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Education Technology

Article | August 4, 2022

Table of Content What is the School Management System? Benefits of Having School Management System Why is the School Management System Required in Educational Institutions? Conclusion Managing the day-to-day tasks of the educational institute is not at all easy. There are thousands of things that need to be tracked regularly. Therefore, software development companies have come up with a technological solution that can help the institutes seamlessly perform their daily activities. The solution is a school management system or we can say an ERP system for schools and colleges. In this blog, we will learn more about it and see how its implementation can be beneficial. What is the School Management System? The school management system is software that manages the complex tasks of educational institutions like schools, colleges, and coaching centers. It is a tool specially designed to automate the education institutions’ management and operations. The school management system is a paperless administration that helps in avoiding costly errors and also saves a lot of time. Benefits of Having School Management System The main advantage of school management software enables the students, teachers, and parents to connect with each other. Besides this, there are some other benefits of implementing the management system in educational institutions and they are - 1. Increases Productivity With the use of the school management system, educational institutions can boost their productivity. The reason behind the increase in productivity is that the system decreases the time to maintain the track records and organize the data. This makes the work progress of the institution very accurate. Besides, the lesser time the institute takes to manage the data, the more productive it becomes. 2. Anywhere Access The school management software can be accessed from anywhere and at any time. It keeps the record of everything and those things are easily accessible. Basically, the software is the way to provide information at the immediate measures. 3. Student-Teacher Collaboration With the use of cloud-based management software, the collaboration between teacher and student becomes beyond the classrooms. It helps to increase the interactions between the students and the institute’s staff members. This interaction happens through the application. 4. Reduces Workload The digital platform reduces the workload of the staff members. They don't have to manually note down the data of the students or create studying materials manually. So be it the administration department or teachers, all can be relaxed and do their tasks digitally with fewer efforts. Why is the School Management System Required in Educational Institutions? School Management System is a digital platform that enables educational institutions to regularly manage administrative and academic activities like admission, online fee payment, attendance, online classes, and more. Besides this, there are some more important reasons that make school educational software an essential element in schools and colleges. They are - 1. Easy & Smooth Communication With the school management platform, the communication between the school authorities and students becomes easy and fast. It makes the communication channel between the teachers, parents, and students very convenient. The school can send fee reminders and student’s report cards to the parents through this school software. 2. Creates School Branding In this technologically advanced world, not having a school management system can make the education institute look underrated. The schools that use this type of software have a positive impact on the parents, students, and teachers. And this positive impact can help in building a good brand value for the school. 3. Transparency The school management platform makes all the information transparent for every user. For instance, if the student is absent for one day then it gets visible on his curriculum. Besides, if parents are busy and cannot attend the PTA meeting, then they can check the meeting details on the application. 4. Student Management The education software allows the institution to save the data related to the student’s promotion, performance, homework, attendance, projects, admissions, and more. This makes it easy for the school to check a particular student’s details as per their grades in one place. 5. Managing Employee & Their Payroll With the help of the school software, the administration can easily manage and keep track of the salary of the teachers and other staff members. Besides, they can also keep a record of the other salary-related works like leaves, deduction, bonus, and more. The software helps in calculating all these things without any error. 6. GPS Tracking The school management system can help the education institute and parents to keep track of student’s safety and security. The software provides GPS tracking of the school bus which can be accessed by the parents and the school administration. They can track the transportation route of the bus and if for any reason the bus is not on time, they can check its location and see to it when the students will reach the school or home. Conclusion As seen in this blog, there are many advantages of implementing a school management system in educational institutes. It facilitates the schools and colleges to manage their operations with ease. And it also covers the loopholes of the traditional education management methods. To sum it up, having a school management platform can lessen the workload and increase the productivity of students, teachers, and administration.

Online Education

Article | July 19, 2022

A federal appeals court on Wednesday held in the long-running case of transgender student Gavin Grimm that his Virginia school district violated the equal-protection clause and Title IX when it barred him from the boys restroom when he was in high school. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va., also ruled 2-1 that the Gloucester County district violated Grimm's rights by refusing to amend his school records after Grimm, who was assigned female at birth, had chest reconstruction surgery and the state amended his birth certificate to "male."

Education Technology

Article | July 14, 2022

2020-21 proved pivotal for online learning technologies. The sudden shift to remote classrooms pressed educators and parents to emphasize environments conducive to anywhere learning, creating anywhere classrooms everywhere. Classroom management has become integral to these new settings where learning has to be an extension of the physical classroom. Virtual classrooms may still be in their nascent stage, but this is the time to test better ways and establish smart classrooms that are flexible, advanced, and encourage knowledge retention. What Makes a Classroom Smart? A smart classroom will make extensive use of technology to engage and immerse learners. The tools will be designed to generate interactions between educators, learners, and parents through multiple media. For instance, laptops and tablets will complement or even replace books, and a significant portion of the curriculum will require online tools to implement the study plan. According to TeachThought experts, there are eight components to a smart classroom technology stack: Integration of the digital and physical space in learning Live feedback from teachers Diverse technology usage, like smartphone apps and Wi-Fi Workflows that are not linear Customized learning paths and environments Transitioning lessons with no beginning or end A new approach to delivering learning Availability of an immense amount of data Managing a Smart Classroom Traditional classroom management thrives on the ability of educators and students to create a robust learning environment that promotes an exchange of ideas and the creation of a learning ecosystem that is conducive to creativity and productivity. Managing a smart classroom with or without technology is about keeping learners engaged and focused on the learning outcomes. A technologically-driven smart classroom only aids learners to develop self-initiative and act independently when it comes to presenting ideas and projects. Smart classroom management will focus on three things, namely: lesson and group organization; instructional approach, and optimization of technology and time. Passive learning isn’t something every student will prefer, so digital smart classrooms offer them the avenue to initiate learning, actively learning and get involved in class forums. Smart classroom management also comprises addressing technology-based hurdles for accessibility and technicalities. For instance, issues like cyberbullying, data security, ransomware, and a breakdown in internet access can hamper lessons and cause interruptions. What Are the Best Practices to Follow? In traditional classroom management, the emphasis on student-teacher association is paramount. The point is to establish relationships, define boundaries and help identify the students’ strong and weak points in order to help them thrive. Educators and school administrators can follow a range of best practices to get the most out of smart classroom technologies. Here are some best practices to follow: Do a thorough check of whether all technology is working as it should Set a contingency plan for when something goes wrong Determine protocols for providing students with the help and point of contact they need when something isn’t working Set collaboration guidelines to avoid unnecessary back and forth Provide teachers and students with an avenue to engage offline as well Take regular screen breaks What’s Next? Today, technology is a playground of the youth and even the youngest school students are well versed with the use of technology. It is only a matter of leveraging this familiarity and affinity and ensuring that learners are making the most of these skills. Embracing a smart classroom fully will take tome but the possibility to create a springboard for richer learning experience using it is immense.

Article | August 25, 2020

How fitting that our last day of in-person learning was Friday the 13th. I’m the vice principal at St. Barnabas Elementary School in the Bronx. That day in March I was refilling hand sanitizer when our week-long closure was announced. Like many of us, we scrambled, tossing teacher’s editions into bags and packing as many manipulatives as we could carry, all while lugging chart paper over our shoulders just in case. We didn’t know what was needed, so it all seemed logical to take.