When preparing for another busy school year, curriculum mapping, pastoral care, enrolment workflow and financial administration are just some of the important boxes to tick on a principal’s ‘to do’ list.
Unfortunately, streamlining these important processes is not easy when there are other pressing matters - such as parent meetings, in-school dramas and compliancy paperwork to complete – at hand.
Daniel Hill is the director of Edumate, which helps schools manage critical tasks through “Australia’s most advanced and complete software-as-a-service digital learning and education management system”.
He says there is a “growing tension” around the use of technology in the classroom.
“Whilst offering huge upsides in efficiency, engagement and access to content overall, recent research suggests that socially, emotionally and medically, those upsides may not be worth the pay off,” Hill told The Educator.
One of the challenges facing schools and technology providers, says Hill, is what constitutes too much technology in the classroom, at what stage this point is identified, and what can be done to manage it.
‘AI revolution will hit schools everywhere’
Hill says the emergence of AI and machine learning to produce unique insights into student data is a “revolution” that will soon hit schools everywhere.
“Whilst only a few schools have the resources right now to start looking at their student data in depth and really looking for the insights and stories buried within it, this soon will become an expectation for every school to deliver upon,” Hill said.
He says schools can start to prepare for this disruptor by looking at the data they have and assessing its validity, cleanliness and reliability.
“Any school or student management system should provide schools with rich data sources on their students and carers, and by ensuring that schools have this data in good order; think NAPLAN, welfare, attendance data etc,” he said.
“Schools should be well prepared for the solutions that will plug into that data and soon become more affordable.”
‘Powerful student-centered school management’
Looking ahead into 2019, Hill highlighted some of the ways that Edumate wikk build on the successful work it has done with schools.
“Edumate will continue to deliver on its vision – connecting community and learning, to powerful student-centred school management,” he said.
“We hope to realise that vision through further refining our unique student centric data model, whilst ensuring that we are surfacing the information that all stakeholders need to see.”
Another key focus for the business, says Hill, is to further develop its interoperability.
“We are well aware that more and more schools are looking for best of breed platforms that complement their school management systems,” Hill said.
“By creating better connections and integrations with these best of breed platforms, we hope to make the crucial end user experience even better.”