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With a new year brings new product updates in the Hāpara world, and we couldn’t be more excited! We already have the best classroom management solution, and we continue to work to make it even better. We want it to be easy for classroom educators to focus and engage learners in the digital environment, and our newest product updates will do just that.
We also have thrilling news! We are proud to now partner with Gaggle to bring you more student safety options. This partnership will allow your school or district to customize your classroom management and safety solution and create the best package for your needs.
Keep reading to learn about all of our January 2025 Hāpara updates this month.
Hāpara Highlights: Recurring guided browsing sessions
Educators can now repeat “Guide browsing” sessions in Hāpara Highlights! We’ve heard so much positive feedback from schools about this new feature.
In the Class View tab and the Schedule tab, educators can schedule a “Guide browsing” session. When they set up the session, they now have the option to “Repeat this session.”
Educators are able to choose the days of the week and time. Here are actions educators can take:
- Set up a recurring Focus or Filter session.
- Schedule recurring sessions up to one month in advance, with each session lasting up to one month.
- View and manage recurring sessions in the Schedule tab.
- Edit and duplicate a recurring session.
- Delete all upcoming recurring sessions.
Soon educators will also be able to delete a single session. For example, let’s say an educator has a Focus Session set to repeat every day during the math warm-up. Tomorrow there will be an assembly during second period. The educator will be able to delete that single session without having to delete all repeated sessions.
Why is this helpful?
Recurring guided browsing sessions save educators time, streamlining their ability to manage their digital classroom. These sessions help learners focus and stay on track on a repeated basis. Educators can also edit these sessions as learners’ browsing needs change.
For steps on how to use this feature, visit our support article.
Hāpara Highlights: Chat (optional for schools)
Two-way chat in Hāpara Highlights is almost here! Our early adopter schools have given us great feedback, and soon, we’ll be releasing this feature to all schools and districts. By default, this feature will be turned off. Your school or district will have the option of turning it on, and if you do, educators will see the feature in Highlights.
If your school or district decides to use Chat, educators can toggle it to “on” at any time. This will allow them to chat one-on-one with a learner, or a learner may send them a message. Please note that learners will not be able to chat with other learners.
Hipi is especially excited about this new feature that will help educators collaborate more effectively with learners!
Why is this helpful?
There are many instances when a classroom educator may want to communicate with a learner without interrupting the entire class. An educator may want to send a reminder to a learner, provide digital citizenship feedback or check in with them. This creates a more respectful, positive classroom environment. Hāpara’s Lisa Monthie shares an example of why private communication is helpful for social and emotional learning.
Some learners want to ask their teacher a question, but they’re afraid to ask in front of the class due to anxiety. Highlights Chat allows them to type a question and send it to their teacher, helping them get the support they need.
For steps on enabling Chat for your school domain, visit our support article.
For an administration FAQ about Chat, visit this article.
For teacher FAQ about Chat, visit this article.
Hāpara Admin Console: Tool customizations
Did you know that in the Hāpara Admin Console, you currently have the option to turn on “Pause Screens,” a Highlights feature for educators? You’ll also soon have the option to turn on Highlights Chat, giving you the ability to enable it or leave it turned off based on the needs of your educators and learners.
Why is this helpful?
Tool customizations give your school or district the ability to tailor our classroom management tools by campus. You are the one who best knows the needs of your educators and learners, and we want to give you the ability to personalize our tools.
Gaggle partnership
We are delighted to partner with Gaggle to bring you more options for protecting learners online! Gaggle is a K-12 company dedicated to student safety and wellness, and we are proud to offer their CIPA-compliant DNS web filter.
With this new option, you now have the ability to further customize your solution with us and select a web filter that best fits the needs and budget of your school or district. Reach out to your Account Executive if you would like to learn more. Or reach out to us at community@hapara.com.
Explore how schools use a web filter and screen monitoring to keep students safe and teach digital citizenship.
