Toddle Connect is our AI powered messaging module that helps streamline communication within your school community. As a school administrator, you're equipped not just to engage in one-on-one and group conversations with staff, students, and families, but also to utilize robust features providing an overview of all school conversations. This includes flagged conversations requiring attention, and analytics on messaging module usage by the school community. Read this article to learn in detail about these features!

This article will cover:

You can access the Messaging feature directly from the 'Messaging' card which can be found on your homepage.

Here is a sneak peek of the features within the messaging module:

Let’s explore each feature in detail.

Using the 'Messages' tab in the left pane, you can start one-on-one or group conversations with staff, students, and family members. All your past conversations are listed here for easy access, with the most recent ones appearing at the top. You can use the search bar to quickly find specific conversations. Notification badges alert you to new messages, and a mute icon indicates any chats you have muted.

You can also sort conversations using the following tabs: ‘All,’ ‘Unread,’ ‘Students,’ ‘Families,’ and ‘Staff.’ This helps you quickly find unread messages or navigate conversations based on user groups. To customise which tabs appear for your messages, use the gear icon.

When you click the gear icon, a pop-up will appear displaying five filters: ‘All,’ ‘Unread,’ ‘Students,’ ‘Families,’ and ‘Staff.’ Except for ‘All,’ which is always enabled by default, you can turn filters on or off based on your preferences. To change the display order, use the six-dot menu beside each filter. Once you've made your selections, click ‘Save’ to apply your changes.

To start a new message, click the ‘+’ icon. You will see three options for creating conversations:

Let’s explore each one of these options in detail.

Chats are one-one conversation with students, families, or staff members. Click on the ‘+’ icon and select the ‘Chat’ option to create a new chat.

A pop-up modal wherein you can select the individual you wish to message - be it a staff member, student, or family member. For faster access, you can also type their name into the search bar. Once you have selected the individual you want to chat with, a new chat gets created between the two of you.

Within the chat window, you can engage in a conversation using text messages, attachments, emojis, and audio messages. Additionally, you can leverage Toddle AI for various tasks ranging from translating text to summarizing the entire conversation, as well as customizing messages with specific prompts.

You can reply to any message in the thread, choose to forward it, and even add reactions with emojis. Simply hover over a message to access these options. Use the three-dot menu to edit or delete sent messages. You will also notice blue ticks appearing next to messages, indicating that they have been read by the recipient.

Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner to access additional options. Select ‘Mute chat’ to mute the conversation or ‘Add members’ to include more participants.

When you select the ‘Add members’ option, a pop-up will appear, informing you that a new channel will be created with the current participants and the selected members. You will also have the option to transfer messages from the existing chat to the new channel. If you choose to transfer messages, they will be moved from the original chat and will only be accessible in the new channel. The original chat will remain separate. Click ‘Next’ to proceed.

Here, you can select the individuals you want to add to the conversation, including students, family members, and staff members. Simply type their names to add them.

Alternatively, you can search for a class to see user groups associated with it, allowing you to add members in bulk. You can refine your selection by removing individuals from the right-side panel in the modal. Once you’ve selected the desired participants, click ‘Next’ to proceed.

Lastly, you can choose whether to move conversations from the original chat to the new channel. If you opt to include conversation history, you’ll have three options:

Based on your selection, a preview will display the messages that will be transferred, allowing you to review them before proceeding.

Once done, click ‘Continue’ to proceed.

Finally, the selected conversations will be moved to the new channel based on your chosen option.

You will see in your original chat a line saying that the messages from the conversation have been moved to the channel you created. you can click on this channel name to directly access it from this chat.

Family channels are aimed at facilitating communication between teachers and family members of a specific child.

To create a family channel, click on the ‘+’ icon at the top and select the ‘Family channel’ option.

💡 Teachers can also create family channels if you have enabled the corresponding setting.

In the modal that appears, you can select family members associated with students. The number of family members linked to each student is displayed next to their name, allowing you to add all associated family members to a family channel with a single selection. You can also search for a specific student to find and add their family members.

Once you’ve selected the student whose family members you want to start a conversation with, click ‘Create’ at the bottom.

As a result, a family channel will be created, including all family members of the selected student. Click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner to access additional options. Select ‘Mute channel’ to mute notifications or ‘Overview and Settings’ to view the list of participants. You can also add more participants from the ‘Overview and Settings’ option.

💡Please note that students are not part of the family channel. All family members can also mute channel notifications if needed.

When you select the ‘Overview and Settings’ option, a modal will appear displaying the list of current participants in the group. To add more participants, click the ‘Add members’ icon next to the search bar. This will create a new channel that includes the existing members along with the newly added participants.

Refer to this section on creating a new channel by adding participants to an existing conversation to understand this process in detail.

Another way to create a family channel is from within your class. To do this, go to the ‘Class settings’ of a specific class and hover over a student's name.

💡 Teachers can also create family channels if you have enabled the corresponding setting.

Click on the message icon. In the dropdown menu that appears, select the ‘Send message to family’ option to create a family channel.

Consequently, a family channel will be created including all family members of that student. All members of the channel will have the ability to use the three-dot menu to mute channel notifications.

💡Please note that students are not a part of the family channel.

Custom channels can be used for group conversations with any users, including students, staff members, and family members across the school. To create a new custom channel, click on the '+' icon.

💡 Teachers can also create custom channels if you have enabled the corresponding setting.

Assign a suitable image, name, and description for the channel, then proceed to select the desired group members. Just type in their names in the search bar or look up the classes they are associated with to add members in bulk. This allows you to include students, staff, and family members from across the school, regardless of their curriculum.

In the modal on the right, your selected participants are grouped by user type—students, staff members, and family members—making it easier to review your selection. You can refine your list by removing individuals from the right-side panel.

Once you've finalized your selection, click ‘Create’ to start conversations within the channel.

Once the channel is created you can always come back to edit its settings by clicking on the ‘Members’ tiles. Here’s what you can see in the pop-up that opens:

About tab:

You can edit the channel image, name, and description under the ‘About’ section.

Members tab:

Note: When a student is blocked, they are not notified. They can still open the channel, but they lose the ability to send or reply to messages. Instead, they see a message stating: “You cannot send messages or reply to this channel. For further assistance, please contact the channel creator.” Only channel creators and users with permission to manage messaging settings can block individual students.

Note: When a member is removed from a channel, they lose all access and can no longer view or open the channel.

Settings tab:

Note: By default, both groups can send messages in a custom channel. Further, disabling messages only revokes the right to interact with the messages shared in the channel; the group can still access the new messages/updates posted.

There is a third kind of group channel, that is the class channel. Let’s explore how a class channel is different from a family channel and custom channel.

Class channels are designed to streamline communication between the teachers and students of a specific class. When you create a new class in Toddle, a corresponding class channel is automatically generated. Any updates to the class membership, like adding or removing teachers or students, are immediately reflected in the channel. In the left pane, you will find channels for each class you are assigned to as a teacher. Simply click on a class channel to join the conversation.

You can edit the channel settings by clicking on the ‘Members’ tiles. Here’s what you can see in the pop-up that opens:

Note: When you archive a class, the corresponding class channel also gets archived.

Sending messages in channels works exactly like chats. You can engage in a conversation using text messages, attachments, emojis, and audio messages. Additionally, you can leverage Toddle AI for various tasks ranging from translating text to summarizing the entire conversation, as well as customizing messages with specific prompts. You can also tag people in group chats using the “@” option.

You can reply to any message in the thread, forward a message, and even add reactions with emojis. Simply hover over a message to access these options. You can also edit or delete sent messages, and use the 'Read receipts' option under the three-dot menu to track message recipients.

💡Please note that Toddle AI is not available to students and family members.

Using the ‘Overview’ tab on the left sidebar, you can review all conversations taking place within your school community. This includes both one-on-one chats and group conversations. Additionally, any conversation that needs your attention is highlighted as a flagged message. Toddle AI flags messages every six hours, and you can easily check the last flagged status at the top. Click on the arrow under the 'Actions' column to dive deeper into a conversation or generate its summary.

Under the ‘Flagged conversations’ tab, you can review all the messages that have been flagged in the existing conversations. Here you can examine each flagged message or quickly generate a summary of the conversation by clicking on the ‘Generate summary’ option. To see the full conversation click on the ‘View conversation’ option.

Use the options at the top to filter flagged messages based on a specific time period or conversation type.

Navigate to the 'Analytics' tab from the sidebar on the left to gain insights into the usage of messaging feature by your school community. Here you can track the number of messages sent in a chosen time frame and view message distribution by user and conversation type.

As you scroll down, you also get a quick overview of how the conversations are spread across the selected time frame. Further refine this overview by filtering according to 'Type of users' or 'Type of conversations’.

Additionally, assess user engagement through metrics like the number of messages sent and flagged messages, with the ability to filter by user type for targeted analysis.

Finally, you can view these analytics for specific time-periods and grades using the filter options at the top.

As a school administrator, you can customize the Messaging module by enabling or disabling specific features for students and family members based on your school’s needs.

To begin, click the gear icon at the bottom of the left pane.

As you land on the ‘Messaging settings’ page, you will see that it is divided into three sub-sections: configuration options, student settings, and family settings. Let’s briefly explore each section.

In the 'Configuration options' section, you can toggle the visibility of the messaging module for students and family members in specific grades. By default, it is enabled for both user types across all grades.

Under ‘Student settings,’ you can allow students to initiate conversations with teachers linked through subject classes or homeroom. Additionally, you can control whether students can edit or delete their sent messages. By default, both settings are turned on for all grades. You can choose to enable or disable these permissions for specific grades or apply the settings across all grades.

Under ‘Family settings’ section, you can determine if family members are allowed to initiate conversations with teachers associated with their child. Additionally, you can decide if family members can edit or delete their sent messages. By default, both settings are turned on for all grades. You can choose to enable or disable these permissions for specific grades or apply the settings across all grades.

The search functionality within the Messaging module is designed to provide you with quick and efficient access to specific chats. By utilizing the search bar located at the top, you can perform keyword searches across chats and channels.

To make it easier to refer back to previous search queries or results, you can view your recent searches in the search bar. Use filter such as ‘Members’ or ‘Channels’ to narrow down your search.

For further refinement of search results, Toddle offers various search operators such as ‘in’, ‘from’, ‘to’, etc. enabling you to target your keyword searches across all chats or within specific ones.

When conducting a search, a preview of the search results is provided. The results are categorised based on member names, channels, messages, and files. The preview under messages includes snippets of messages that contain the searched keywords, enabling you to quickly assess the relevance of the results. You can also use the ‘From’ and ’To’ filters to further narrow down your search.

Toddle offers a platform-wide convenience messaging tray that grants you quick access to your messages from anywhere on the platform. In addition, you will also notice numbered badges on the tray, notifying you of any unread messages.

To access your messages, click the message icon highlighted on the screen below. This will open the Messaging widget, where you can create and manage conversations. Use the search bar to find specific chats and channels. Additionally, click the expand icon in the top-right corner to view messaging in full-screen mode on a separate page.

When you access the Messages widget through the messaging tray, you will see customised suggestions that help you quickly find relevant chats and channels. Let’s explore how this works in detail.

Suggestions in Messaging help you quickly find relevant chats and channels while navigating through a class, student, staff, or family profile.

💡 Please note that these suggestions are visible only under the ‘All’ tab in the Messaging window. While the tab is available on both the web and the app, the suggestions feature is exclusive to the web.

Accessing Messaging within a class

When you open the Messaging widget while viewing a class, the class channel for that class will appear at the top under ‘Suggestions.’ For example, in the screenshot below, accessing Messaging from within ‘Grade 2’ displays the associated class channel in the suggestions.

Accessing Messaging within a student profile

When you open the Messaging widget while viewing a student’s profile, you’ll see options to start or access an existing one-on-one chat with the student, the student’s family channel, and individual one-on-one chats with each of their family members. These conversations don’t need to exist beforehand—you can start new chats and channels simply by accessing Messaging from the student’s profile.

The available suggestions change based on the user profile from which you access Messaging. Let’s see how these suggestions vary for family and staff members.

Accessing Messaging within a family member’s profile

When you open the Messaging widget while viewing a family profile, you’ll see options to start or access an existing one-on-one chat with the family member, the family channel, and a chat with the associated student(s).

Accessing Messaging within a staff member’s profile

When you open the Messaging widget while viewing a staff profile, you’ll see options to start or access an existing one-on-one chat with the staff member.

In addition to accessing Toddle Connect from the homepage or through the messaging tray, you can initiate a chat with any member of your school community across various modules, such as Announcements, Attendance Dashboard, Insights, and more—anywhere you can see a profile icon for students, teachers, or family members.

Let’s take the ‘Announcements’ module as an example to understand this in detail.

💡Please note that this feature works the same way across all modules on the Toddle platform.

Navigate to the ‘Announcements’ module. As you enter this module, access the recipient list under the ‘Read on Toddle’ option for any announcement to view the list of staff members, students, and family members who have received the announcement.

In the modal that pops up, you can access recipients by staff members, students, and family members from the tabs at the top.

The messaging options vary slightly across these three user groups. Let’s explore each one of these in detail.

To message any of the staff members simply hover over their profile icon and click on the messaging icon in the top right corner of the profile preview card.

💡Please note that this profile preview card appears only when you hover over the profile icon and not when you hover over their name.

The messaging window will open on your screen, allowing you to start or continue a chat with the selected staff member.

Go back to the recipients modal and switch to the ‘Students’ tab.

When you hover over a student’s profile icon, their profile preview card will appear. Click on the messaging icon to open a dropdown menu with options to send a direct message to the student, message their associated family member(s), or message on the family channel for the selected student.

Simply select your preferred option.

The messaging window will open on your screen with the chosen chat or channel, allowing you to start or continue your chat with the selected student or family members associated with them.

Go back to the recipients modal and switch to the ‘Family members’ tab.

When you hover over a family member's profile icon, their profile preview card will appear. Click on the messaging icon to open a dropdown menu with options to send a direct message to the family member, message the student(s) associated with them, or message on the family channel for the associated student(s). Simply select your preferred option.

The messaging window will open on your screen with the selected chat or channel, allowing you to start or continue your chat with the selected family member or student(s) associated with them.

With Toddle Connect, experience a whole new level of communication and collaboration with your school community.

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What happens to the chats and channels at the time of Academic Year Transition?

All chats and channels, except for 'Class channels' from the previous academic year, are carried forward to the new academic year during the Academic Year Transition. Class channels from previous academic years can be accessed by switching back to the relevant academic year. Please refer to the attached screenshot below to see how you can switch between different academic years.