hire right administration

Tips to Hire the Right Administration for your Institution

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Finding the perfect fit is winning half the battle

In a school, the non educational staff is truly the cogs that keep the wheels turning. These invisible soldiers are only noticed when things go terribly wrong. And when things are running smoothly, they are almost invisible. Perhaps this is why thinking around educational hiring is largely focused on management and educators. But this is a grave oversight that schools pay for through the nose, without even realising it. Non educational staff, or administrators, are the people every stakeholder in your institution will invariably come into contact with. Whether it is students seeking the exam schedule or parents approaching them to find out the whereabouts of a missing child or management wanting assurance that everything is running smoothly, administrators are usually the first point of contact for anyone approaching the school. Hiring them, thus, becomes a key factor in how the school is externally represented.

Schools often hire for administrative roles with their primary concern being budget, above anything else. While finances are important, making it king in hiring decisions is a recipe for disaster. How do you know you are getting the best possible talent (within your budget even) for the job? Instead, because no other metrics are used to assess candidates, one is stuck with disinterested, uninspired personnel who are, plainly put, bad fits for the job. This spells disaster for an institution – no one wants to engage in learning at an institution where the first point of contact is inept and unpleasant.

So what should you look for to avoid this? Here are some points to keep in mind when hiring an administrator for your institution:

Don’t undermine person-culture fit

An administrator that does not fit the overall culture of your school will stick out like a sore thumb. It will result in an inability to understand the vision behind their work and a lack of person-culture fit. This dissonance is likely to trickle down to various aspects of the school’s running, so seek someone who instinctively gets your school’s workplace culture.

It’s all about organisation

The administrator’s daily task are largely routine, so look for someone who is naturally driven by process. This person finds pleasure in organisation and the smooth functioning of established process and thus performs well at them. Creatives might be more fun, but someone who finds peace in the smooth running of things or is calmed by a well-balanced spreadsheet is the person you want at the front desk or in the finance department. It is far harder to get a disorganised person to function efficiently, so choose talent wisely.

Seek the tech savvy

In an increasingly technology led educational ecosystem, you cannot afford to hire Luddites to man the administrative desk. Your school ERP might keep processes running automatically, but their efficient functioning is dependent on a human administrator who isn’t afraid of technology. Hire people who have worked with school ERPs before and are comfortable on-boarding onto new technology. People who view computers are threats are not going to help drive your school forward, so keep an eye out for early adopters and natural learners for the role.

Attitude Matters

Administrative work can be stressful, relentless, and painstaking. This is a customer facing role that requires immense patience and a can-do attitude. A grumpy, mean-spirited pessimist is of no use in times of a crisis or when work needs to just get done. Instead, hire the positive, team-player who will keep spirits up while also efficiently getting work done – it might make or break your administrative team.

Artificial Intelligence in education

Artificial Intelligence in education – How it improves the learning experience?

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a part of our lives whether we know it or not, and whether we accept it or not. It has risen to such a status over the years in a slow but steady manner. Everything that we do like buying clothes and shoes on the internet as well as watching shows on TV is influenced to various extents by AI.  However, the question that needs to be asked in this context is what effect would this have on education?

The fact of the matter is that AI does not take away, in way, shape, or form, from the classroom. Rather it makes the classroom experience a lot better than before.

Here are some benefits of Artificial Intelligence in Education which improves the learning experience:

Personalization

This is one of the benefits that AI is expected to have as far as education is concerned. In a class, it can get really difficult for a teacher to meet the expectations of each and every student out there. After all, there are so many different kinds of students that teachers have to deal with!

There are remedial students, ESL students, advanced students, and students with special needs, to name a few. In this day and age, it is very important that all of them have the same kind of access to education and learning. The beauty of AI systems is that they are able to adapt quite easily to the individual learning related requirements of a student. As such it can also target instructions that are based on their relative strengths and weaknesses. It also reduces the meaningless work that teachers have to do every now and then. This also means that the learning experience is a lot more meaningful for the students.

Teaching

In fact, this is one effect that is already being seen evidently. AI is already being used in order to teach students. There are so many ways in which machines are starting to play the same role that was once being played by humans and this includes tutors as well. Just like human tutors can do, intelligent tutoring systems are able to understand the style of learning preferred by students. They are also able to gauge the amount of knowledge that a student already has. All this data and analysis is being used to deliver instructions and support that is created specifically for that student.

Grading

This has got to be the best benefit that AI can have in this particular domain. As far as tasks that teachers are supposed to do this is supposed to be the most boring. At the same time, this is the one task that takes the maximum away from them. It is because of work like grading that teachers are unable to devote more time to more purposeful and meaningful work such as professional development and lesson planning.

These days, machines have become a lot more advanced than what they were earlier. They are now capable of performing a lot more than just grading an examination by using an answer key. They are capable of compiling data regarding how students have been performing. In fact, they can also grade on assignments that are as subjective as essays.

Constructive feedback on course quality

Nowadays, AI has the capacity to find out gaps in course content on the basis of how students are performing in the assessments.  Let us say that most of the students in a class have failed to answer a question the right way.

Now AI can actually look into that pattern and see if certain information or concepts are missing from the program’s curriculum or not. This, in turn, can help teachers provide better materials or use better methods of learning so that students can improve in those areas.

Providing meaningful feedback to students

This is the age when most of the people around the world are communicating by way of text messages. These days, students are also growing increasingly insecure about asking questions or clearing doubts with their teachers in front of their peers. For them, it is a risk better not taken.

They are also worried about receiving critical feedback on a public forum. By using AI students would be more comfortable when it comes to making mistakes that are necessary for them to learn well. As a bonus, they would also get the suggestions that they need in order to improve.

Recap: Run Your Educational Institution Like a Fortune 500 CEO

Creating a global classroom

With AI it would be possible for schools to create global classrooms, as it were. From now on it would no longer matter as to where a student is. If she or he is unable to attend a class due to some reason or the other all she or he would need to do is visit a link, click on it, and the student can join the live classroom. Similarly, thanks to this technology it would also be possible for them to interact with their peers even if they were a thousand miles apart from each other.

There can be no doubt about the fact that technology such as AI is making education a lot more efficient and easier than what it was. In fact, as Hadley Ferguson – the executive director of the Edcamp Foundation – says, students can actually use such technology in order to interact with their teachers as well as famous authors, experts, and scientists, whose books they may be reading in class. It is expected that in the days ahead some of these kids, so adept at technology, will grow up and become teachers themselves. They can push this change along even further.

The role of skilled teachers

No matter what one may think skilled teachers would always have a role to play even in the AI age and beyond.

Experts such as Shannon May, who has founded the Bridge International Academies, say that technology would never drive teachers completely out of the fray. Rather it would be teachers, skilled in the ways of using technology, driving the usage of AI based on the needs of their students. Education technology such as AI would be used more to supplement the best ways of teaching and learning that exist already.

Jake Schwartz, co-founder and CEO (chief executive officer) of General Assembly, feels that with the advancement of technology there would be better ideas regarding what its limits are. He says that there is no way that going online completely is going to solve all the problems with education now. However, at the same time, he does acknowledge that it could make access to education a lot easier. According to him, when combined with school curricula and programs AI could become a powerful tool. He signs off by saying that the human factor would always be important.

Making education a lot more interesting than before

There are many ways in which AI can make education a lot more interesting. It can create the sort of immersive experience that you need in order to get students hooked on to their class and understand all that is being said. Things such as game technology and simulation are expected to play major roles in this regard. It can actually make education a lot more adaptive and intuitive. In fact, such technology can actually be used in order to encourage students to come together and develop knowledge themselves. This is something that you need so badly in this day and age of short attention span.

Monitoring performance

AI makes it a lot easy for teachers and school management to keep track of how well or poorly the students are performing. Such systems can be used to deal effectively with the vast volume of data and statistics that these schools and colleges normally have. They can use these to create definite reports that help them understand the progress being made by various students. The best part of all this is that such reports can be created as many times as needed. The quality of data can be enhanced as well.

Conclusion

It is not uncommon for educators has to fear how their role would be diminished by the use of technology such as leading school enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

It is true that when systems are changed en masse there are always some bad things that can happen. In some instances, there are actually logically justifiable reasons for such fears. However, at the same time, it would be absolutely foolish to ignore the improvements and possibilities that AI can offer in the domain of education. It is actually supposed to bring about a dramatic improvement in the overall educational experience with AI. In fact, as has been said already, when you have the right teacher using it AI can actually do wonders that traditional methods of education may not be able to do.

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School ERP Software to manage Report Center System

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Find out the difference the Fedena School ERP Software Can Make

Data – a key advantage of School ERP Software

The use of school ERP software in automating processes, reducing human error and eliminating labour costs has been discussed extensively on the Fedena blog. But there is another, albeit more silent factor, that is at play that most educational institutions fail to consider. All school ERP software is amassing data about how a school or college functions as it goes about its day to day tasks. It is inevitable – school ERP software is meant to master patterns. The first step in doing so is to recognise these patterns by collecting vast quantities of data on how a school works and then pinpointing trends and patterns that emerge from this information. It is what makes school ERP software so invaluable. Unlike humans, they are driven by data, not by opinions or inherent biases.

So why are more institutions in the educational ecosystem not utilising the wealth of information that is at their fingertips? Perhaps it is a lack of awareness of how to use this data or how it matters to them. Perhaps it is inherent inertia – a lack of desire to change the status quo. Perhaps it is fear of the unknown. How do we capitalise on something when we don’t know how to?

This blog aims to address some of the simple ways you can begin using the data your school ERP software already has to your advantage today. Find out how to when you read on.

The role of analytics in the educational ecosystem

Educational technology is not just about the latest gadget or tool you can wow students and parents with. Data is the secret weapon here that can be used to bring the educational ecosystem into the new age. Your school ERP software is collecting this information already – all you have to do is analyse it to understand your world more honestly and deeply. Analytics is driving entire industries, so why not education?

Analytics supported by data collected by your school ERP software can help make education more accessible, personalised, thoughtful and ultimately useful to students. The goal is not just to help people read and write well, but to give them the tools that will enable them to contribute to society in a meaningful way. Analytics can help define what these tools are and how we can get them into the hands of learners and future world builders.

The Fedena Report Center

Your school ERP software likely has the capability to perform these functions. But if you are still trying to choose the right school ERP software for your educational institution, look for one that is flexible yet robust like Fedena. Fedena school ERP software understands the power of data and has created a dedicated reports module that allows users to access school-specific data to analyse in order to increase the efficiency of functioning. But it doesn’t just stop at the school level.

This school ERP software is capable of micro-audience analysis and generates reports down to the student level. Whether it is analysing financial reports or student trends the Fedena school ERP software is your companion in understanding your educational institution better. How?

Below we go over some of the different types of report you can generate with Fedena as examples:

Course or Batch Detail Reports

The Course or Batch Detail Report lists all active courses at your educational institutions, along with the number of batches offered and the number of students in each course. It is a way to get a bird’s eye view of what courses your educational institution offers, its popularity, and further, identify future courses you can offer based on this information.

Active Student Reports

The Active Student Report lists all the active students present in your educational institution, with admission number, admission date, batch, course, gender, and fee payment status for each of these students. It gives you an at-a-glance perspective on the student make up at your institution, helping you to make educated decisions on processes or programs that affect them.

Recap:  Advantages Of Managing Gradebooks With Student Management System

Employee Reports

The employee report gives you a comprehensive look at all active employees at your educational institution, along with their joining date, the department they belong to, the position they occupy, their current manager, and their gender. Your school ERP software will help you in making hiring decisions that answer the needs of your school according to data, rather than perception.

Former Student Reports

You’ll always call your school home and now your school ERP software makes that easier. The Former Student Report defines all former or archived students of the school, along with the student’s admission date, their leaving date, their batch, courses are taken, and the gender breaks up of these students over the desired date range. This helps you identify admission, graduation, and transfer students over a given period of time.

Former Employee Reports

The Former Employee Report defines all former or archived employees of your educational institution, along with their joining date, their leaving date, the department they were a part of, their employee position, their direct manager, and their gender.

Subject Details Reports

Reports are not just limited to personnel. The Subject Details Report lists all subjects being offered at your educational institution along with details such as the number of classes per week, the batch it belongs to, whether it is an elective, and whether it has an exam or not. The Employee-Subject Reports is another kind of report that can be generated that will also detail all the employees associated with a subject.

Employee Payroll Reports

The Employee Payroll Reports displays all payroll for active employees at your institution. You can also view these details for a specific department.

Fee Reports

There are various fee-related reports that can be generated by school ERP software for your institution at varying levels of detail. Take a look at both fee collection reports and defaulters when you generate Batch Wise Fee Collection Reports, Course Wise Fee Defaulter Reports, Student Fee Defaulter Reports, or Head Wise Student Fee Reports.

student management system

Advantages Of Managing Gradebooks With Student Management System

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Exam grades serve as more than just numbers ranking the performance of students in a school. A gradebook is a reflection of the work that has been done in the classroom. It echoes the learning that the students have experienced and serves as a launch pad for the coming academic. It also gives an accurate description of the students’ progress in school over a period of time

For most parents in schools, this gradebook is the reference sheet which helps them access their child’s performance. The report card is the first and oftentimes only reference and physical evidence that helps them assess how the student is functioning is the school.

Hence it is essential that the gradebook be meaningful to parents. It should be viewed as a tool for accurate evaluation and communication of the students’ progress and academic behaviour without confusing the parents or the school

Using a student management system that manages gradebooks is one of the best ways to create a guidebook that will help the parents and the teachers effectively understand the students and guide them towards academic excellence.

  • Automated Report Card

The student management software has built-in support to ensure that the entire process of grade book generation can be easily automated with a few clicks of the mouse. This saves the school teachers time and effort as the report cards and grade books can be digitally created and shared online with the parents

  • Error Free Report Cards

One of the biggest advantages of using a students information management system to create and manage gradebooks is lack of errors and mistakes in calculations. Creating a report card manually often leads to human errors in calculating the grades or in converting the marks into grades. However, these embarrassing calculating and converting mistakes can be completely avoided with the use of an online student management system.

  • Customizable Report Cards

Using a school management software or a gradebook management software, you can customise your report card to meet the specific requirements of the teaching authorities. The software makes it easy for schools to create a layout that follows the branding guidelines of the school. The software also makes it easy for the schools to display the information that they want to share with parents depending on their internal guidelines. Schools can also customize the display periods and styles for grades ranging from percentage, points, letter grades etc.

  • Reduced workload for teachers and school staff

Using the student’s information management systems empowers the teacher as it saves time and effort by consolidating the critical grading process into a simple could based platform. Using the various tool, teachers can create a point and click ad hoc report generator for nearly any data in the software. This enables them to manage activities more efficiently and keep the parents updated on any trends that they many notices in the student performance. Using a school management software also helps the teachers to flag any missing assignments, enter sub-skill grades for each course at the click of a button and print progress reports at any required time.

  • Flexible Report Card Models

Using a students information management system tools, the school authorities can meet the grade book standards and adhere to the grading scale system defined by the various school board authorities. The schools also have the flexibility to create the grade book in various formats that can be easily viewed & accessed by the parents over emails, mobile apps and websites.

Recap:  Modern gradebook management system to meet pedagogical goals

  • Real-time access to school data

With the help of online student management system, school get access to view the entire school’s data with the click of the mouse. Principals and other school authorities can view the entire school’s performance in a particular subject or a grade’s understanding of a concept at a glance – thus helping the schools access and comprehend the student learning in real time and at a glance. Gradebook management tools also allow for related school data to be downloaded in various data formats from excel sheets to pdf documents.

  • Faster creation of report cards

At the end of a school year or a school semester, one of the most anticipated documents is the report card. Parents eagerly wait for these school documents that help them evaluate their child’s academic progress during the course of the year. However, creating gradebooks can be a tedious and monotonous process as each teacher manually works on calculating marks, then waits for other grade teachers to share their inputs, ensures that each report card is then signed by the necessary school authorities.

However, the use of a gradebook management system ensures that all of these processes are taking care of online, from automatic calculations and conversion, multiple teachers working at the same time, digital signatures and emailing gradebooks. All of these ensure that the gradebook is created within minimum time and shared with the eager parents at the earliest.

  • Integration of additional elements in the grade books

Using the online student management system, teachers can easily add in additional elements into the school grade book. From attendance records, late coming reports to disciplinary statements can easily be integrated into the grade book – thus effectively ensuring parents updated about every aspect of their child’s school behaviour and performance.

With the implementation of new teaching systems and programs, the workload on teachers and school coordinators has increased by manifold. This specifically refers to those responsible for tabulation of assessment marks and creation of school grade books and report cards. Creating a grade book, requires multiple calculations and conversions and the use of a gradebook management tool makes the task easier for schools. It also helps to enhance the teacher-parent communication – making report cards an essential tool to help guide the students to reach academic and personal excellence.

school management software

Manage online registration using school management software

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There is a good reason why school management software is so important nowadays. One of the reasons is surely the whole gamut of features it comes with. These features of course not only make life easy for the students but also for the school administrations. While talking about the various benefits of the school management system it is important for us to discuss the importance of the convenience of the online registration process. When new registration starts,  it becomes imperative to provide online registration platform for the students to enrol. As everything on the single platform not only speeds up the whole process but also for administrators become easy to track all details in real time.

So here are a few features and benefits of online registration using the school management software.

Unique ID for all students

The beauty of online school software is that it provides the student with a unique ID. Once the student starts the online registration process he will need to fill in the required details. After he has completed this step successfully, the school management system will generate a unique ID for the student which will be required for all other communications with the school further down the line. The unique ID establishes the fact that there can be no duplication of student’s data. The unique ID also helps in identifying a student’s academic data very easily.  The eLearning platforms are making it easier and simpler both for the students and the school.

Admission management using school management software

It is needless to say that the process of admission is exceedingly pivotal. The data management at different steps becomes quite unmanageable. However with the introduction of eLearning and the online enrolment system it has become unbelievably easy. Whether it is managing the registrations or following up of the process, school management software does it all. the software has been designed to provide facilities of the admission manager to streamline the registration process.

With this software the students can inquire about an admission process, fill-in the online form, pay registration fees online and also track the current status of the application. The school management software can configure the different levels of the registration process as per their requirement. The software also enables the school administration to set up the auto allotment of interview schedules.

More features

The online school management software comes with more interesting features. Apart from the registration, the school administration will have the authority to track and check the number of admission enquiries and registrations done. This helps in the decision-making process where the applications are compared, accepted or rejected as per the norms of the admission criterion. The date also helps them to analyze and prepare statistical reports on the schools online application process. The number of enquires made, registrations are done and withdrawals made will help in the analysis.

Some of the quick features of the school management software include:

  • Online application form
  • Capturing application data
  • Tracking application status
  • Allocation of seats
  • Managing documents
  • Managing offers given out to students
  • Configuring admission rules
  • Seamless communication
  • Automated notifications to applicants
  • Payment of fees
  • Registration and enrolment
  • Scheduling of interview

Mobile apps for schools

A lot of schools nowadays are developing mobile apps for the students. This is making the process of payment of fees even easier. Smartphones are quite common these days and with a mobile application, the parents/guardian or the students can pay their fees anytime and anywhere. The mobile apps are also helping the schools to deliver important notifications regarding session beginnings, exams, interviews and other processes involved. With the help of these mobile applications, the students can get information regarding the admission criterion.

It is a completely secured system

The school management system software is designed and developed using the latest technology. The eLearning platforms use the best and most advanced package to develop a highly secure system that will help keep the students secured. Student’s data is crucial for any school and thus keeping it safe is imperative for any school. It is not only passwords that protect the system, but biometric locks are used too. Only the authorised personnel of the school will have access to the vital data. The technicalities of the software make it robust and free from any malware.

Recap: 5 Simple Tips For Hiring The Best Teachers For Your School

The benefits of the school management software

The three most important benefits of this software are:

  • Simplified admission and registration process – the online school software helps in streamlining the process of admission for each school. The total system can be customized as per the school’s requirements. The total system is automated and thus no one needs to calculate, arrange or sort data. The authorized person of the school can view the students’ profiles to know registration history. The system is capable of processing multiple student profiles at once.
  • Real-time tracking of applications – Since this system of school’s software is totally online it does not require the use of paper at all. The admission process can be tracked online in real time without printing any document. The system helps the school to customize the form designs, it’s input fields so that the admission process is done as per the criterion of the school. The authority can track the applications and its count real time as the admission is going on.
  • It is a better experience for all – The user will surely have a better and fulfilling experience while using the online application process. Even the payment methods are easy, robust and quick that uses the latest e-commerce technology. The school management software provides the flexibility of using multilingual forms for admissions. Thus this system can be used in schools where regional language is used for communicating with the students. This system definitely reduces cost both for the schools as well as for the students. It also optimizes the use of resources and speeds up the process of registration. The software can also analytics and thus can help in the decision of accepting and rejecting proposals.

It can be fully customized

No two schools in the world are exactly alike when it comes to the way they operate and the processes and systems that they follow. A lot depends on the size of the school and that is why their needs and requirements would be different as well. No matter what it is, with good school management software, the school authority can shape the system as per your requirements.

With the help of systems such as these, it is possible to change and modify all the various stages of the admission process of the school. The requirements from each stage could be different and with a good school software, it is quite possible to design the stages to meet those requirements in the best possible way. The school authority can also publish important details such as seats and criteria for admission in case of various courses. At the same time, grades – especially in the admission tests – can be brought out as well so that students can know whether they have any chance of being admitted to your school or not.

Facility to record previous educational details of a student

When a school has a high-class school management system they become more confident in areas like maintaining previous academic records of students that are new to the institution. It could be that a student has enrolled at your school from the 11th standard – in that case, the school can keep all the records of that student, especially ones of the 10th standards, in their database. Similarly, if a student has been there with the school right from the beginning then the institute can have all the records whenever they require them.

Integration

One of the major benefits of systems like school management software is that they make integration of various departments in the schools really easy. This means all the departments in the school have access to data being maintained by others and can access it as and when they wish to. It is this seamless integration of all the different arms of the school that can be called the true hallmark of these systems. With so many features that are not only helpful but also simple, it becomes imperative for all schools to install this software.

High-quality reports

A system like a school management software can generate the very best reports out there in terms of quality. They come with features such as charts that help the school management in getting necessary insights into the students that they want in their school and the ones they do not. The school can also take a look at the number of seats that have been allocated to each section and how well the entire system is being utilized.

Thus, if you wish to manage your admission with a school management software then the best way is to go for Fedena which is simple, easy and very flexible to match up to your expectations.

hiring the best teachers for your school

5 Simple Tips For Hiring The Best Teachers For Your School

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Teachers are the founding pillars on which great educational institutions are built and hiring great teachers can often be critical to the success of a school. However, when hiring the best teachers for your school, one of the most important elements to remember is that every school has different needs and different prerequisites that make for a good teacher is that school.

For instance, in a school that is more modern and uses online learning platforms and school management software, it is essential that the teacher be more technically savvy and digitally confident. On the other hand, if a school is stressed with discipline among students, then a conventional teacher with strict teaching methods would work perfectly well

It is therefore that one of the most critical aspects of hiring teachers starts with the school identifying the type of teachers needed.

Let’s look at a few more essential tips when hiring teachers for your school

  • Determine Hiring Goals

The first important strategy related to teacher hiring is to be able to identify the position, the necessary skills, knowledge and experiences that you are looking for in your teacher candidates. By bearing in mind the specific skills and knowledge that are needed for the open teaching position, the school authorities can prepare stronger questions to ensure that the selected candidates possess the required skills.

Most school principals are effectively looking for teachers with some pre-determined qualities such as intelligence, knowledge of the subject, pedological skills, emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence and required educational experience.

  • Adopt A Paperless Screening System

One of the fastest ways to screen candidates is to use a school management software that will allow you to collect and review the candidate applications in a hassle-free manner. The school management software can enter applicant details into the online system, segregate the applicant and send pre-written letters to the selected or rejected applicants – thus saving the time and effort of the school administration team.

Recap: Run Your Educational Institution Like a Fortune 500 CEO

  • Evaluate Soft Skills

When you call the selected candidates for an interview – start by evaluating the soft skills of the prospective teachers. Check with the teachers on their classroom management strategies, on their personal belief system as well as their instructional strategies to deal with different types of learners.

  • Assess Hard Or Technical Skills

Once you are confident with the soft skills of your teachers, you can then assess the technical skills of the teacher such as writing skills, curriculum knowledge, analytical skills etc. Craft and ask the questions that will elicit that information that you are looking for about the candidate.

  • Recheck and reference check

When you have narrowed candidates, you can call their references for a check. It is also essential to relook at the application folder to recheck the basics about your selected candidate. This includes checking handwriting, grades in various coursework, trends in work patterns etc.

Hiring the perfect teacher for your school does not have a set formula and while the above guidelines can help you select the best candidates, you also need to rely on your instincts and experience. And most of all enjoy the hiring process as you network and get to know the brilliant teachers in your community.

Run Your Educational Institution Like a Fortune 500 CEO

Run Your Educational Institution Like a Fortune 500 CEO

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Have you begun working smart yet?

Being a part of the education ecosystem can often feel like you’re living in a bubble. It isn’t just constantly being reminded about the potential this world contains thanks to the eager hopefulness your students demonstrate but also having your focus be more about empowering these scholars, rather than being part of the regular rat race. But this does not mean we have nothing to learn from the corporate world. An efficiently run school has trickle-down effects that benefit a lot more than your happy accounts guy – teachers are able to run classes more smoothly, students focus better, and your non-education staff works more competently.

So how does one run their school like the latest startup maverick? Or even his predecessor, the much-lauded Fortune 500 CEO? Here are some maxims to keep in mind when running your own school or college:

Have Clarity of Mission

A journey without a destination is just aimless wandering. Adventurous asides are all well and good, but the captain of the ship (that’s you!) must know where he’s taking his charges. What is the aim of your school? What do you want to excel at? Are your educators and non-educational staff aware of your goals? Have they bought into the vision you have for the school? Do they identify with your collective mission?

These are all questions you must have answers to before you open your doors to future change makers and world leaders. Maps are not just another app Google blesses us with, but a handy reference for you to return to time and again, especially when you are feeling lost.

Get Your Basics Right

You have your vision and mission now…great! The next step is getting the bare bones in place to ensure your school is built on a strong foundation. We aren’t just talking about the infrastructure your school has to offer, but also the people that occupy key positions. Ensure that you aren’t cutting corners at this stage – hire educators and administrators who identify with your mission and have demonstrated excellence in their previous positions, seek out guidance that will move you towards your end goal, and ensure that you publicise your mission to parents and scholars appropriately. The students you will be educating should be ones who will flourish under your tutelage.

Recap: School ERP System to manage and enhance Parent-Teacher Communication

Build Agile Attitudes

Mission buy-in and deliberate hires are step one to building a successful team. You will reap the rewards of their contributions only if you instil a collective attitude that leans towards agile or lean working and empowers them to do their best in this environment. Embracing tech is the most low-hanging fruit you have to make this possible. Using open source, robust school management systems like Fedena ensure that a lot of the chaff is discarded at the outset, leaving your stakeholders to focus on what they do best – enable students to excel!

Challenges are Opportunities

You and your team have hit the ground running and things seem to be chugging along just fine. But challenges are inevitable, so do not fear them. When encountering an issue, see how you can lean into the systems you have set up, the attitude you have inculcated, and the skill set you have acquired to turn them into opportunities. Problems are signals to you that something might not be running as efficiently as possible – so here is your chance to improve things around you! When you view challenges as an opportunity to do better, you teach students to do the same. An important mindset to take into the world, so inculcate it early.

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School ERP System to manage and enhance Parent-Teacher Communication

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Technology has changed the way that schools communicate with parents. While a few years ago – the school diary was the only way for teachers to update parents about school activities. However, today the web-based school management software has created an array of tools to enable teachers to interact with parents and create an advantageous learning environment.

In any given school, the teachers and the administrative departments are busy with numerous activities such as management of school timetable, school fee collection, management of school cleaning teams etc. Often keeping parents updated and parent communication slips under the school teachers radar and gets relegated to only the essential must-know details. But most parents like to stay aware of all the day-to-day activities of their children. In this scenario, an online school ERP system is the best solution that will help schools efficiently manage the parent and teacher communication.

Below is a list of ways a school ERP can help parents stay connected with schools
  • Schedule PTA meetings using the school ERP software

Using the school ERP software, you can alert parents about the upcoming parent-teacher meeting dates so that parents can block these dates for school. Any changes in the time or date of the meetings can also be quickly shared with the parents, thus avoiding any miscommunication

  • Access to progress reports

Parents, today like to stay updated about their child’s school performance. Instead of waiting for the annual report card day, an education ERP software can help parents get real-time access to the child’s in-class performance. This ensures that any gap in student’s learning and understanding can be identified immediately and parents can help with the required tutoring before the gap becomes a critical problem.

  • Stay updated on your child attendance reports

Using the web-based school management software, parents can stay updated on their child’s attendance report. The education ERP software can send automated text messages and emails so that parents can be immediately alerted if their child were to miss a day of school or college.

  • Stay updated important announcements

Instead of relying on the age of system of communication through a paper, the school ERP software can send messages to the parents about all important school updates. The school can even schedule automated reminders, closer to the date to prompt parents to complete essential actions such as payment reminders, permission reminders.

  • Live bus tracking

We live in uncertain times and many parents want to constantly stay updated on the whereabouts of their child – including the times they travel to school or travel for school trips and picnics. An online school ERP system shares a detailed route map with parents and alerts them when the child boards and gets off the bus. It also sends alerts to parents when the vehicle is speeding or meets with an accident.

Today there is plenty of research-driven evidence that has proven that family involvement in a child’s academic life is a key predictor of a student’s success. Various experts believe that a positive relationship between the parent and the teacher has a resultant positive influence on a child’s future success and growth both in and outside of the classroom

Building this bond can challenging as schools as well as parents are often juggling with a shortage of time and resources and committing to that extra effort of establishing consistent communication is often a burden for both parties. However,

Using an education ERP software is one of the best ways to incorporate the latest technology and keep parents updated about home assignments, school events, educational strategies and children’s academic as well as non-academic performance.

Recap:  What is Online School Management System? Some key features you must know

This constant communication with the parents is also beneficial to the school and the teaching staff in a number of ways
  • Parents feel connected to the school

When the parents know what is happening in the school through the online school ERP system, they feel more connected to the school. This connection and trust goes a long way in ensuring that the parents do not change the school of the child in the latter years

  • Parents can contribute creative ideas

Communicating with the parents is a great way to encourage them to share their ideas on what will work for their child and help the school function more efficiently. This parental feedback is one of the best ways to create a school that helps bring out the best potential of the students

  • Parents can volunteer in the schools

When parents are updated on the needs and volunteer opportunities in the school, they are more likely to participate and be active volunteers to help meet the needs of the school.

  • Address and resolve parental anxiety

Watching their kids step into new schools often fills some parents with anxiety and they may be overwhelmed then with various questions and concerns about the well-being and safety of their child. Creating and sustaining open communication with your child’s parents using the school ERP software can diminish this anxiety and help the parents as they see their kids settle in the school environment

Parent-teacher relationships are not built overnight. To create strong parent-school relationships, one needs to invest the time and effort. Using a web-based school management software schools can create an environment of consistent communication, meaningful conversations, productive collaborations, creative problem solving, most importantly, trust.

While schools and class teacher are experts in teaching, parents in expert in their children. They have an innate understanding of what stimulates their child, what motivates them and what bores them in the learning and schooling process. Through effective communication using the online school ERP system, parents and teachers can together shape the academic future of their children as well as impact the values and educational philosophies that will aid in the better education of their children.s

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What is Online School Management System? Some key features you must know

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Some online school management system features and functions you must know

You wake up to the buzz of the alarm from your phone, check for news, before figuring out the best route to your destination using Google Maps. You stay connected with friends and family through messaging services and when you get home, you wind down by watching your favorite show thanks to your chosen streaming video service provider. It’s undeniable that technology is now seamlessly integrated into the fabric of our lives.

The target market for most technologies is younger people. These are early adopters who intuitively understand and use technology in new and imaginative ways every day. So why should it be any different at school?

The use of email and messaging groups are par for the course and we have alumni events being organized on Facebook – the connectivity promises we’ll always stay in touch. So why do so many high tech schools with high tech students still seem to rely on an archaic way of doing things? Isn’t there a solution that would replace these outmoded processes?

What is online school management system?

Simply answered – yes. Online school management software is the solution to a lot the issues arising from outdated processes and functions that plague today’s educational institutions. But what is online school management software? Simply put, it is a piece of educational technology that helps you automate everything in your college or school. Think of it is an all-in-one administrative assistant, finance department, record keeper, data analyst and report writer for all your needs. It is your most capable companion in running your educational needs and a handy resource in your day to day decision making.

These might seem like a tall order, but the robust nature of a flexible online school management software, like Fedena, will be able to do all this and more. It will soon become an inextricable part of your educational journey.

Who is online school management system built for?

It might seem like online school management system is a boon for school management and administration. But its uses are not limited to an audience of one! Teachers, students, and parents are all stakeholders that benefit from this piece of education technology. The effects of a well-run school are bound to extend to the very people who keep it going. Online school management software is not just a tool handy for non-education staff but has features that directly benefit those more directly involved with the teaching side of things.

How? Read on to learn more about some key features of the online school management system software and how they make everyone’s life easier.

Recap:  Why school management system software is the most trending thing in education industry?

What are some online school management system software features to watch out for?

Will every online school management software brings its own strengths and challenges to the table, there are some key features your pick should have? At the very basic level, your online school management software must offer an easy-to-use interface, robust system to take on the challenge of running an educational system, and the flexibility to adapt to changing needs.

Some other key features to look out for are elaborated on below:

School management features:

At the very outset, your online school management software must be able to comprehensively handle your educational institution’s processes. This involves everything, from admissions to transfer or leaving certificates issues to students graduating from the school. An online school management software like Fedena will be able to automate processes like timetables,
transport, admissions processing, onboarding of new students, scheduling of classes, attendance, school events, calendaring, and so on. This is the very basic thing you must expect from your online school management software.

Parent-teacher collaboration:

It takes a village to raise a child, the maxim goes, and the case is no different in school. It is not the sole responsibility of a teacher to educate a child – parental support plays a huge role. So how do we make sure these two important stakeholders are on the same page? Through easy and consistent collaboration. And how do we make this possible? Through your online school
management software, that allows for one on one communication, remote monitoring of the child, easily accessed logins for parents to monitor teacher feedback on class assignments and exams, dashboards that announce school alerts, etc.

Fee management and online payments:

One of the most time consuming and headache inducing factors of running an educational institution are fee management. But your online school management software can reduce this burden on staff! With highly robust, yet flexible backends, fee management systems can be easily set up to suit every student’s needs. Build custom fee bands that take into account individual deductions, fees, fines, and scholarships awarded to students. Help parents pay swiftly and easily with online payment processing from any device. Finally, generate a fee receipt of the records swiftly within the same online school management software.

Gradebooks and reports:

Goal oriented and personalized teaching has increasingly been found to more effective for students than anything else. A huge factor in this is a continual assessment to keep track of student progress. With online gradebooks and one-on-one feedback made possible by your online school management software, parents and teachers can easily keep track of their scholars’ progress at school. This helps course-correct in real time, watch out for budding problems, and address issues in a timely fashion – all to help students achieve their educational goals!

Timetable, attendance, and scheduling:

Good results arise from good preparation. Keeping track of student attendance, scheduling classes and having an easily accessed timetable is key to ensuring students remain well-organized and on track. Your online school management software will help with all these tasks, allowing your student to keep their eye on the prize.

Online examinations and assignments:

Exams are a necessary metric that helps students evaluate how well they have realized their learning goals at regular goals. But why add to the stress of an already tension inducing event? Easily accessed from any device, timely grading, and private communication of feedback through your online school management software is key to encouraging students to see exams as a tool to help them improve.

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Top 5 hacks to skyrocket your institute’s productivity

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Productivity is not just the art of doing things in the fastest way possible, but it also entails doing things in the most efficient manner to get the best results

This essential skill is the need of the hour for school, colleges, and other educational institutes. This is because schools need to put in additional efforts to increase their proficiency and fulfill the needs of various departments. They need to ensure that the educational institution is functioning efficiently. Schools today, face a constant demand for data, which needs to be immediate and accurate. In the midst of this, it is often easy for a school to find itself distracted by constant administrative pressure and lose their focus on teaching students productively.

Let’s look at a few easy hacks that will help you boost the productivity of your institute:

  • Advance Lesson Planning

Productivity is often synonymous with preparation and schools can encourage their teachers to prepare lesson plans in advance, so that they do not have to struggle in class with what part of the course needs their attention.

Using a school course management software or an eLearning software, teachers can easily upload their course content online as a guide to help the teachers stick to the lesson plan and achieve maximum productivity in the classroom

  • Eliminate Manual Record Keeping

The use of a school management system has made manual work such as managing student attendance, sports records, contact details not only much easier, but it also ensures that the security of data is maintained at all times. Additionally, work such as responding to emails, managing admission queries become a lot easier – thus effectively saving time boosting productivity

  • Assess your students in the classroom

Instead of taking assignments home and assessing the students post-school hours, teachers can opt for online quizzes and tests that assess the students in real time. Using an online school management software helps the teachers to assess students without waiting and give them the help before it is too late. This also enables students to see their subject comprehension faster and get more time for improvement

  • Enable discussion boards

Even as the teacher is at the helm of the classroom, having an online discussion board will enable students to resolve each other’s queries instead of constantly addressing them to the teacher. This will not only create a more productive class environment, but it will also empower the students to be more independent and resourceful

  • Flip the classroom for increased productivity

The Flipped Class model is a highly successful teaching model that uses eLearning platform to reverse classroom events. A great productivity tool, the flipped classroom allows students to watch or listen to the lectures at home and use the time in the classroom to do clarify their doubts.  The time is class is then highly a highly productive way to enhance classroom learning

The use of technology in the classroom is a great way to engage the students as well as to keep the institute highly productive. As we hurtle towards a completely digital era, one of the best ways to ensure highly productive and efficient educational institutes is through the use of various online learning platform.

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Why a developing nation needs inspired teachers?

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Students are considered the future of the nation akin to the teachers who are the architects. Like parents, teachers play a vital role in blooming a student’s life. They are the mediator who passes on their valuable knowledge to the students to prepare them for the future. But it’s a cliché that in most of the developing countries, teachers don’t get the recognition in contrast to the other professions such as engineers, doctors, and others. This not only dampens their passion for teaching but also wanes the productivity which directly affects the school’s and student’s success.

Nowadays, the young generation views teaching as a low-level profession pursued by professionals having no recognizable talent. This has become the primary reason for the stagnation of the growth of developing countries. If those nations are ambitious enough to view themselves as a recognized country in the future, then they should be focussing on creating a solid educational platform for the young generation to prosper and participate in the nation’s success. To be able to achieve such heights, having better teaching professions is paramount.   

Here are the top 10 tips to implement in your institution for improving the productivity of the educators:

  • Professional development course:

Encouraging teachers to join the professional courses, webinars, and workshops, help towards raising their critical thinking level, acquiring the valuable knowledge and ideas, and get a chance to meet various people with whom they can exchange their thoughts and conceptualize further ways to spice up the teaching.

  • Complimentary snacks:

Continuous teaching hours for the educators can be equally exhausting as the students, and they need to recharge themselves to be able to keep the excitement and enthusiasm alive in a classroom. Snacks and beverages along will conveniently organize breaks can be the energy booster they’d need to keep themselves focussed in the teaching halls and come up with exciting ways to make the learning more interesting.

  • Accolades and recognition:

Everyone feels delighted to be appreciated at work. In institutions, the teacher’s performance can be evaluated by the progress of their students. Therefore, if the students perform well under a teacher’s guidance then it is the institute’s responsibility to accolade the teacher’s contribution. Other tutors feeling a sense of competition would focus on their teaching as well, to be equally recognized. Though, the institution should also be aware of falsified results to gain recognition on teacher’s part.

  • Brainstorming sessions with the principal and other teachers:

One problem may have various solutions but how would you choose which is the best fit? Brainstorming is a technique in which various member from same organization share their ideas and then after the exchange, an optimal solution is arrived at. Similarly in institutions, to improve the productivity of an institute and progress of students, everyone has various opinions. Monthly schools can conduct brainstorming session where teachers and other decision makers can share their views and with intelligent conversations can arrive at a solution.

  • Set an instructional objective:

Students should be able to perform a task if the skills to perform it has already been imparted by the instructor. As an example: at the end of a course, students should be able to solve problems related to the course. Acquiring such teaching abilities are either natural for a teacher or is learned over vast teaching experience, and therefore requires their dedication and planning. But such objectives are necessary to ameliorate the efficiency of the teachers.

  • Technology usage while handling the classroom activities:

Technology is evolving day by day and its applications are present in every kind of industry. Currently, the market is flooded with software to simplify and automate the academic and administrative activities of the schools. Tools like school management software help teachers in managing the attendance, assignment, conduct online examinations, track a student’s performance, check their payroll, online apply for leaves, etc. Using such software speeds up the process of managing the academic activities to bestow them the ability to focus on more important tasks.

  • Organize day trips:

Fun activities, movies or trips is exciting for everyone. Such kind of activities improve the bonding between the colleagues, reduce their stress and give them a chance to know each other in a better way. These outings make the employees feel happy and relaxed.

  • Month-end birthday celebrations:

Celebrating birthdays at your working place with colleagues can make you feel nostalgic. Such celebrations improve the camaraderie between fellow colleagues.

  • Social networking:

Networking on social media channels is a trend which has grabbed every generation. Teachers can easily connect with their students and improve their learning experience by sharing classroom notes, talking about trending topics and sharing other visual aids which intrigue the students and boost their engagement towards learning. The instant notification on social media channels about seminars, conferences, and other development workshops helps them socialize with their students while offering them up-to-date knowledge.

  • Quarterly performance evaluation:

Periodically evaluating the performance of instructors sometimes becomes controversial but this gives an insight on the gaps in teaching. It would be fair to reward their contributions based on their teachings, progress of their students and relationship with their pupils.

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Attendance Tracking Made Easy With School ERP Software

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Check attendance tracking off your to-do list today

No school day starts without the sonorous voice of your class teacher taking attendance. With name after name being called, taking roll call is an inextricable part of the school experience. But what is its purpose? Roll call – or attendance tracking as education technologists are starting to call it – isn’t just another mindless exercise in futility. Beyond the practicalities of student discipline, attendance tracking gives educators a better picture of how their student is doing in class.

Attendance tracking allows schools and educational institutions to make better administrative and financial decisions. It also allows schools to have a good gauge on that ephemeral thing – student interest. Are students interested in a particular class? Why or why not? Do we see
better attendance for certain teachers versus others?

How do class timings affect attendance?

These are all questions that are easily answered by data emerging from student tracking. Showing up is the first step to success. This oft-quoted management maxim holds true even in the classroom. Attendance tracking helps assign a number and make it a metric. An important step in an increasingly digitized world.

What is the role of education technology in attendance tracking?

Education technology has essentially automated the process of roll call. Attendance tracking modules or products allow teachers to swiftly and efficiently track student attendance to classrooms with dramatically reduced time and effort investment.

Attendance tracking becomes an automated task where students are marked as present by the system with minimal human interference. The right technology also allows the appropriate checks to remain in place. No more bunking off with the guarantee of proxy attendance!

A simple parallel familiar to most professionals would be the swipe cards used to get into a secure office. The data collected from these swipes helps administration track your whereabouts and keep track of how many leaves you take a year in an unobtrusive manner.

Most of us swipe through to our offices without a second thought.
Attendance tracking is similar, with the appropriate checks and balances in place. It is a now intrinsic part of the education technology ecosystem. Are you ready to get on board?

But why do we need attendance tracking software?

As is the case with many process driven tasks, attendance tracking is prone to human error. Lack of attention from a student, lackadaisical attitudes in the classroom, and even something as benign as not being able to shout over a noisy classroom can result in improper tracking and
inaccurate attendance data.

A human error affects other aspects also. Maintenance of credible logs, an accuracy of records, and keeping track of transferring students is a dull and time-consuming task – one that teachers should not be burdened with when they have the vital job of teaching to get to.

A third thing to consider is the feasibility of attendance tracking in an increasingly virtual world. How would the traditional method work for online classrooms and MOOCs? It is wasteful and confusing to spend valuable class hours across different schedules taking roll call via chat or voice.

Attendance tracking software nearly eliminates these issues. We are no longer reliant on humans and their fallible to track something like attendance. This not only ensures accurate data that aid in the making of financial and administrative decisions by management, but also frees up valuable teaching time for teachers.

In the case of students, it helps teachers and management focus on incentivizing attendance, rather than a system based on penalizing missing students. Data gleaned from attendance tracking could give rise to interesting trends – from one where students are delayed for a specific amount of time, thanks to an inefficient logistical set up perhaps or even if a teacher isn’t meeting teaching goals and keeping students engaged. Schools have a lot to learn from attendance tracking systems.

In this economy, where data is king, educational institutions would do well to capitalize on the wealth of information in hand. Fedena, for instance, empowers schools to create highly readable reports to give us insights into student behavior.

So, how can a school ERP software come into play?

Despite its undeniable advantages, some administrators will still balk? Do we really want to invest in another piece of technology when pen and paper seem to be doing the job?

To start with, examine whether it really is. What are the inaccuracies in reporting that is being overlooked? Are you really using the data gleaned from roll call in any meaningful way?

Attendance tracking eliminates many of these starting troubles, as we have discussed above. But the best part is that it is already a part of your school ERP system. If it is not or you are still considering options before taking the plunge, consider trying out Fedena – we promise a premium experience.

Attendance Tracking – The Fedena Difference

But why Fedena and not any other school ERP software? We have waxed eloquent about the distinct advantage using Fedena provides. But when it comes to attendance tracking, Fedena is not just efficient but also helps you capitalize on this data in new ways. No longer is this just a disciplinary tool wielded by hassled teachers, but a way to inspire teachers to improve their curriculum and spot student issues before they get out of hand. Be prepared is not just an old Boy Scout motto, but a code to live by, especially when it comes to education.

Still not completely convinced to give it a shot? Perhaps we should sweeten the deal. We recently launched some new features that allow for increasingly customized attendance reports and easy transfer of students on attendance rolls for more accurate tracking. With Fedena, you not only automate a time-consuming process, but we give you some pointers on how to use your new-found resources to best serve the people who need it the most – your students.

Fedena’s attendance tracking feature ensures that no student slips through the cracks. This seemingly mindless task gains new respect and importance through its elevation via the right platform. Attendance tracking will help students be more than just another face in the crowd.