How Smart School Software Has Changed Education

The introduction of advanced smart school software in the past decades marked an important era of education. The influence of technologies is making our schools smarter than ever before by giving options for students to benefit from innovative ideas such as flipped classrooms and blended learning. Most of the schools all over the country have adapted to the smart school approach to provide their students the best ever learning experience. In fact, the dramatic influence of the smart learning and administration management systems in schools are taking the whole process to a new level.

Not only students but also teachers, non-teaching staff, parents as well as school management teams are benefiting from the advanced options. The key benefits of a smart school approach include proficient information management, data tracking and transparency, effortless and quicker communication, optimal handling of time and a lot more. The novel school management software is designed not just to handle the academics but effectively handles a number of related areas such as school and bus fees, reports, library management, notifications, making smart timetable, attendance and covers sectors including hostel and transport management too.

There are a lot of notable differences made by advanced smart school software in different areas of education. Let us have a look at the major impact or changes caused by such innovative software on the present day education.

1. Mobile/Tablet learning: More than just learning from the book, smart classrooms are more into mobile or tablet learning. These gadgets are slowly replacing the school stationary such as pens and books. In fact, learning has become more portable with easy access to information at their finger tips. Digital simulations and models are now becoming an integral part of smart classrooms and teachers use its possibilities effectively to introduce new concepts and ideas.

2. Changing role of teachers: In the past, the teachers were the primary source of information but it is not the case today. Most of the times they are taking the role of guides or an additional support when students access new information. The new learning management software promotes more learning space for students through interaction and group works and teachers will be facilitators in the learning process.

3. Learn with fun: Unlike in the past, technology has incorporated more games into the classrooms to help students to learn with fun. The smart school software has classroom applications that promote gaming that not only improve their liking for learning but also enhances their problem solving and critical thinking. Instead of the old boring blackboard and chalk lectures, teachers are using the possibilities of advanced classroom apps to teach through shared whiteboard, application sharing as well as audio and video conferencing. In fact these Smartboards are really helpful for those who have chalk dust allergic reactions and is a great aid during field trips.

4. Collaborative learning: The advanced classroom software has applications that promote collaborative learning through group activities. Interactive sessions such as joint problem solving, debates and projects are in fact improving their role as team players. The influence of laptops and mobile devices has made remote collaboration a reality and continue their group works outside classrooms through web based software.

5. Enhanced student-teacher interaction: Rather than the one sided lectures in the conventional classrooms, there are options for students to interact throughout the classroom session through advanced options such as smart card solutions. The instant messaging and group chat options of the software help them to communicate about the relevant topic of discussion with the teacher and other students even after the class. Teachers are keeping in touch with students through emails and sharing information to the large groups through application such as dropbox. Moreover, the touchscreen displays are helping teachers to deliver classes in a more engaging way. There are also instant messaging apps such as Slack for teacher and student communication.

6. Interactive Textbooks and eBooks: Apart from the normal textbooks and notebooks with limited data, the smart school software has introduced concepts of eBooks which is nothing but digital textbooks with endless data. Students are really happy to carry an iPad with some PDFs rather than 5 five heavy textbooks when going to school. The advanced web applications such as LiveBinders are even allowing students to make a binder online. This in fact gives them the benefits of interactive textbooks with lots of models, simulations and visualizations of different difficult tasks.

7. Apps for classrooms: There are innovative apps for classrooms designed to help students to have a better learning experience. OneNote is a digital note-taking app whereas Three Ring is designed to motivate them to make digital portfolios and Google Classroom enhances classroom communication. The GoClass app lets the teacher to broadcast instructional materials directly to student devices.

8. Exposure to more learning resources: The library management module of the software is helping students to have timely access of relevant reference materials without much hassle. And now students can go beyond the limit to access more learning materials outside the campus through online libraries. The options for web based research with teacher’s guidance are helping them get a wider exposure of the particular subject.

9. Extended Classrooms: The endless options of Smart school software are now taking education out of classrooms. The concept of extended classrooms is made possible with online platforms that are created to discuss and interact about homework, assignments or projects. Rather than the class book assignments, students are utilizing the wide exposure outside classrooms to share ideas, research subjects and learn specific skills.

10. Efficient Assessment: Unlike the conventional means of student assessment such as written exams, the smart tools are providing more advanced means to facilitate efficient assessment.  The software features are utilized to wisely do performance assessments through quizzes and other similar activities. Teachers are also using options such as online polls and apps such as ExitTicket to evaluate their teaching too. The advanced software options are even allowing teachers to collect real-time assessment reports from the classrooms. Digitalization of the assessment process has brought in more clarity. E-assessment options are now a part of software applications where students can take part in online tests if they fail to reach the venue.

11. Global Platform: Students are getting exposure to global learning with online learning communities. Students from all over the world with different cultures and learning styles would be members of the group. An interactive education with them helps to have a wider exposure to different cultures and they can grow up as better individuals who respect everyone and treat everyone equally. This is promoted through online meetings and collaborations. The websites such as Glovico are providing students with options for global learning where they can set up videoconferencing with native speakers for language education.

12. Efficient administration: The advanced school software makes it possible to maintain all records of the institution in one place thus making its access and management really easy. The administration is now a hassle free job with minimal paper works. The EYFS management software makes use of a user friendly interface to make student data collection and sharing much easy with data syncing, reports generation and sharing as well as smart search options.

13. No more lost data: The advanced software even proposes options to store information on cloud. This in fact helps with data management with a better back up option instead of the tedious paper works. This web based storage assures more precision in the data tracking and the concerned people can access, share and retrieve data more effectively. When used in the right manner, there would be no more problems of lost data.

14. Enhanced parent-teacher communication: The novel smart software has applications to improve the communication between the teachers and parents in which collecting student data and sharing it with them is a simple deal. The parent portal app is designed to help parents to be updated on the students’ activities within the campus and learn about their progress. The web based applications such as MyClassCampus takes the role of a link between student, parent, teacher & admin. ClassDojo is a classroom management app with special emphasis on improving parent-teacher communication.

15. All in one tool: Many advanced smart school apps are in fact multipurpose tools that are designed with several modules that effectively handle diverse sectors of school operation from one place. The most modern tools cover diverse areas such as admission, exams, attendance, exam results, school calendar, hostel, transport, clinic, enrolment, HR, assessment, behaviour management, enterprise document management, cafeteria and payroll. In addition to the basic operations, innovative smart school software such as School SAAS features online examination, e-library, and stock/ store tuck shop management. Moreover, the tracking of student activities in real time within an institution is possible with smart card solutions.

Unlike in the old times when the audience of students was just their teachers, parents or friends, the impact of smart schools has changed the whole scenario. Students are now more competitive and career focussed right from the early days as they have a wider exposure of audience through social media platforms. Whether it is Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Blogging, Web 2.0 tools like Glogster or similar online platforms, the expanded audience are giving students a new definition to their thirst for knowledge.

Education is of no exception when it comes to the areas that are impacted or influenced by the advanced technologies. Students have a true learning experience outside the four walls of the classroom. The benefits offered by smart classrooms to our education sector are endless and the innovation in technologies are giving way for more to come.