Widely accessible digital tools may have solved the problem of making data more accessible and easier to share, as compared to paper records. However, as some school owners are aware, this is often not enough to effectively manage all the aspects of school management that need to be digitalised. This includes, secure storage of students' personal data, transparent communication with parents, safe handling of fees and fee records, a record of every school day.
As this year has taught us, having established digital systems can be a lifesaver. So, how can technology help your school?
Help you keep records of everything
Being trusted with the safety of children is no small responsibility. If you keep parents informed of their child's wellbeing, you can build their trust in your school.
This can include:
- Assurance that the child is in school (especially for parents who cannot personally drop their children off)
- A record of children's meals and nap times
- An easy-to-access communication channel between the parent and the school
- Regular updates on the child's learning progress
To give every parent all this information is an impossible task if you do it manually. School management technology can integrate this impossible task into your staff's daily routine. For example, checking the children in and out of school with a selfie with LittleLives Little Check In accomplishes several things at once:
(a) the child's timestamped attendance is digitally recorded,
(b) the child's temperature and physical health check are digitally recorded, and
(c) the timestamped picture of the child in the school is automatically sent to the parents on email and saved on the parents' app, Little Family Room.
Additional features such as a communication channel within the same management technology can help your school consolidate all parent-school communications. This can be a big step up from having conversations scattered across a range of messaging platforms (Whatsapp, Telegram, SMS, email) that the school management does not get to oversee.
Help you keep your records secure
Some of the biggest technological scandals in recent times have resulted from a lack of security and privacy afforded to personal data (ref. Facebook and Zoom).
The personal data of children is especially sensitive. So, investing in school management technology that is committed to protecting your school's and students' personal information is crucial, as these companies are required to adhere to PDPA and GDPR guidelines, as well as guidelines established by the local education ministry to regulate education technologies.
Help you improve education delivery
A typical day in kindergarten only lasts about 3 hours. This means the majority of the child's day, and learning, occurs outside the classroom. Research has shown that strong communication between the school and the parents can support the learning process outside school. Letting parents know of what their children have been learning in class can help them reinforce the learning points at home.
Fostering children's learning outside school requires regular communication with parents; biannual parent-teacher conferences won't suffice. Whether it's actively having conversations with parents, or passively allowing them to monitor their child's progress, technology can streamline the process.
Mobile apps, such as LittleLives, allow teachers to take pictures, log activities, and note down learning outcomes on their mobile devices. These records are created on-the-go in class and connected to the parents' app, Little Family Room, which allows parents to remain informed, without requiring extra effort on the teachers' part. Additionally, these regularly created records are consolidated into an automated portfolio for schools to take advantage of when parent-teacher conference comes around - that's another manual task made easier by technology!
Change is the only constant. This is especially true of technological change. Information that was once recorded on paper and in files is now being recorded on Excel sheets.
But is that enough for your school?
The technology that will take your school to new heights is out there, and it's up to you to take advantage of it.
This article was first published on LittleLives.
Written By Menaka Arasu
