GUILDERLAND — New apps and social media platforms are allowing parents to “see” into their children’s classroom.

These innovations let teachers communicate instantly from the classroom — sometimes sending photos or videos of current or recent projects — and allow parents to “like” or comment on them.

The app that does this best is one called Seesaw — “which is essentially a portfolio” — said school district technology information specialist Natalia Lemoyne recently. Seesaw is used in the district’s elementary schools to show parents what kids are up to, and to make connections among students, parents, and teachers.

With Seesaw, teachers — or students — can take photos of projects or drawings and take video of kids making presentations or explaining ideas.

Students can also select a photograph — for instance, of a math problem — and then add “another layer on top of it”; they can use a finger to “write” over the picture, and they can add an audio track of themselves talking about it, said Sarah Richardson, who is a first-grade teacher and the technology liaison at Westmere.

Parents who have downloaded the secure app receive notifications whenever their child’s teacher posts something new. They can then view the post on a phone, tablet, or computer and “heart” it or add a comment.

Some posted items are shared with all parents, and some are private. One day, all of the parents might receive notification about a new video of the class working together on science experiments. The next, each parent might see a photo — not accessible to others — of a picture that his or her child drew.

Richardson first brought Seesaw to the district’s attention about a year-and-a-half ago, said Lemoyne, suggesting that they begin to use it. Officials first experimented with it among themselves, before allowing Richardson to try rolling it out at Westmere Elementary as a test.

“We wanted to get some feedback on it,” said Lemoyne. “The feedback has been phenomenal.”

Richardson said recently that more than half of the teachers at Westmere now use Seesaw.

“Parents love it because it gives a real picture into what we’re doing,” said Richardson. ‘At dinnertime they can say, ‘Tell me more about the science experiment you did, about mixing the solid with the liquid.’ It gives kids a little springboard for talking about their day.”

Teachers love it because they are able to easily see student growth over the year, and they can organize everything in one place, Lemoyne said.

They also like it because it’s not complicated, Lemoyne added. Taking and uploading videos is very simple, and doesn’t rely on the teacher always shooting photos or video of students. Often, teachers will have kids “buddy up” and record one another; teachers will then have students send them the photos or videos for uploading.

Facebook and Twitter

“She’s far and away the most tech-savvy teacher any of my kids have ever had,” said Sara Duprey, mother of Pine Bush Elementary fifth-grader Caroline Duprey. She was talking about fifth-grade teacher Trish McLean, who is also the technology liaison for Pine Bush.

McLean uses both a closed Facebook page — parents must request to join the page and be approved, before they can see any posts — and her Twitter feed for communicating with parents and with other classes.

For instance, McLean uses her Twitter feed, @followMrsMcLean, which is open to anyone in the world who knows her handle, to connect with other classes that are also taking part in the “global math challenge” — coming up with challenging questions for others, and trying to solve the questions that others post.

Teachers have become flexible about offering options, said Lemoyne. “They know that not every parent is on Facebook, and not every parent is on Twitter.”

Sara Duprey said, “We don’t follow her [McLean’s] closed Facebook page; we follow her on Twitter.”

Elizabeth Bunday, mother of Lynnwood Elementary third-grader Will Bunday, said, “I love these apps. The school year goes by so fast; it is great to see everything as it happens.” She added that another thing she likes about teacher Meredith Schaefer’s use of Seesaw and the closed Facebook page is that they are “green” and paperless.

Digital dialogs

Other electronic tools currently used by Guilderland teachers include:

— Remind 101: This app allows teachers to send text messages to parents, with practical information such as, “Tomorrow is the cultural fair” or, “If you haven’t handed in your permission slip yet, please send it tomorrow,” said LeMoyne. It also allows parents to respond immediately, even without knowing a teacher’s cell-phone number;

— Classroom websites: These are more interactive now, and less static, than they were in the past, Lemoyne said. They can offer “a constant flow of information in different directions, with real-time notification,” she added.

Class websites can feature a teacher’s Twitter and Facebook feeds in one place as well as blog posts that parents can comment on, calendars, and even cafeteria menus;

— Mystery Skype: In this 21st-Century form of the game Twenty Questions, a teacher pairs up with and schedules a live Skype session with another class in the same grade somewhere in the country.

Once the two classes can see one another on their tablets or computers, they ask one another yes-or-no questions, such as “Are you west of the Rocky Mountains?” or, “Are you in the desert?”

Using maps and information about climate and culture, said Lemoyne, the classes begin to home in on one another. The goal is to be the first side to correctly guess the other’s location.

Of playing this with her first-graders, Richardson said, “They’re learning how to ask questions, and learning that they’re not the only first-grade classroom in the country.”