Why Wiggio?

A friend of my asked me,  "Why Wiggio?"  Good question.  Wiggio is an organizing software that is password protected..  It does many of the things Google Docs does, like storing files.  But it also includes a powerful communication suite, including conference calls, virtual meetings, and chatrooms.   When a student signs up for Wiggio, we give him/her a username and password for our group.  They enter their password and we have a vehicle for group emails.  They enter their cell phone, and notifications can be sent to them via cell phones.  I do not work for Wiggio.   This is an un-endorsed post.

We chose Wiggio over some other forum boards because it was a common theme in our District.   We had 4 teachers using it, so we expanded to 38 in an hour's time.   We have teachers using it to archive documents, but it's biggest advantage over Google Docs is the SMS feature and the Voice Mail

Wiggio features:

• forum board protected from spammers
• a drop box for files and (coming soon!) individual drop boxes for all students
• a calendar with an automatic notifier feature
• a polling feature
• a to-do list for the class
• a hyperlink feature
• security for your students
• security for your staff if they have a document library they want to share
• it's FREE

Downsides:

• you can't record the webinars (well, you can, but you need to use Jing as your recording add-on)
• there's no testing software, so it's not an all-in-one platform
• I still embed my videos to YouTube.

Real World Uses for Wiggio

• video conversations with sick students
• posting makeup assignments
• posting professional development documents
• keeping a calendar with an automatic notification system for students
• the ability to SMS students without sharing your Twitter life with students
• the ability to keep conversations with students archived

• managing sports schedules and notifications
• keeping track of a detasseling service  
• sending out school late starts, cancellations, and notices of emergency information
• SMS to a study group

Why not give it a try?  I've set up a Wiggio sandbox so you can connect with a colleague and try it out.