The 21st century has witnessed many changes, from new lifestyle trends and new ways of doing business to new academic methods. Schools have started expanding their horizons with not only creative teaching and cultural activities but also by adopting smart classes in their pedagogy. Progressive tools such as Student Management Systems have catalysed the shift from traditional schooling to smart schooling. We’ll understand how these systems have brought about a permanent change in the education sector through this article.
The Internet has revolutionised almost everything and every industry on this planet. It has transformed the education industry too by impacting the way school functions. We’ll learn how it has given birth to efficient Student Management Systems and School Management Systems. We’ll understand how Internet forms the basis of smart schools.
Internet became a hero in the education sector as the coronavirus pandemic spread rapidly across the globe. Schools have shut their doors, and physical classes have transitioned to virtual classes. This transition has happened smoothly in the schools that had the best student management systems and school management systems in place. Let us explore them in detail.
STUDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
A student management system, also referred to as Student Information System, is a software innovated to help schools manage and track all their school data – attendance tracking, grades, marks, behaviours, feedbacks and more. It has a pivotal role to play in communication and scheduling.
It is a fully computerised system with customised login access given to all the stakeholders. It works as the core database for all the operations of the school. It has the following modules and features to manage the teaching and administrative tasks:
- Quick Admissions Process: A student management system manages the entire admission process from the initial stage when the student is a prospective customer to the final stage when they have enrolled with the school. The entire process is quick, systematic and error-free.
- Manages the finances: As it manages all the data about the teachers, administrative staff, parents and students, all the fee payments, salary payments and other billing information is easily maintained by it.
- Effective Communication: It has specific apps and portals for parents, teachers and students. Therefore, it is known as a useful tool for data collection and communication amongst all the stakeholders.
- Excellent Analysis: As it has all the students’ data, it can identify student behaviour trends and offer solutions to enhance their overall performance.
- Easy to access: These systems are cloud-based making it easy to access and manage. They require lower hardware management, lower-tech support and get hands-free upgrades.
- High data security: As schools have an array of sensitive personal information, these systems provide high data security so that no sensitive information is leaked anywhere.
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
As the name suggests, these systems offer management software to schools to manage their day-to-day operations. They manage the learning process of students, teaching process of students and other administrative functions. They have a cloud-based system, and everything can be done online. It is an “All-in-one” solution to all your school education-related woes. It offers tools to manage student records, activities and school administration. It makes the working of the schools efficient by connecting various departments and automating the processes.
We have listed down its advantages below.
SCHOOL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ADVANTAGES
Seamless communication
All the information about the teachers and the students is available in real-time. The stakeholders – teachers, students and parents – can access it from their dashboards. The parents can keep a tab on their child’s progress, and the teachers can track assignment submission. This availability of information in real-time ensures no lag in communication.
Ease-of-access to study material
The teachers can create a vault of study material course-wise and class-wise. The students can access the videos, images, articles, assignments, etc. online by logging into their respective accounts. They provide a collaborative e-learning environment.
Efficient management
They automate all the management operations. Therefore, you require a lesser workforce and manage the resources easily as compared to pre-automation.
Good Feedback system
In a traditional classroom setting, many shy students might not give honest suggestions and reviews to their teachers concerning their teaching styles. But on an online platform like this, students can provide honest and unbiased feedback. A right School Management System maintains the anonymity of the student. This would help the students and the teachers who will be able to identify the areas of improvement and work.
Student tracking with ease
The system provides for an automatic attendance for each student which marks their present when they login to their class. This system also checks the students’ progress in the online class, whether it is their task submission or taking an online test or providing feedback or anything else.
The students, teachers and school leaders have problems that need constant support. Some of these problems are similar across schools, and some are unique to each school, and any of them could make your programme ineffective. School Management Systems provider can customise the software according to your school’s needs. It will help you leapfrog in your smart school journey and cover the gaps quickly.
Desperate times as these of a pandemic prepare us for the worst. The ed-tech sector is booming and snowballing at a pace that we couldn’t have imagined before the COVID-19 pandemic hit us. It is innovating time management tools and study plans that make online learning faster. It has made Internet the pivot of the entire system as it is a vast ocean whose resources are available at your fingertips through a gadget such as a laptop, computer, phone, etc.
The sudden transition from offline to online learning has impacted both the students as well as the teachers. While the teachers have had to amend their courses, get training and upskill themselves, the students have had to get accustomed to a new isolated learning environment. Make this environment fun, engaging, stress-free and error-free by investing in a sound school management system and student management system.
