If you use Firefox as your browser you can make the type bigger. May be true of other browsers. Mine won't seem to resize in IE 6.

I don't have a lot of time trying to figure out all of these communties, groups and boards. I would like to be able to jump in and help someone but so far it is taking way too much time.
I dont see spell check either.

Recent activites is awesome. Thanks for the tip : ) Helps see the big picture.

I am not sold on this new feature, just yet. I agree that it shows strides in the right direction. But I have some serious concerns.

The recent activity displays activity every time there is a post. So if you an I keep posting on this thread and have an interchange of ten posts each. There will be 20 items on this new recent activity posts -- rather than just one to track a particular thread. In the end -- that's a lot of information to process.

I do agree that the "Recent Activity of My Groups" will be a more useful feature. But when it notes number of comments, it is only based upon replies to a comment. Since most of us post to a discussion, this feature will usually display a 0.

As the board gets busier, I really worry how I am going to keep track of post and specifically of new posts and where I left off reading at my last visit.

The watch list has been modified as a notification center. I think that here you note how and when you wuld like to be notified by email. I no longer see new posting available from this pulldown watch list under your dashboard. Perhaps they still dipslay from "My Snapshot"?

I still need to click each group and each and every discussion that I want to track. There is no way to note when I have already responded to a particular thread. And as far as I can tell, I am unable to track new posts since my last visit.

I am particularily disappointed that the background color and font size issues have still not been addressed -- since it is an issue of access. (Background colors are relatively easy to change.)

We've still got a long way to go.

Well, the GOOD NEWS is that Greatschools did take a step in the right direction this evening, releasing a more user-friendly tracking ability...just below the green menu bar is now an added choice to select, called "Recent Activity." It's a way of knowing what's happening across the entire site, rather than having to click from group to group....and it's got "live" links, so if you see a response from someone or anything else you want to comment on, you can just click on it there, rather than it taking multiple steps....
(Now, if they could work on their miserable search feature, and give people an opportunity to change from little grey font on white background, I think we could really entice a lot of the schwabwassie's to give GS another try....)

Problem is he is not having to "maintain" the old board or 2 boards, just needs to harness the features and more advanced technology into the GS forum.

Guess I'm singing to the choir, so I will sit down. : )

GS founder aleary replied on this issue. Here is the thread:

www.schwablearning.org/message_boards/view_discussion.aspx?thread=26791

That is unfortunate because the "value" of this board is highly dependent on the volunteers who are willing to share their experiences and therey save other children and parents / guardians much heart ache and sorrow.

I would appreciate a reply from GS staff, or better yet - GS corporate management on this matter. Doesn't take a rocket scientist or a math whiz to figure out that the cooperative effort of everyone working together is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

The sad fact of the matter is: GS already has access to the format that we wanted -- the old SchwabLearning Message board. If GS had provided or incorporated that format here...there would be no need to have a www.schwabwas.org. Unfortunately, so far the GS answer has been a resounding NO.

Thank you to all who have commented. I believe Great Schools should be seriously negotiating with Geoff to bring the features of the Schwabwas board into the Great School Board. Ideally, the boards could / should be combined, and offer different sectons - much like the groups here on Great Schools.

If the identiy of Great School and Schwabwas is equally important to both, you could design the system to be accessed from either URL address.

My children don't have any learning disabilities; but can be strong willed and challenge me to the maximum of my human limits. However, I appreciate reading the issues and advice, and love the opportunity offer my assistance and encouragement on matters within my realm of knowledge. I now have more resources to suggest to friend who do have children with learning difficulties.

The relationship between this board and Schwabwas is that they are both boards that focus on learning disabilities. The one here is a portion of a larger website that belongs to Greatschools and Schwabwas is a voluntary organization of parents that have already gone through the process of getting IEP's or 504's for their children who are willing to give freely of their time to help others that need information.
Always searching,
grandmabrk

I'm rolling with the two boards now also. My mission right now is to help and reach out to as many new parents as possible and limiting myself to one board wont help accomplish that.
GS will be consolidating all the small groups about LD community.greatschools.net/groups/11530/discussion/143822 or something like that so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I also like the edit post feature here and I'm really getting used to the format. Its was just a learning curve for myself.

great question!! Schwab was a very special board thanks for taking note to that. While everyone has a different look on what is the best board for them is there have been different options. I really dont think GS will have less traffic because of it. The people from schwabb who are here will continue to post here even if they post on schwabwas board. I personally have 3 different boards that Im active in. Each offers different things. I have found GS to be good. I actually like it. Yes its different but every board is different and thats what makes each one unique!! There is also www.millermom.proboards23.com that site has been around forever too even when schwab was up and running but it never took away from schwab. That site is great for ADHD. Great insite on meds/dosage/ and natural alt!

There is no formal relationship between the 2 boards.

Many long time users at Schwablearning found the GS version too cluttered and too difficult to use. Bill Jackson was made aware of the numerous disconnects and although he's made a few changes, the GS site fails to have the functionality and traffic that made Schwablearning one of the top websites for parents of LD kids.

Of course, I tend to be critical and harsh, but I've been doing LD (as a teacher and parent) for over 20 some-odd years and I have little time for people who want to do things the hard way.

2gr8lilgirls, I'm THRILLED that you, as a non-Schwab member, who only learned of it through our conversations here, can appreciate the many positive attributes of www.schwablearning.org compared to this GS format. (I hope Greatschools employees are listening.)

As one of the more "senior" (sounds better than "old") volunteer contributors to schwablearning, I'll give you my "take" on the situation:
Charles Schwab's Foundation was one of the first to offer an on-line community board for parents who were dealing with educational issues (primarily ADHD and LDs.) While his funding paid for salaries of behind-the-scenes people and computer infrastructure and a moderator, as well as "experts" who wrote articles on different education topics, it was volunteer parents who provided most of the "day to day support and advice" to fellow parents. The format of the www.schwabmessage.org "evolved" by taking parent suggestions and comments and making it a very user-friendly board.

Last year, Charles Schwab Foundation decided to stop funding the board, and people were terribly upset. Basically Bill Jackson, Founder of Greatschools, said he would try to "transition" Schwablearning's community over to his, because he was trying to expand Greatschools base. GS is already known for it's "ratings" but they lacked a parent forum.

What I believe happened is that Greatschools was already designing their message board community BEFORE they learned Schwablearning.org was closing. Greatschools claims that because they are trying to meet everyone's educational needs, NOT just parents of children with LD's, that they need to have separate groups for people to go to, based on their interests.

Unfortunately, I feel that the current GS format is very difficult to search and navigate, cumbersome, and not conducive towards building a sense of community. (Anonymous posters are a "pet peeve" of mine.) I think parents who frequent on-line educational communities do so because they have real issues and concerns, and yet it seems to me as if GS is set up more to appeal to people who are into "fashion" more than "function."

Bill Jackson has acknowledged that www.Schwablearning.org may be better than what he's currently offering, but he says his goal within a year is to make GS better than what we even had over at Schwab. I hope he can. I just know that a lot of experienced people who used to be the "backbone" of advice, and what made www.schwablearning such a trusted name for getting honest answers to tough questions, don't have the time to navigate back and forth at GS. Parents who face critical situations with their children don't have the time to wait, either, so they decided to create their own group, www.schwabwas.org, which uses a "greatroom" concept.

To my knowledge, it is an independent effort by former schawblearning contributors to create a greatroom environment that would reproduce the goals of Schwablearning (focus on parents helping parents help their children who have learning disabilities or differences get a Free and Approppriate Public Education (or private if otherwise).

If you go to SchwabLearning, you will find how and why it was created. And for being more user friendly, it was one of the main reasons why the board was created, as I understand it.

Also note that there are other boards that are for parents to communicate together on these issues. I am not sure that the traffic will be diminished on this board because of a new board existing. GreatSchools has one of the most important legacy of Schwablearning, its archives, and Bill Jackson has promised to integrate them on the site.