Coaching Session 8 – Best School Administration Software

Lesson Notes

In this Lesson:

1. Effective Management System for an Online School
2. Issues & Solutions in Online Schools
3. 10 Effective Management System for Online Schools
4. 20 Characteristics of Highly Effective Management Software
5. Top 10 School Management Software on Reviews

 

School Management

is an important part of an educational system. School authorities all over the world are continuously engaged in numerous activities to efficiently manage school functions and provide a better educational experience to students. However, managing school affairs is not at all easy in this fast-growing world. To better perform the functions of school management and assure parents of their child’s safety and progress, schools are using school management software nowadays. This software boasts a variety of features that improve the overall administration of schools.

 

What’s essential for managing an online school?

The educational system of the 21st century has changed radically with the integration of technology in every sector. In this generation, education depends on Thinking Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Information Media, Technological Skills as well as Life Skills. Today’s education emphasizes on life and career skills. Now there is no value for rote learning. In general, it needs to meet the industry needs. Teaching will be effective when a student can use the lessons outside of the classroom.

 

What issues do millennials face with Online Education?

• Andrea Rawat: “I did not realize that I took my routine and school day for granted until now.”
• Victoria Cantu: “I feel disconnected with the class.”
• Edouard Bettilyon: “The workload has been overwhelming.”

 

5 Tips for Effective Online Classroom Management

1. Test the Technology Beforehand

It’s tempting to try out every new app that comes along. But the most effective online teachers don’t get distracted by the shiniest new app. They focus on learning a few tools really well. If you’re teaching real-time (synchronous) lessons, you’ll need a conferencing app. But you’ll also want a learning management system (LMS) for assigning work and providing feedback. Other ‘nice-to-haves’ are a presentation program, collaborative documents, and a personalized learning platform. Here are some best class tools in each category.

Learning Management: Google Classroom.

Video Conferencing: Google Meet, Zoom, Congregate. Live.

Personalized Learning: IXL, Khan Academy, NoRedInk.

Presentations: PearDeck, NearPod, Google Slides.

Collaborative Documents: Google Suite.

Other software for online school: Desmos, Geogebra and FlipGrid

2. Involve Students in Establishing Norms

Are you worried about students showing up in their pajamas? Some teachers are very concerned about online dress codes. Others couldn’t care less. You’ll want to set norms that make you feel comfortable, while also creating the best environment for learning.

3. Emphasize Engagement
4. Create Connections with Small-Group Sessions
5. Start Slowly

Here’s a simple 3-part structure for such a lesson:

1. Explain to students the importance of setting class norms, and that you would value their input.
2. Send students to breakout groups to make their own list of norms.
3. Return to the whole group meeting to compare lists, and create a “final” list.

(Of course, you may need to update it later.)

6. Create an online course schedule including clear deadlines.

Elements to consider:

1. Time Unit: students engage with the same course material, discussions, and activities within a week (or module); they complete assignments, activities, and contribute to the discussions. If you use a weekly time frame, make all assignments due by the end of the week. If you use modules, plan on due dates or weekly check-in points at least, so students are not left on their own for too long. Consider the pacing of the course and plan appropriately. Reading through many discussion postings and lessons can be time consuming for the online student — consider what is most convenient for them.
2. Beginning and Ending of the Week: As an online instructor, you will need to set arbitrary deadlines. Consider setting the schedule for a “Tuesday to Monday” or “Wednesday to Tuesday” week. A Monday to Sunday schedule often requires you to work over the weekend answering student questions and posting announcements and activities for the following week. Also, many online students work during the week and prefer to complete school work on the weekends.
3. Student Workload: Design your course with the expectation your students will commit a minimum amount of time per week engaging with course materials, discussions, activities, etc. Most online instructors do not include “technical time” which is the time it takes for students to log on, download attachments, post discussions and assignments, and technical problems.
4. Student Enrollment: consider the class size in advance because it will impact “group activities and class discussions.”
5. Classroom Discussions (Asynchronous, Synchronous, or Both): one of the great benefits of online learning is that learning and teaching can be done anywhere and anytime. “In asynchronous online learning, students can access the online materials at any time, while synchronous online learning allows for real time interaction between students and the instructor.” Many online courses run asynchronously and offer the learner the ability to progress at learner’s pace.

 

The Solutions for Online School Management

1.  Choose a Highly Effective Management Software.
2. Choose a software that boasts a variety of features and solve issues of an effective management system for online school.
3. Choose software that improves the overall administration of schools.

 

10 Effective Management System for Online Schools

1. Paper-based Processes

Educational institutions are burdened by cumbersome paperwork and manual processes, and they find it difficult to maintain records on attendance, fees, admissions, transport, etc., and track the information they need. Using School Management System, automate academic processes to save time and reduce staff workload.

2. Online registration

Students no more have to stand for hours in the queue to pay fees. Simplify registration and fee collections with online forms, with the ability to send automatic notifications, alerts and reminders via email, SMS alerts and push notifications from mobile devices.

3. Admission and Enrollment

Colleges and Universities are finding it hard to achieve admission and enrollment targets. Aligning people, processes and technology with simple & user-friendly cloud-based education solutions will help institutions to manage information from inquiry and application to admission and enrollment.

4. Course Management

Designing a course curriculum that can adapt to the changing needs of the institution is crucial. With a Course Management System, institutions can accomplish a lot with limited resources. Create and track course-work, assignments, and exam papers in a conducive classroom environment to support the goal of graduating students.

5. Teacher Evaluation

Tracking the progress of teachers and evaluating the effectiveness of teachers’ work is significant. Teacher evaluation system improves communication and collaboration between evaluators and teachers. Student’s feedback will measure teacher’s performance in the classroom and the automated evaluation process improves student learning skills, achievement and success.

6. Communication and Collaboration

There is apparently no platform to provide seamless communication between students, administrators, staff and teachers. Moreover, increasing student discipline incidents happen as a result of a big communication gap between students and teachers. Web and mobile-based education management systems improve communication through instant notifications and alerts via email, SMS and push messages to keep the constituents informed at every step of the journey to build relationships and improve student retention.

7. Classroom Management Strategy

Schools are finding it difficult to handle tardy students, and solve indiscipline and behavior issues. Improve classroom environment with discipline tracking and behavior management system to easily handle tardy students and uninformed absences.

8. Student Monitoring

Teachers are struggling to monitor student’s activities including attendance, leave, discipline, assignments, etc. School administrators are lacking in result-based monitoring tools to track student progress. Automate and streamline student attendance and absenteeism using a student information system which delivers real-time status updates of student activities to support learning needs.

9. Revenue Management

It is difficult for institutions to cope with their finances and track their fee collections and contributions. Seamlessly connect and engage with students, parents and alumni to strengthen relationships and drive greater success.

10. Forecasting the academic achievements

Institutions are unable to manage information and there are endless delays in taking decisions based on complete analysis. Dashboard reports and intelligent analytics are useful indicators for educators to examine attendance, assignments, grades, etc. and predict student outcomes. Using data analytics will help institutions to identify students at-risk and deploy resources to improve achievement and success.

 

Checklist of the 20 Characteristics of a Highly Effective Management Software

1. Student Information
2. Parent Access
3. Teacher Information
4. Artificial Intelligence Integration
5. Communication Facilities (Voice Messaging, E-mail, Chats, etc.)/Effective Communication
6. Attendance & Timetable Management/Attendance Record Just in A Few Clicks
7. Online Assessments and Assignments
8. Report Cards/Better Exam Management
9. Fee Tracking and Online Payment/Effortless Fee Payment
10. Admission Management/Help Students Admission
11. Profile Management
12. Easy Homework Management
13. Library Management
14. Transport Management/Track School Vehicle
15. Use of Convenient Apps
16. Academic calendar
17. Cloud-based technologies
18. HR & Payroll Management/Efficient Staff Management
19. User-Friendly UI (User Interface)
20. Tag Vendor Module

 

Top 10 School Management Software based on Reviews in 2020

1. Bright Wheel Frontrunners. A software solution built to modernize all childcare, daycare, and preschool programs by helping operate more smoothly, manage with less manual work, and most importantly, give back time to those looking after their well-being. Platforms: Mac, Win, Linux. Reviews: 2,621 Website: https://mybrightwheel.com/
2. LifeCubby. A child care management and parent engagement system that offers child care centers a single and centralized platform from which to manage documentation, communication and assessment services. Incorporating parent communications, daily sheets and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) portfolios as well as reports and lesson plans. LifeCubby aims to provide users with a simple and secure child care management solution. Platforms: Android, Web. Reviews: 2,325 Website: www.lifecubby.me
3. Canvas LMS. The infrastructure is a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) specifically designed for K-5 up through higher education institutions. Canvas LMS is a scalable platform that can be used by educational institutions. Platforms: Mac, Win, Linux. Reviews: 1,788 Website: https://www.canvaslms.com/
4. Gradelink Front Runners. A cloud-based school management solution that helps connect teachers, students and parents through a single interface. Key features include student enrollment management, attendance report generation, grade and attendance.

Company slogan: Simplify and Succeed. Easy-to-use software to help school save time, improve enrollment and fulfill its mission. Platforms: Mac, Win, Linux Reviews: 417 Website: https://www.gradelink.com/

5. Gradelink. Connects administrators, teachers, parents, and students in one seamless system that elegantly handles all of your grading, attendance, and SIS needs. Enrolling students, tracking grades and attendance, and printing final report cards have never been easier. And with Gradelink’s centralized design, information only needs to be entered once before becoming instantly available school wide. Platforms: Android, Web, Mac Reviews: 417 Website: www.gradelink.com
6. Alma Frontrunners. A cloud-based school management solution catering to businesses of all sizes in the education industry. Core features assist users to manage school administration, generate custom reports, administer the enrollment and admissions. K-12. Platforms: Mac, Win, Linux Reviews: 217 Website: https://www.getalma.com
7. Procare Online Version. A daycare and afterschool management platform that helps eliminate paperwork in daily, weekly and monthly operations. Features include sign in-out, billing, registration, parent communication and photo sharing. Users can track child and staff attendance, record parent signatures, as well as manage daily sheets and carpool pickups. Platforms: Android, Web, Mac Reviews: 165 Website: www.kinderlime.com
8. Ellucian. Built for higher education, works with more than 2,500 institutions in more than 50 countries enhancing operations and enriching the experience for over 20 million students. As the market leader in higher education technology, the Ellucian portfolio is comprehensive and built off of best practices from the community of schools as well as 50 years of experience transforming the industry landscape. Platforms: Android, Web Reviews: 95 Website: https://www.ellucian.com
9. Classe365. A unified student management software with a comprehensive Student Information System, Learning Management System & Customer Relationship Management features. It is a one-stop solution for running all kinds of educational institutions: schools, colleges, universities & academies. The LMS feature enables institutions to offer online learning in just 2 steps. The SIS feature makes course management, attendance, grading & assessment easier. CRM helps in increasing student enrollment. Platforms: Mac, Win, Web Reviews: 90 Website: http://www.classe365.com/
10. Classter. A complete cloud-based School Management System that provides all key features required for effective administration by any school. Using Classter, you can easily implement a state-of-the-art system that can offer your school several management & learning management tools. Platforms: Mac, Win, Web Reviews: 24 Website: https://www.classter.com

 

Portfolio 8

1. Select 3 best school management software. State pros & cons.
2. What school management system do you need for your online school? State reasons.

 

Email Subject: OSMC – Portfolio 8

“The one who gets wisdom loves life; 

the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.”

Proverbs 19:8