Gradekeeper for iPad 4+

Batch Email?

This is my grade book of choice and has been for 10 years. It works well and has great functionality. But how about the ability to batch email student grade reports from the iPad? I used to use the Mac version to do this but the Mac version won’t be updated. The web version introduced a nasty bug that stopped dropping low scores when I batch emailed my student reports. So why not just add this functionality to the iPad version?

Developer Response ,

All outgoing email on the iPad must go through Apple's mail app. So it is not possible to do batch emails to all students the way it is in the web app.

If you see a bug in the web app, please contact me. I have done plenty of testing and never seen anything like what you describe, and nobody else has contacted me about anything like this.

Needs some improvement

Needs the ability to print. I understand the developer wants people to buy the full version for that capability, but there should be some way to unlock printing after you have connected once to your computer. I print off progress reports a lot, and it's frustrating if a student comes to me asking for an updated report that I have to connect to my computer to print one. Also, set up for adding assignments didn't work well for me. For some reason the add button was difficult to select, and I ended up closing and reopening the window multiple times before finally being able to add the assignment. Maybe a little larger add button would work better.

Save Your Money

I wanted a simple, easy-to-use gradebook and attendance record, like my old markbooks. The rave reviews and the online screenshots led me to believe that this was it. It isn't.

As other reviews have noted, the iPad app interface isn't at all easy or intuitive to use. I was expecting — hoping for — a spreadsheet-like template into which I could easily enter or import my student lists, then their attendance and their test grades. (This is what's shown on the developer's website, and it's not clear that it isn't available in the iPad version.) There may be a way to do this in the iPad app but not easily or obviously (and I'm pretty tech savvy). Moreover, the documentation is very sparse, really little more than a brief description. Apparently, if the reviews are to be believed, this is a great program — on the computer. However, the iPad app seems to lack many if not most of the functions and ease of use.

I'm sure the developer is well-meaning and hard-working, and one day this may be a great app. At present however, as another reviewer put it, it's not ready for prime time. Perhaps the developer could put out a demo version for the iPad before people spend their money on the real thing. I'm sorry, but it's definitely not worth $4.99 at this point. Save your money.