and recieve messages to the group.
Our e-group is supposed to be about communication. The basic e-mail list fulfills that. Downloads, etc are simply extras. Anyone who doesn't want to join can e-mail a request for forms, etc.
If you can get over the ads, which got worse with the last upgrade, I think Yahoo is a cheap and easy way to get your group online. And very functional.
If you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down. <img src=images/smilies/smile.gif>
Thanks for the positive responses! I have done nothing about this as yet, except for locating some school Yahoo groups already in existence (I plan to email the moderators to ask about their experience).
One of the biggest difficulties I can see with a Yahoo group is that, in order to obtain the fullest benefit, you need a Yahoo ID. It's free, and easy to do, but still it can stymie some people. What do you do about this?
I set up a Yahoo group this year as the first step in improving our school's communication. I hounded the technology director until she agreed to send me our weekly school newsletter, which I now e-mail out to everyone whose e-mail address I have (now numbers over 250 addresses). Everyone loves receiving the weekly newsletter via e=mail because sometimes their kids don't give it to them.
It was labor-intensive to set up, but it has been extremely well-received. I think we're getting ready to change it from yahoo to something a bit more "professional" (if that's the right word). It's hard to organize your address book in Yahoo so I can't see how it could be permanent for us but parents have loved it. I also send out reminders for the week about events going on at the school.
This is a moderator only list, though. It's not a discussion group and people can't reply to it. It's strictly for dispersing information.
Good luck
Shelly
One of mt first ideas when I became VP of our group last year was to establish a Yahoo! Group to help people who are not around school very much to stay connected with what we are doing.
I set it all up over the summer and signed up the officers and a few regular volunteers.
District policy kept us from publicizing the group at school (though we snuck it into the newsletters) without all kinds of paperwork because we'd be considered a 'third-party web site operator.' The school's tech person kept blowing us off as she got busy during the year and the paperwork never got filed. We do have about 20 members in the group, but we have 1000 students.
Now I am President. The e-group is still in place and we are about to incorporate. On our sign-up form, we will note that anyone providing an e-mail address wil be invited to the e-group. We won't need the district's permission except to link to the school's web site.
With one e-mail address, I can send a note to every member. We use the Files section to archive meeting minutes for all to see. We have an FAQ, Event Photos -- all the Yahoo! stuff. I like how it works. It does state clearly that it is only for discussing PIA (Parents In Action) business and that it is not affiliated with the school or district.
There is also a calendar feature that sends out event remenders at specified intervals.
If we get a good response, we'll be putting up all of our group's fliers, forms, etc. on the site as they are handed out so noone will have the excuse of, "I lost that paper(!)" or "I never got that" unless they don't have a computer. We are even thinking of allowing parents to opt for electronic documents only.
I think your idea is great. It takes some time and ideally a dedicated moderator or 2 without too many other responsibilities. If the group works right, the moderators will be kept busy.
If you don't expect too much from me, you might not be let down. <img src=images/smilies/smile.gif>
Interesting idea. Sounds like someone would have to put in a lot of time just handling questions. Also, you have to be careful that it doesn't become a negative forum; people complaining, making false accusations against teachers or other parents, etc. I guess I would have to think very hard about starting a site such as this...also, if you keep it separate from the school, then how will you advertise its existence? Who would respond to homework questions, etc?
