Teachers and school administrators have to work together to provide a quality educational experience for students. If communication systems are weak, it can disrupt the collaborative process and prevent teachers from being on the same page regarding academics or school policies. Schools can improve their communication efforts by using technology to facilitate the flow of information between staff. Communication technology allows teachers to stay on top of important school updates, rapidly respond to internal inquiries and have live discussions with other teachers in distant locations.

Conduct an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the communication system your school currently uses. Identify what type of communication technology your teachers could benefit from using. Integrate communication technology into daily routines.

Install email access on every teacher's computer and make sure that each teacher has her own private email account. Instruct teachers to use their email as a means of communication to other teachers, classroom aides, interns and faculty. Get teachers in the habit of checking their email accounts regularly.

Schedule a time to provide a tutorial for teachers on how they can attach documents or pictures to their email messages, access the school contact list, change their personal password, forward messages, blind-copy email recipients and perform other email functions. Answer any questions teachers may have so that they are familiar with the way email works and can use it effectively to communicate internally.

Set up an online portal that allows teachers to access valuable resources and information published by the school from their computers in the classroom or at home. Use the online portal to house documents such as the school's code of conduct, policies and procedures. Create an area within the portal for teachers to have live virtual discussions or participate in a virtual forum.

Work with your school's Information Technology department to develop a "webinar" system for web conferencing or online training seminars. Make sure the webinar site can be accessed by any type of communication technology, including computers, personal digital assistants and smart phones. Give teachers the necessary pass-code.

Use conference call technology, or teleconferencing, as a convenient alternative to hosting an all-staff meeting. Set up your school with conference phones that are compatible with the conference call system you wish to use. Provide teachers with instructions on how to operate the phones, along with the pass-code so that they can access conference call meetings as they occur.