The messaging system is useful, however outside of the school house students almost never use it. I believe this may be due to a lack of a notification system. For Chrome, I know it's possible to implement 'Push Notifications'. In that instance, if they've logged into Netacad from their browser, be it on a phone or laptop, they can receive notifications that they have received a message. Another alternative could be a very lightweight android or IOS app for just logging into the messaging system, and ensuring they get notifications for incoming messages. If the app route is an option, it would be beneficial to also include access to the calendar. That way, it can me a reference point for on-going classes. Such an app would be very simple to implement.