Modern classrooms have evolved into digital learning spaces. Even though schools have re-opened, online education is gaining pace. Anywhere classrooms are not just limited to
higher education courses and educational institutes need to be able to keep up with the demand for hybrid learning.
However, even though online learning models aren’t new, they haven’t been implemented extensively like never before. Hundreds of learners are empowered to attend classes. This in turn has made the student-to-teacher ratio redundant. Modern education is now underlined by the need for accessibility, and online learning tools are making it easier to help retain knowledge. It still begs the question, are schools and high-ed institutes fully equipped for this new phase of education? Smart classroom management is now a need of the hour.
At any rate,
technology is at the helm of this transformation for the education industry. Edtech has contributed massively to the transition towards mass hybrid learning. With so many tools, teachers and learners may just be able to achieve the ideal learning environment online that simulates the interactivity, collaboration, and social elements that traditional classrooms are known for. One way to accomplish a richer anywhere classroom is by implementing a classroom management solution. Classroom management solutions assist educators in delivering a meaningful classroom experience.
How Classroom Management Software Address Learning Challenges?
eLearning has become a mainstream educational concept. In the age of remote learning. Today, students are accessing the classroom through a multitude of devices, and educators must be able to accommodate, encourage, and foster learning in the face of the many challenges that come with it. Classroom management tools ensure that the learning experience isn’t hampered. It offers tools that enable teachers to keep attendance, plan courses, draft lesson plans, and implement teaching strategies, track student progress, and so much more.
In this article, we explore how the right classroom management platform enables smart classroom management. We also talk about the
benefits of classroom management software, the features of classroom management software that are must-have for effective learning, and what tools address the most common hurdles in online learning.
Eliminate Paperwork
Paperwork is a big challenge for many educators and administrators. From documenting student information to managing and storing student grading, assessment, and exam information, paperwork takes up a significant portion of day-to-day tasks. Classroom management platforms enable educators to reduce paperwork and any repetitive tasks associated with documentation.
Manage Overuse of Personal Gadgets
Excessive screen time is a major deterrent to engaged learning. Even though screen times will increase due to eLearning, teachers will have the ability to manage distractions during classes with classroom management platforms.
Evaluate Students
With the increasing gap between teachers’ to students’ ratio, there is no doubt that the educators are
burdened and stressed. Evaluating each student and giving her the attention she needs to perform well is affected. Classroom management comes in to assist teachers to monitor students with classroom management and review details like their attendance, leaves, assignments and more.
Maintain Class Records
Maintaining class records and class progress is just one of the many responsibilities of a teacher. It isn’t wrong to say that it takes up a huge chunk of the teacher’s time. However, these records are essential in order to track student progress and keep an eye on individual as well as group performance.
The 7 Best Features that Address Classroom Management Challenges
Student Performance Management
How students perform, their attendance details, grade and assignment history are all administrative duties that good educators understand they must track. Classroom management platforms offer easy and digitalized access to all this information. It allows educators to track their collective class progress as well as individual performance. This in turn helps in managing the class better and enhancing learning activities. Teachers and professors can store the data and access it at any time. This also allows them to identify individual students who are lagging, areas of learning that the class finds difficult. It empowers educators with the information they need to bring them up to speed while also encouraging other students to improve.
Virtual Whiteboard
A whiteboards is a classroom essential. Online classrooms may not completely accommodate them, but they can be a powerful fixture.
Many smart classroom management tools offer virtual whiteboards that simulate the classroom setting. They are known to be an effective aid in helping students retain information and concentrate in class better. Virtual whiteboards go one step further. They can be downloaded, saved, and even printed. Some tools also allow educators to gamify the classroom experience through quizzes, videos, and other interactive formats. Traditionally, whiteboards were used to project images, presentations and even movies to keep the class engaged. Today’s virtual whiteboard help in doing the same but without restricting a classroom to four walls.
Browser and mobile support
Accessibility is fundamental to online learning models, and making classroom management tools easy to use on basic systems is key to ensuring inclusivity. If they are too complex or cause technical difficulties, they aren’t serving their purpose. Mobile support is one way to enforce accessibility. Remote learning classroom management solutions that take cross-device support into account offer a classroom experience for both educators and learners that isn’t hampered by technicality. Since they are designed to integrate smoothly with any device as well as the most popular browsers, they ensure parents don’t have to configure their systems or buy new devices for their children to learn online. Being able to use their existing devices allows both privileged and underprivileged students to easily continue their education.
Course Planning and Management
Digital tools have been able to change the game completely for educators. Some smart classroom management platforms boast features like course planning and management that encompass lesson planning, course content management, grading schema creation, assessment scheduling and much more. It allows for teachers to better plan their course as well as individual lessons. In addition, it empowers the assessment process and scheduling by ensuring one is conducted at regular intervals. The resulting grades reveal insights on the class’ progress and retention of the course material.
Communication and Collaboration
Classrooms offer the ability for learners to interact with their peers and their educators. The easy collaboration allows for ideas to thrive and facilitates them to grasp difficult concepts quicker while retaining information. The one-on-one interaction with educators is significant for many students. A collaborative classroom management platform that offers seamless ways to communicate provides a thriving environment where all parties are able to discuss new ideas, spark conversations, share feedback, team up with peers, and learn social and interpersonal skills. While some students may have more questions than others, teachers are better able to spread their attention across the class while answering, to individual queries. Unlike in a traditional classroom, one student’s question doesn’t keep the whole class waiting but provides a controlled forum for such discussions to take place.
Blended Learning Options
Hybrid models are becoming common in education and especially so in higher-ed. With both online and offline learning in the mix, flexibility and enrolment is off the charts. Blended learning allows students to interact with the coursework in a myriad of ways. Many classroom management tools provide support for tracking both online and offline learning journeys. This ensures students overcome stagnation and monotony, while teachers can follow their students’ progress. From registering for classes to conducting workshops and other interactive sessions, support for blending learning lets students and educators take control of their learning journey.
Reporting and Analytics
Data analytics is one of the best areas of tech to have happened to decision making. With digitalization, classrooms are now a huge source of data that empowers educators with the information they need to enhance the classroom and the remote leaning classroom management approach. Reporting capabilities combined with data analytics tools, educators are able to uncover insights at a granular level and make informed decisions about the course, lessons, grading, and assessments. Some tools offer dashboard functionalities that allow both students and teachers to be on the same page about the class, assignment submissions, deadlines, and exam dates.
Conclusion
Education is evolving as the cradle of learning, and classrooms need to follow suit. Now that learning is rapidly becoming a hybrid experience, classroom management software is more essential now than ever. With the complete classroom sometimes accessing lectures online, educators and school administrators have a responsibility to ensure that learners have the right tools, resources, and know-how to attend online classes. In addition, they must ensure that all technical abilities receive troubleshooting in time.
A remote learning classroom management software will contribute to an anywhere classroom that enables learning no matter where the educators and learners are located. With documentation, tracking of student progress, lesson planning, attendance mapping, and other features of classroom management software, educators and administrators can save a lot of time and money. With an abundance of options to choose from, the features in this article will help schools find the right classroom management platform for them without making a dent in the school’s technology budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does classroom management software cost?
Many classroom management systems offer pricing on per-seat basis. This means schools can easily scale their software as required by adding one or more seats whenever students enrol.
How is a classroom management platform implemented?
Classroom management platforms offer custom implementation as well as standard implementation of their software.
Do classroom management platforms integrate with other classroom software?
Most classroom management platforms are designed to integrate with a host of other classroom solutions used for communications and collaboration, like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and more.