Assign-a-Day is a website created for teachers to create calendars that can be shared with other teachers and students. It is a free tool that allows teachers to create and manage calendars, add and delete assignments, and give a description of assignments, which can then be shared with colleagues or students. Students can see assignments for their classes to get an overview of what is coming up and help them stay on track with due dates. Assignments can easily be created that span one or multiple dates, and there is a place to type a description of the assignment as well. All calendars are stored in a personal calendar managing section and sharing with others is easy. This tool is for professional use only, and the site warns users that personal calendars will be deleted without notification, as well as calendars with inappropriate entries.
Getting started:
You don't really need any special skills to work on Assign-a-Day. You just need a computer with Internet access, and an e-mail address. Watch the screen cast below to see how to sign up and use Assign-a-Day.
For teachers:
For students and parents:
This tool can be easily used in an educational setting, since that is what it was created for. You must provide a school name and zip code to register to prove that you are a teacher. I think it could best be used a high school setting, because students are more independent so they can log on to view and keep up with assignments. It could also be used by grade level teams, so dates for tests, field trips, projects, etc. can be shared between teachers.
What are the advantages:
There are many advantages to using Assign-a-Day. First off, it is free, and registration is very quick and easy. Also, you can create multiple calendars for different classes or months. You can edit and delete assignments as often as you need. You get to choose whether to keep calendars private, or easily share with people just by typing in their e-mail address. Printing the calendars is easy and there are 2 options, a grid view, or list view.
What are the disadvantages:
There are some disadvantages to using Assign-a-Day as well. It may not meet all your needs for a collaboration tool. The biggest disadvantage I noticed is there is no way to embed the calendar into a website or blog. I thought at first this would be a great way to share assignment dates with parents, but sharing can only be done by emailing. Even then your email recipients have to log on to the website to view your calendar. Once at the website, they can enter in your last name, and choose from a list of calendars that the search provided. It is not very ideal for large groups or parents. Another disadvantage I found is that calendars are view only for the people you shared it with. That means that no one can edit or add to the calendar, except for you. The idea I mentioned above about using it for a grade level team is complicated by this limitation, since teachers cannot freely edit the calendar.
I would recommend using this tool for small groups, such as grade level team leaders, or just for yourself to keep track of what is coming up at your school. I do not think it is ideal for reaching out to a large group of students or parents. You can provide the web address and assume they are using what you have created, but I think embedding a calendar on your website or blog would be better and eliminate this step. For this, you would need to choose another tool.
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