Online educators. Making school life a success

School classes have seen a complete overhaul after the pandemic created chaos worldwide. Traditional schooling got replaced with online learning to help avoid any learning loss to the students. But it was not enough. Although schools are responsible for bringing quality learning to students, students could barely keep up with their curriculum. This started impacting their learning curve where parents and other related stakeholders got worried about children's future— for the simple reason that students need a firm base to prosper in the future that online learning doesn’t promise.

But as the school and its authorities kept struggling, there was the light at the end of the tunnel. Online educators surfaced in the form of integrated academic solutions. Some of the reasons why schools are opting for integrated academic solutions are:

·        Self-learning: It promotes self-learning where students can learn at their own pace. Every student has their individual needs, and integrated academic solutions serve this well.

·        Inclusivity: Parents usually have been passive players in their child’s academics. However, with this solution, parents can help their children with their academics and trace their performance gaps.

·        Productivity: Integrated solutions automates every school function, which increases productivity across departments. All the manual tasks that students indulge in can now be seamlessly managed.

·        Seamless switching between online/offline/hybrid: Integrated academic solutions help schools switch between online/offline/hybrid models without causing any disruption.

 

The modern-day education space is much more than learning beyond the conventional 4-walled classrooms. Schools these days are getting technologically equipped to provide next-gen education to students. With the help of technology, schools in smaller cities are also getting empowered. Technology no more is a concept of bigger cities. This evolution in schooling brings the need for trained teachers who can efficiently handle online/hybrid school learning. UNESCO says, “Teachers need specific professional development opportunities in order to increase their ability to use ICT for formative learning assessments, individualized instruction, accessing online resources, and for fostering student interaction and collaboration. Such training in ICT should positively impact teachers’ general attitudes towards ICT in the classroom, but it should also provide specific guidance on ICT teaching and learning within each discipline.”

 

When a school partners with integrated academic solutions, besides getting a world-class curriculum for children, undisrupted earnings for students, etc. schools also get trained teachers who are equipped to deal with the online classes and are empowered with skills to make online classes effective.

 

Though many integrated academic and marketing solutions are available, a few names are creating ripples in the education space. Some of the best ones will help schools with:

·        International Standard Curriculum to help students achieve an international standard of education

·        Smart Classrooms to make learning fun at all times

·        Trained teachers to make online classes exciting and to keep boredom away

·        World-class Learning @Home without creating any disruption

·        Unlimited Exposure via Celebrity MasterClasses, Student Championship, Student-Led Conferences, etc.

 

Technology empowering schools in smaller towns

Education space is at an interesting juncture. Technology which was always kept at bay, is now an intrinsic part of progressive schools. Schools in bigger cities have always been proactive in providing futuristic learning; however, schools in smaller cities have always been happy with the traditional form of learning. Little did they know that things would change for them forever (for good), and technology would become their best friend. School authorities in smaller cities live in the notion that perhaps to make technology an essential part of their overall functioning, monumental changes are needed; however, that is incorrect. You have to do partnerships with integrated academic and marketing solutions of credibility and see your school thriving.

It's time for the entire school fraternity to take a lesson from the pandemic and the disruption caused by it and adopt a model that’s beyond the traditional framework and is more robust. 

Digital Classrooms: The modernized way of teaching & learning

Earlier, the education in the classrooms was bound to read books, continuous explanation of the chapters and concepts, writing on the blackboard, and students noting down everything on their notebooks. But, when technology has taken over everything, classrooms and the education system have also adapted the technology in the modern-day.

Technology extends playing online games, shopping online and watching animated videos. The benefits of technology depend upon how children, parents, and teachers use it for effective learning. Utilizing technology well leads to more involvement of students and interactive learning.

Today, digital classes play a vital role in schools and have changed education's scenarios. A Digital Classroom incorporates technology like electronic devices and software into the learning process to teach students. Technology and advanced gadgets give a voice to digital classrooms as the learning process gets easier and interactive for students and teachers.

How has technology improved the traditional learning methods?

There was a time when colourful charts, models and diagrams were characterized as the best learning methods in the school. But in this technology-driven world where technology is at the tip of society and its children, the traditional learning approaches are considered outdated. So now a class with technology is considered the best class and has led to an immense technology trend in the city schools.

Most of the things today are transformed and digitalized due to a rapid surge in the use of the internet, mobile phones, mobile applications, laptops, tablets, and other gadgets. The use of PowerPoint presentations, video presentations, e-learning methods, online training and other digital practices are being given importance and have replaced blackboards and textbooks in all the teaching-learning processes.

In addition, at the present point of time, almost every school has adopted applied sciences techniques as a vital part of their educational system in some or the other way. For instance, Some schools have digitalized the entire teaching and learning process. In contrast, other institutions have imparted the online school management system that manages everything from administration to the clerical and teaching and learning exercises after realizing the potential of digitalization in educational institutions.

How has technology changed the process of teaching?

The pandemic has cleared the way for teachers to expand their horizons and transition their teaching techniques into a stronger, virtual learning mode, supported by adequate training for effortless use of different learning platforms for engaging students. Earlier, the teachers used chalk, duster, and blackboards to teach students in a traditional classroom. However, now the use of traditional techniques in most schools is negligible. Nowadays, classroom teaching has become highly interactive with digital platforms.

Teachers are meant to build the citizens of tomorrow in the classrooms of today. Therefore, upskilling teachers with technology to its best potential is today's primary and immediate need. Every teacher worked hard and grasped all the digital training to leverage technology to its full potential and transform themselves into online educators.

Thus, educators took their best foot towards the Golden Age of Teaching and proved that nothing could stop them from imparting knowledge.

Conclusion

Over the past few months, there has been a significant mindset switch in parents and students, leading them to embrace online learning wholeheartedly. Today, most parents want their children to continue learning online even after reopening the schools.

Furthermore, the pandemic has blended both the offline and online learning approaches and emerged the digitalization in educational institutions. Hence, to match the demands of this evolving pattern, the role of a teacher and student will go much beyond textbook teaching and learning.

Top 7 Factors that enhance a Virtual classroom experience

 The online mode of learning system can only operate with a virtual classroom. Such smart classrooms are the backbone of online learning as the schools and colleges can impart knowledge through these classes. Moreover, students can receive their online degrees and complete their education timely through these classes. Apart from matching up with the level of traditional courses, virtual classrooms also provide many other benefits.

What is a Virtual classroom?

The virtual classrooms operate through various digital platforms such as video conferencing tools; they are synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous classes are conducted via live classes, and asynchronous classes can be pre-recorded classes. These classes allow the instructors and participants to engage with each other from anywhere and at any time.

Access to coursework from anywhere: These classes can be accessed from anywhere as they are conducted through the internet. The availability of various devices like phones, laptops have made it easy for the students and teachers to participate in learning and teaching from anywhere. The students have the liberty to finish their coursework from the comfort of their house. They can access assignments and post homework with their teacher on the go. These classes help everyone to watch faculty presentations and join student discussions as well.

Combination of structure and freedom: The online course structure is built on a planned and well thought out design. These classes follow weekly assignment submission and due dates, which the students have to follow religiously to maintain the decorum of the class. The teachers also need to evaluate these tasks on a regular basis to keep a good track of the students progress. However, these classes allow the students to choose their class timings to participate and also allow them to invest more time in the classes in which they are lagging.

Effective time management: These classes help students become self-sufficient and good planners as these classes can be scheduled and revisited time and again according to their needs. A pre-recorded class helps the students understand complex topics properly as the students can access them anytime.

Expanded world view: A lot of education material is available online, the students have access to various educational resources at all times. Students can access multiple course materials and educational videos, which helps them receive a world view in every subject. The Online Classes effortlessly connect the students to the outside world and make their learning experience similar to international education.

Asynchronous discussions with classmates: An asynchronous class allows the students to access the pre-recorded classes at any time. They help the students connect to their classmates from anywhere and anytime, which helps develop healthy discussion habits among them. These classes give scope for more interactions between fellow students and teachers.

Immediate feedback on tests: These classes allows the teachers to give instant feedback on the assignments submitted by the students. The students can improve their performance better as this class mode keeps a record of their progress and report cards. These classes help the students understand their weaknesses and remind them of their repeated mistakes.

Sharpened digital skills: The students’ increase in knowledge and skills is tremendous through these classes. As the students use various digital devices to access their assignments and classes, their digital skills are sharpened.

The online mode of learning has surely improved the quality of education for students and has helped them improve the schools’ overall performance.

Moreover, through these classes, Classroom Management has become easier and more efficient.

How does the online school management system improve the quality of education

 Online schooling brought many aspects of teaching and learning methods for students. It certainly eased out the learning process for children with pre-recorded classes and virtual classes. However, shifting the classes from physical classrooms to digital classes is not enough for schools to impart knowledge in this modern era. With the growing competition worldwide, schools need to keep upgrading their education structure and their management system constantly. As modern classrooms and schools run with the help of various education technology solutions, the day-to-day management of these classes has also become digital. Now, the schools are equipped with various apps and software, which makes paperwork and official documents hassle-free and secure. The online schoolmanagement system helps the schools to run their administrative work seamlessly. 

 

What are the benefits of an online school management system?

 

Preserves time for teachers and administrative staff: It preserves teachers' valuable time from daily admin works. The automatic management system takes care of day-to-day data storage and thus saves a lot of time for teachers. In addition, the everyday duties like timetable invention, attendance administration, parent-teacher conversation, etc., are managed by this system which helps the school to become more productive in other aspects. 

 

Transparent communication: Schools and other educational institutes can interact with the parents immediately and efficiently through these apps and software. There are various specific apps for parents and teachers that help them stay updated at all times with the recent developments of the school. These apps make communication more reliable and transparent.  

 

Easy and safe human resource management: It takes care of all kind of managemnt jobs such as employee selection, leave management, salary distribution, payslip creation, etc. The payment can be automated by installing up for one time and supplying all the breakups and auto deduction methods. It also takes care of the admission process for students, which this software can completely take care of. It makes the entire process hassle-free for parents and school staff as well. 

 

Lifetime Data management: The school software handles the real data of a student's lifetime data. It takes care of each student's data starting from the admission platform to the day student leaves the institution. The entire journey goes through many phases, like shifting classes, various experiences and different exams. This management software stores all those data, attendance, teacher notes, and numbers of other information connected with the school's student. 

 

Management of classroom and schedules: Timetable invention is the most time-consuming procedure within a school; therefore, the school management system can be quite helpful in producing and handling various types of timetables. Teachers and school staff can create plans using simple drag and drop functionality. The created schedules can be accessible for all the stakeholders involved from anywhere and anytime.  

 

Fees collection: The school management software can perform fees collection and certificate production for a school in a digitized manner. The amalgamation of a fee gateway has enabled the parents to submit fees online without physically going to the school. The due days and penalties for late payments also get automatically controlled and hints the parents in the system.

 

School management software is now an essential element of all schools and academic institutions. This software helps in digitizing many school operations daily, improving the overall productivity and performance of schools. It also offers a specific school parent app that allows the parents to stay connected to their wards' activities. A typical school management system consists of various modules to manage the whole life cycle of a school & its students. It completely takes the burden off from the school owners shoulders by managing timetable, admission process, report card, fee collection, messages, reports, library, transport, etc. Schools all over the world are getting new opportunities to give the best educational resources to their students.

How are school apps in India revolutionising the way education is delivered in schools?

 Online education revolutionised learning in ways unimaginable. Whatever was once thought got implemented post-pandemic. Education now is no longer a low-experiment sector. It has unravelled the untapped potential at an exponential speed letting children make the most of online education. Edtech companies in India helped the education sector sail through the crisis and made the model resilient to withstand the crisis not just in the present but in the future too. With the help of school apps in India, these ed-tech companies offer services that ensure disrupted learning across schools.

Technology— the saviour?

Despite the stakeholders’ reluctance to embrace technology at a mass level within their school premises, technology did become everyone’s best friend. Tech-enabled schools were the ones that excelled even in times of distress and saw a higher student retention rate in comparison to schools that offer traditional learning. Though technology has not been adopted in the sector like other industries, for example, healthcare, the speed at which schools are finally deploying it to make their daily functions easy is applaud worthy.

 

The learning loss caused by the pandemic. Is it retrievable?

The learning loss created by the pandemic remains incalculable; however, many progressive and tech-enabled schools introduced bridge courses for students to fix the learning gap created by the pandemic. These bridge courses ensure that students obtain the prerequisite knowledge and skills required to achieve the learning outcomes of their current grades. The learning caused by the pandemic could be irreversible; however, if schools take proper measures, this gap can be filled.

 

School, then and now

The educational industry has evolved at an unprecedented speed. As a result, the practices intrinsic to the sector saw an abrupt overhaul and got replaced by an innovative model— an integrated academic system. As a result, integrated systems surfaced to save the sector from devastating effects and irreparable learning loss. This system helps the stakeholders with unique apps that help them make learning a seamless process even when the schools remain shut indefinitely. Some of the benefits of integrated systems are:

·        World-class learning with the integration of various resources

·        Teachers get meaningful resources to teach students from

·        Teachers can conduct exams and assessments seamlessly while sitting at home

·        Parents can maintain smooth communications with teachers

·        Students can learn at their convenience

·        Students can learn at their own pace without hurrying up

·        Students get an opportunity to collaborate with their peers

·        Learning stays undisrupted with online/offline/both modes

·        School owners can access the school data from anywhere, anytime

·        Parents can participate more in their child’s learning

·        Students become self-reliant as they navigate their curriculum

·        Students get to learn via more than one medium

·        Students never miss lectures as every class gets recorded

 

 

The ongoing pandemic has been a reminder to the education sector about the frivolousness of rote learning practised in the Indian schools and the brittleness of the sector. Few of the sectors responsible for driving a country’s economy, such as education, cannot afford to crash under any circumstances. A study by UNESCO says, “Studies on effective integration of technology in education show the opportunities ICT provides to help increase student engagement, motivation, and attendance— key requirements for learning. The potential for eLearning to improve performance on core subjects and foster the development of 21st-century skills in mature and emerging economies depends on the schools' ability to model student-centred, highly personalised learning environments.”

Now is the time to tap the potential of technology and leverage it for better student results and make learning undisrupted. Schools, despite their location and size, must make technology a fundamental part of their functioning.

Best School Management to help the sector survive stressful times

The sudden shift from physical classrooms to virtual classes has brought new challenges along with it. The physical and complex methods of data management are no longer possible. Moreover, the stakeholders of this industry are moving towards modern education technological solutions. Therefore, apart from providing a wholesome new-age educational experience to children, traditional methods of data management systems must also change. All these tasks are administrative and non-administrative tasks such as admission process, student’s attendance, class schedules, assessment, exam schedules etc. 

 

What is ERP?

 

ERP- Enterprise Resource Planning is software that manages business processes for a company, organization or school/university. It features multiple applications and tools that work together seamlessly to connect departments and bring the data from those various departments together into one database. It helps in putting all the required information right at our fingertips. It helps the teachers to spend their time on the teaching process and student’s progress, while the software manages all the intricate and time-consuming administrative tasks. 

 

Benefits of ERP in school:

 

Time-saving: It saves much time involved in managing data and information for the school. It saves time for the teachers and students by providing them ample time to focus on teaching and learning. All the back-office operations of a school are taken care of by this software.

 

Automation: We all know that administration and financial management involves regular recurring work of data entry. ERP automatically pulls specific data from all the applications within the system.

 

Data Integration: ERP is equipped with modern technologies such as cloud computing and machine learning. These technologies make data management more accessible and faster. This enables the schools to restore their data with security and is easy to recover whenever needed.

 

Flexibility: ERP helps us to access any information from anywhere. There are no time or location constraints anymore for a job to be carried out.

 

Organization: Restoring data in an organized manner is a tedious job. ERP helps in operating the entire management system in an organized manner. It comprises multiple applications and apps that share information with all the departments. 

 

Productivity: Once data management and office work is taken care of, teachers can invest more time with students. As a result, the quality of education becomes better, and the workforce also becomes more productive. 

 

Accessibility: All the people involved in the learning-teaching process can access any information anytime. Teachers, parents, students, principals and management can be well informed and connected through School ERP Modules.

 

Performance: The ERP software keeps everyone involved. The students can access all the required information when needed. Parents also stay updated and involved in their ward’s progress.

 

Conclusion: With education being delivered at our fingertips the requirement for easy and fast access to information is a need of the hour. Managing day-to-day administrative tasks have become more manageable with software like ERP. The schools now do not have to rely on stacks of paper files. They have the best school management software available now in the market. They can manage and access all the required data with just a click. This has helped in dissipating the bridge between school management and parents as well. With the help of school ERP modules, the parents can keep track of all the developments in the education system. ERP has made everyone self-dependent and has connected all the departments. All the stakeholders of the education department are now interconnected. Implementing these modules in the schools has helped improve students' and teachers’ performance.

How LMS for Schools lets school owners juggle various tasks

COVID-19 has undoubtedly deepened the existing education crisis that can create havoc on students’ future if not addressed on time. The recovery will need additional budgets, but schools on an individual front can start taking steps to mitigate the learning loss created by the ongoing pandemic.

The school management has been a hassle ever since they declared infinite shutdown. Online learning was deployed to bridge the learning gap created in schools, but to keep the school administration functions going, there was no respite or way out. Many school administrative works such as collecting a fee, conducting exams, and recording students’ holidays became a task—only the best schoolmanagement software can cure this.

ERP software is a one-stop solution to every administrative problem that a student or school staff goes through. With a single click, school stakeholders can juggle various responsibilities and minimise manual tasks.

 

Why technology is no more an option

Earlier technology was considered a TIER-1 concept where only bigger schools had its’ access. However, with the pandemic and school functions coming to a halt, schools even in smaller cities embraced technology. As a result, technology helps in undisrupted learning, upskilling teachers, quality education, and ensures that every school department runs smoothly.

ERP Solutions for schools help schools with the following:

●      Automation of school function

When the conventional walls of the schools got shut, conducting even minscule tasks became harrowing. However, with ERP and smart technology, everything can be taken care of with a single click. 

●      Better connectivity between all stakeholders

ERP helps all school stakeholders stay connected even when the schools are shut. For example, teachers can connect with parents whenever they want and vice-versa. They do not have to fix a parent-teacher meeting to do so.

●      Timely fee collection

Sending endless reminders to parents about timely payment of fees became a daily activity for the school administration. However, reminders can be sent to parents with school ERP, and fees can be paid on time.

●      Ease of taking attendance

Manual attendance became a nightmare during online learning (LMS for school). ERP allows teachers to take students' attendance when they log in and can help school stakeholders know if they are attending fewer classes or taking many leaves.

●      Assessments

 Teachers can conduct assessments online, do instant grading and suggest remedial with the help of ERP enhancing student performance.

 

The unreliability of the current education model was exposed with the pandemic, and with the kind of learning loss created, the industry cannot withstand such shocks in the future, inevitably. So now is the time for schools to think through a structure that’s more than brick-and-mortar and transcends the stand-and-deliver mode of education. The myth around technology in schools finally wanes, and now is the time for stakeholders to make the most of it—to deploy smart technology inside schools.

 

The dawn we have been waiting for

Fortunately or unfortunately, technology has expedited the advancements long due in the sector. With technology comes new hope and a guarantee that the future will have better-prepared children who are fast learners who are more skilled and can take any problem head-on. Unfortunately, COVID induced lockdown pushed nearly 1.6 billion children out of the classroom that caused irreversible learning gaps. To avoid such crises in the future, schools have become necessary to adapt to the change and keep evolving with time.