Individual Users – Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ: If I have an individual account, whom can I invite to my observation team?
Answer: Any other Individual user with an SMT registered account can accept an invitation to join an observation. You need to know the email they are using for their SMT account. Someone who is a member of a group account (Teacher Education or K-12 School) cannot join your individual account when they are already in a group account. To join your observation team, they would need a separate individual SMT account using an email different from their group account. This prevents crossover observations from individual to group accounts and is in place for security and confidentiality reasons.
FAQ: Since four is the maximum number of observers for any observation, does that mean I can only have four colleagues as observation team members?
Answer: No. While you can only have three other colleagues joining an observation (with you making a total of four on the team), your list of potential colleagues to choose from is limited only by how many people you know who have a registered SMT account. From that list, you can choose any three to join an observation. And you could choose a different three for the next observation. When choosing observation partners, if using video, keep in mind confidentiality and protection of minors when it comes to deciding who can view the video
FAQ: I have an individual account, but my school will use SMT for observation. Can I keep my individual account and still participate in the school’s group account?
Answer: Yes, you can keep the individual account, but for the group account, you will need to use an email that is different from the one used for the individual account. Most individual account users registered for SMT using their personal email accounts, not their school email.
FAQ: The registration cost covers me for how much time?
Answer: Each registration is good for one year from the date of registration. For the user's convenience, registration will automatically roll over unless they cancel their registration. And SMT gives plenty of notice before the new registration begins. The user will receive an email 30 days before the rollover to allow them plenty of time to cancel their registration before renewal.
FAQ: Can I cancel my initial registration or cancel it after the renewal has taken place?
Answer: Once registration or renewal is finalized, the user can still cancel at any time by going to SMT login, and under Billing, there is a button to cancel the account. If the registration or renewal process has already occurred, no refunds will be given to the user. However, since the user paid their registration, they will still have access to and can use that account until that initial registration or renewal period ends. Because the user canceled the account, the next renewal will not occur. A reminder that registration renewal emails are automatically sent to the SMT user's account email.
Teacher Education - Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ: How can I set up an SMT account for myself (methods instructor) and the 35 future teachers in my class?
Answer: Go to www.seemeteach.com, and under Plans and Pricing, you will find the link for registration and payment for a school or a teacher preparation plan. The class leader or administrator who sets up the account can participate in the group, and they are not counted toward the number of paid slots for their group. At the time of registration, they need to know and enter how many paid accounts (teachers or other administrators) they wish to have in their group and the group members' emails.
FAQ: What do I do if I have a group consisting of the clinical experience supervisor and 25 fieldwork students, and I want to add four more fieldwork students and cooperating teachers to my group?
Answer: At this time, email doc@seemeteach.com and let them know how many more users to add to your group account. Include the institution's name, department, program, group leader or administrator's name, email used for the group SMT account, and phone number. SMT will add those additional slots to your account and invoice the administrator for the change in registration.
FAQ: I have 21 users in my group, but one person left the program and will no longer be a part of our SMT group. Can I fill that slot with another person?
Answer: Yes, you can fill that slot with another person. Go to SMT Login, Contacts, and Remove the user that has left the group. That should free up a slot, showing how many more users can be invited into the group before you have reached the paid registration limit. If that number is one or more, invite a new user to the group. They will get an email with an invitation they need to click on to accept (and they create a password, etc.). The new user, of course, doesn't pay because the group administrator has already paid for the members of the group. If the administrator needs more slots than they initially required – see the answer to the FAQ above in which you contact support@seemeteach.com for support.
FAQ: I am the university supervisor for ten fieldwork students. I want to form a group of 10 students, plus myself. How do we pay for SMT registration?
Answer: There are a couple of things to consider.
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First, a typical "group" registration (see alternative group formation below) can be paid by:
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one credit card payment that covers all members of the group, or
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the group administrator initiates payment via purchase order (email to doc@seemeteach.com or fax 866-414-3456, and SMT generates an invoice sent to the administrator of the group.
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Remember, when forming a group, the user who is the group administrator has a free account, so in the case of 1 group admin and ten students, the request to SMT is for 11 users in the account, but the cost is only for ten users.
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Second, if each student in the group is paying for their registration, how can the group administrator collect the money from the ten fieldwork students?
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Some universities add a course fee/per student to cover the cost of SMT registration. Then when the fieldwork supervisor (and the administrator of the SMT group) registers themselves and their students, they pay with a department credit card or provide a Purchase Order number so an invoice can be sent to the department for payment.
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Note that sometimes teacher education programs pay for the registration cost for the cooperating or mentor teacher so they too can participate and collaborate in observations and feedback.
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Third, if the two group payment suggestions above are not feasible, then perhaps the alternate group registration via a single-user plan process works better. The alternative way to establish a group is to set up an informal group where the university supervisor and fieldwork students register as Single Users and then invite each other (and accept) as collaborators. Also, read the response below to understand why this might be a preferable option.
FAQ: In a teacher preparation program, if I am a methods instructor who has assignments linked to Fall semester fieldwork placements and my students who are registered SMT users finish my course and their fieldwork, then enter a different course in the Spring semester with a course instructor/fieldwork supervisor who wants them to use SMT to process their student teaching observations, is it best to form registered groups or best to have all the students and the instructor/supervisor register as single users – the alternative group registration?
Answer: Unlike teachers in a school who stay within that group for the whole school year, teacher education students start and finish courses or start and complete fieldwork or student teaching experiences during a semester. So, in some scenarios, it is probably best to have teacher education students register as single users and have each student pay the registration fee that will cover them for one whole year. Then for the 1st semester, each user can invite those who need to be part of their collaborative teams, such as their methods instructor (or vice versa), their cooperating teacher, their university supervisor, and fellow fieldwork students if they are working together at a school placement. This process might also be best in the case of an assignment from the methods instructor, which requires small groups to collaborate on observation and provide feedback. When the semester ends, and the teacher education students are in different classes or have new collaborators, under their Contacts List, they can Remove users that no longer should be collaborators and add new collaborators as needed. The benefit of all those users being within one formal group using the group plan vs. a single-user plan is that no group user can invite someone who shouldn't have access. As such, if videos are used for observation, they remain accessible to only the group members and the instructor – the people who usually have access to those classrooms.
FAQ: With the power of SMT and how the potential for collaboration between the university supervisor, student-teacher, and cooperating teacher is built right into SMT, how can we get more cooperating teachers involved in using SMT and being part of the collaborative team, sharing observation notes, data, and summative forms?
Answer: Universities highly value cooperating teachers for feedback and mentoring. Some universities secure grants and gifts from donors to cover the registration cost for the cooperating teachers. Some institutions consider it an expense, while other universities have the fieldwork student or student-teacher pay a course fee covering the cooperating teacher's SMT registration.
FAQ: If I am in a school group or a teacher education group, I know that I can only have collaborators from a select group of people that the group administrator has invited to the group. If I want to have colleagues outside of the group collaborate with me on observations and feedback, how can I do so?
Answer: You are correct. You cannot collaborate with anyone outside the group as part of that group account. First, keep in mind that privacy rules would probably prevent you from sharing any video of students in K-12 with those who would not normally be working with those students. In addition, school district policies and laws need to be considered, especially concerning the United States, where the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") applies to children under the age of 13 and requires parental permission to record or store any video of children under the age of 13.
However, suppose you sign up as a single user. In that case, you can invite any person you would like to include as collaborators on observations unless they are part of a group account, in which case that email cannot be used for both accounts. If that is the case, use their alternate email when collaborating with you. Remember that SMT will only let a specific email address work for either a group or a single user, but not both. For example, if your school email address is used with your school group, you must use a different email address, such as @gmail or @yahoo, when registering for your single-user account.
FAQ: The registration cost covers me for how much time?
Answer: Each registration is good for one year from the date of registration. For the user's convenience, registration will automatically roll over unless they cancel their registration. And SMT gives plenty of notice before the new registration begins. The user or administrator will receive an email 30 days before the rollover to allow them plenty of time to cancel their registration before renewal. The renewal email will be sent to the administrator who established the group for schools or teacher education groups that paid for the group members.
FAQ: Can I cancel my initial registration or cancel it after the renewal has taken place?
Answer: Once initial registration or renewal is finalized, the user can cancel at any time by going to SMT login, and under Billing, there is a button to cancel the account. If the registration or renewal process has already occurred (a reminder that registration will renew is automatically sent to the email associated with the SMT user's account), no refunds will be given to the user. However, since the user paid their registration, they will still have access to and can use that account until that initial registration or renewal period ends. Because the user canceled their account, the next renewal will not occur.
K-12 Schools – Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ: How can I set up a school account for myself (the Principal) and the 35 teachers in my school?
Answer: Go to www.seemeteach.com, and under Plans and Pricing, you will find the link for registration and payment for a school or a teacher preparation plan. The administrator who sets up the account can participate in the group, and they are not counted in the number of paid slots for their group. At the time of registration, they need to know and enter how many paid accounts (teachers or other administrators) they wish to have in their group. They will be asked to enter the emails of group members they plan to invite.
FAQ: What do I do if I have a school group consisting of the Principal and 25 teachers, and I want to add four more teachers to my group?
Answer: At this time, email doc@seemeteach.com and let them know how many more users to add to your group account. Include the name of the school district, the school, the group administrator's name and email used for the group SMT account, and a phone number. SMT will add those slots to your account and invoice the administrator for the change in registration.
FAQ: I have 21 users in my group, but one teacher left the school and will no longer be a part of our SMT group. Can I fill that slot with the teacher who takes their place?
Answer: Yes, you can fill that slot with another person. Go to SMT Login, Contacts, and first remove the user that has left the group to free up space for the new person. Then SMT will show how many more users can be invited into the group before reaching the paid registration limit. If that number is one or more, invite a new user to the group. They will get an email with an invitation that they will need to click on to accept (and they create a password, etc.). The new user, of course, doesn't pay because the group administrator has already paid for the members of the group. If the administrator needs more slots than what they initially required – see the answer to the FAQ above in which you contact support@seemeteach.com for support.
FAQ: With the power of SMT and how the potential for collaboration between the university supervisor, student-teacher, and cooperating teacher is built right into SMT, how can we get more university supervisors and student-teachers involved in using SMT and being part of the collaborative team, sharing observation notes, data, and summative forms?
Answer: Universities highly value collaboration between the university supervisor and the cooperating teacher for feedback and mentoring. The school might suggest that the teacher education program use SMT as an observation platform because SMT gathers a ton of data for feedback, recommendations, indicators of growth, and decision-making. Some universities secure grants and gifts from donors to cover the cost of registration for the university and cooperating teachers. Others build it in as an expense, while other universities have the fieldwork student or student-teacher pay a course fee covering the cooperating teacher's SMT registration.
FAQ: If I am in a school group or a teacher education group, I know that I can only have collaborators from a select group of people that the group administrator has invited to the group. If I want to have colleagues outside of the group collaborate with me on observations and feedback, how can I do so?
Answer: You are correct. You cannot collaborate with anyone outside the group as part of that group account. First, keep in mind that privacy rules would probably prevent you from sharing any video of students in K-12 with those who would not normally be working with those students. In addition, school district policies and laws need to be considered, especially concerning the United States, where the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") applies to children under the age of 13 and requires parental permission to record or store any video of children under the age of 13.
However, if you sign up as a single user, you can invite any person you would like to include as a collaborator on observations. Remember that SMT will only let a specific email address work for either a group or a single user, but not both. For example, if your school email address is used with your school group, you must use a different email address, such as @gmail or @yahoo when you register for your single-user account.
FAQ: The registration cost covers me for how much time?
Answer: Each registration is good for one year from the date of registration. For the user's convenience, registration will automatically roll over unless they cancel their registration. And SMT gives plenty of notice before the new registration begins. The user or administrator will receive an email 30 days before the rollover to allow them plenty of time to cancel their registration before renewal.
FAQ: Can I cancel my initial registration or cancel it after the renewal has taken place?
Answer: Once registration or renewal is finalized, the user can still cancel at any time by going to SMT, login, and under Billing, there is a button to cancel the account. If the registration or renewal process has already occurred, no refunds will be given to the user. However, since the user paid their registration, they will still have access to and can use that account until that initial registration or renewal period ends. Because the user canceled the account, the next renewal will not occur. This a reminder that registration renewal emails are automatically sent to the SMT user's account email. The renewal email will be sent to the administrator who established the group for schools or teacher education groups.