Tag: parent portal

Posted on by Edsys

As a parent, you too have a role to play in your child’s schooling, rather than just letting the teacher take care of everything. You have to know what is happening in your child’s school and how he or she is faring in the class. To know that, you must attend parent-teacher meetings.

Get Best Free Parental Apps (Check it Now)

Parent-teacher meetings give you the opportunity to discuss about your child’s performance in school and to share your fears or worries regarding your child with their teachers.But, working parents find it impossible to make time to attend these meetings that most probably fall during working days in schools. As a solution, many companies have come up with mobile and web apps to ensure smooth parent-teacher communication whenever possible.

Here is a list of 13 apps that can help parents communicate with their child’s teachers:

  1. Parent Portal

The Parent Portal software by Edsys keeps parents updated about how their child performs in school. The communication center feature of the software enables easy parent-teacher communication whenever they wish for, without having to go to their schools to meet teachers. Apart from that, you can also track the academic progress of your child, track their school bus location and even pay their school fees online using Parent Portal. You can also get notified about the latest happenings in your child’s school using this app.

2. BuzzMob

This App enables parent-teacher communication by connecting them on a private network which requires to be authorized. It is similar to the social networking platforms where updates can be posted. Students can also use this BuzzMob app to post things and work together for projects, assignments etc.

3. The teacher App & Grade Book

The teacher App & Grade Book is a relatively new tool which is freely available to the users. Parents and teachers can use the tool to interact with each other using the parent messaging feature. Also available with it is an interactive calendar, event notifications and course-wise grade reports of students. Parents can keep track of student’s attendance records and upcoming events in their child’s school using this app.

4. Collaborize Classroom

It is an education-focused app where teachers can discuss about their students’ academic progress, relevant topics and latest happenings in the school with parents and students. This acts as an online discussion platform where teachers can create discussion threads, upload videos, articles, images etc. Collaborize Classroom is a secure app where the content is visible only to authorized users.

5. Remind 101

Do you want to remind your students’ parents about the class party tomorrow? Calling each one of them or sending them e-mails individually is an impossible task. The Remind101 app is a solution. With the help of the app, you can create an account where all parents of your students can join, with a single text message. Teachers can interact with parents using the app.

6. TeacherKit

Using this TeacherKit app, teachers can create individual user profiles for every student where they can mark the students’ attendance, add details of the students’ grades and behavior in class. Teachers can use the app to e-mail parents directly. All the profiles are kept separately and can be edited or deleted if need.

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7. Running Start

This app is meant for physical education. The digital resource available with the app enables physical education teachers to explain students about movement and running. Parents can also join the physical education classes using the Running Start app. They can learn about different running techniques and for other physical activities which can help them guide their children to perform better.

8. ClassDojo

This app helps teachers to improve the classroom behavior promptly and easily. Teachers can share the details on each child’s behavior with parents as well as other school authorities. Using this ClassDojo app, teachers can provide positive behavior feedback and thus manage classes well.

9. Edmodo

Edmodo app makes the daily life of teachers simple as they can interact with students anytime from anywhere. By using this app, you can have safe classroom discussions, publishing assignments, tracking student’s progress, file sharing and uploading. And they can share these details to parents and thereby improving parent-teacher communication.

10. Schoolcircle

Schoolcircle helps teachers to easily handle administrative task, that is, usually time-consuming. Parents will be able to get daily and weekly reminders for everything that is related with their child. Some of the notable features associated with the app are its powerful sharing(able to share events and photos via the app and parents can see it), obvious volunteering, good partnership between parents and teachers(they work as a team and make school management easier).

11. Class Messenger

With this Class Messenger app, two-way messaging is possible between parents and teachers. They can discuss about child’s capability, their progress, struggles, and so forth. Also, parents are able to get test results, reminders, photos of various events, competitions and its videos.

12. VolunteerSpot

You will be able to organize group meetings, parent-teacher meetings, and group mails with VolunteerSpot. The VolunteerSpot app can be used for arranging field trips, events, competitions, and other career related programmes.

13. Pupil Asset Pupil

Asset help parents to review the attendance details, behavior, school reports (both current year and previous year reports) and student’s progress in core subjects. At the touch of a button, parents will get an overall idea about their child’s performance in the school.

14. Teno

One of India’s leading mobile app to foster a fruitful alliance between parents and teachers, Teno has a tied-up with elite educators and principals to help them effortlessly create a better management system.  In addition to being an effective tool for conveyance, it aids in School fee payment, E-learning, digital attendance, timetable, record student grades etc.

15. Classting

A communication tool for all the members of the school community – Teachers, Students, classmates, parents.  A cheerful and fun filled social media platform for students to interact with each other and share class posts, photos and notifications.

16. Parent  Class 123

The prevalent functions of this app lets parents receive feedback from teacher, view visuals of class stories, videos and stay updated with important announcements.

Parents can be kept in the know of the students conduct at school as the app lets teachers keep tab of student behavior and attendance.

The parent can reciprocate the action by sharing the child’s etiquettes and behavior in the confinements of home. It is a cross platform app which functions on both android and ios.

This develops a rapport between parents and booth parties come to a better understanding of what is crucial for the child’s development.

17. Bloomz

This award winning app makes it easy for teachers to stay in touch with children’s parents. Apart from communication, teachers can securely upload pictures, classroom updates and also keep them in the loop about upcoming events.  The other features include sending alerts for important matters, scheduling a parent teacher meet within seconds and managing events and calendar with the aid of built-in reminder.  The app works on both android and ios platforms.

18. Classtag parent teacher app

An out of the way tradition to let parents be a part of their child’s success can be initiated though this app. The app was build with a vision of bringing in family support to the student life in the most un- conventional manner. The app lets teachers and parents organize activities in conjunction with each other by adding insights from both parties. It grows personal relations and gives rise to volunteering openings considering the interests of the parent.

19. Teachers 2 parents

The parents can connect with all schools and clubs who use Teacher2Parents. The app is the best platform to view the announcements of notices and events to be held in the school.

It is a reliable and convenient way of conveying important or urgent information to parents.

Parents can book an appointment with the teachers in advance. The app has an efficient email function to broadcast information to all the members of the school ecosystem.

The app lets us access all school updates under a single roof.  It is controlled by the school and all the numbers of the users are registered on to the text messaging service under their administration. 

20. School Connect

The app is the work of Tata ClassEdge who tied up with schools to improve the communications between parents and teachers.

The mobile app helps parents stay updated with school activities, the child’s academic performance and also helps to easily access the academic information and provides an effortless medium to stay connected with the school.

21. Google classroom

Google classrooms promotes communication, tweaks assignments, and increases engagement thus making teaching a lot more purposeful.

This is a virtual classroom which defies the confinements of a school building making it possible to set up anywhere as per the comfort of the teachers and the children with even the guardians involvement.

Get Best Free Parental Apps (Check it Now)

The parents receive an account of student’s progress, missing work, upcoming assignments and class activities. This prevents matters of poor performance to be brought to notice earlier for parents to take necessary actions.

These apps allow you to interact with your child’s teachers. But, communicating with your child’s teachers isn’t just about parent-teacher meetings. It will let your child know the role you, as his or parent plays in their education. Also, as a parent, it is your responsibility to know about the physical, social and mental development of your child and help them in the process. Always maintain a positive relationship with your child’s teachers and keep discussing your child’s progress with them using the available apps. This can help your child apply their potential to the fullest to get outstanding results.

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Today schools seek technology for improving their communication and involvement with parents. Use of student information system and parent portal features complements home school communication and thus keeps parents involved in every activities of the school. Student information system is a software which helps to store data on each student’s performance. This system has been widely used by schools.

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             7 Great Apps for Parent-Teacher Communication

Parent portal helps parents to log in to the system for seeing child’s data, tracking attendance, read teacher’s comments on child’s performance, and thus able to contact teachers for expressing their concerns and questions. By providing access to student information system, a sense of responsibility is created between parents and schools about student learning. School authorities should give proper awareness to parents about how the data in the system help to improve studies of their child. If proper education and training is not attributed to parents about the effective use of student information system, parent portal would never aid in student learning. Parent portal helps to foster and improve parental involvement.

Reasons for using Parent Portal

Out of concern, parents use the portal for checking the academic performance of their child. Specifically they use the portal for checking or monitoring their child’s grades and not for checking child’s attendance or checking teacher’s comments about behavior, class performance etc. Parents will have a feeling that it is their responsibility to check out those details.

Reasons Indicating How it Contributes to School-Home Communication:

Parent perceived parent portal as an excellent medium of school home communication without completely replacing traditional way of communication via phone calls, email and progress reports. Among other communication methods which schools offer, parent portal is the most used and preferred one for parents. It was found that there is improvement in communication between parents and teachers with the usage of parent portal. And mainly it is done with the help of e-mail correspondence set up in the portal.

How do Parents use Data from Parent Portal

Mostly parents use the portal to know about their child’s grades. Such information will be useful to parents as they are able to know and thus be aware of their child’s progress in schools. With the help of parent portals, parents could also keep up a proper communication with the child on their performance in schools and behavior. Parent portal helps to change the attitude of students towards school and thus show a huge improvement in their studies. Parents can check the data and understand their child’s grade for each submitted assignment. But without proper training, some parents are unable to get access to the data stored in the portal.

  Read Also:

        Special Education Web Sites for Teachers and Parent

Parent portal usage help parents to improve their involvement as the child progresses to higher grades. It also helps parents to increase involvement and thus take extra care in their child’s schooling. The only thing to be noted is that parents should have proper understanding about features and usage of the portal. Training given by school authorities can help to best use and thus lead the child to a meaningful and learning centered environment

Parent portal can indirectly improve the parent’s involvement in their child’s education. It is used in a proper and meaningful way to support their child’s education. Also, it helps to bridge the communication gap between the home and school. Parents are able to get a meaningful data on child’s progress. By using internet based student information system parent portals, education and behavior of students can greatly be improved. Apart from these benefits, it helps to make sure safety of children as well.

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Like wet cement which reflects anything that falls on it, children cannot always be blamed for the behaviour they showcase. School apps help students to learn better and parent portal helps parents to evaluate their children, but is that enough for our children? For that, execution has to be impeccable. Gifting our children the best environment for healthy mental and physical development is equally important.

Even inside the school, children are not as safe as we think. Bullying is one such problem that can affect children in the school. Under any circumstances, bullying cannot be justified. Approximately 32% of reported student bullying complaints are from schools.

It is of no doubt that bullying can affect the emotional stability of the victim. When it happens at school, it can negatively impact a child’s learning ability. More than one in five children is bullied regularly at school.

Stop before it starts, that’s the best way to deal with bullying. The possibilities of school staffs are numerous to stop the bullies. Teachers have the authority to mould the children for better.

Teachers can help prevent the bullies:

“Teachers affect eternity; no one can tell where their influence stops”- Henry Brooks Adams

Teachers can create a bully-free school zone. The authority of teachers is not limited to school syllabus, they can do a lot more for the school and the students.

What works?

Implement the best that works. Practice what you preach.

  • When in doubt take action

According to research when teachers or adults ignore bullying it is a clear indication for the students that it’s OK to behave in that manner. Always take immediate precautions against bullying. Students must be aware that, no practice of bullying shall be tolerated.

  • Treat them right

Always treat students with warmth and affection. Students should feel that teachers are always available to listen and help them. Most of the students might be in fear to expose their experience with the bullies, but giving them adequate courage can solve the problem.

  • Peer Volunteers

Appointing special volunteers for anti-bullying squad can be helpful. The volunteers can report to the teachers about any bullying incident. The victim also attains courage with volunteers between them.

  • Approaching the bullies

While the victim must be treated with extra care and support, bullies must not always be treated harshly. They should realize the intensity of the crime they have committed. Feeling guilty fetches better results.

  • Spread goodness

Activities that encourage social conduct can be helpful. The prevention taken before bullying is far more effective than the punishment granted to the victims after the incident. A school wide focus to the problem can resolve it better.

  • Monitoring the bullies

Bullies must be monitored and necessary action must be taken to prevent it as soon as possible. Contacting the parents of the bullies can be considered. The entire school must be warned that bullies are carefully monitored. No bullies will be ignored.

What doesn’t work?

It’s also essential to point out, what does not work in the prevention of bullying. Many preventive factors might sound effective but they are not.

  • Enforcing Zero Tolerance Policy

Zero tolerance policies might result in less reporting of bullying incident. The policy regardless of accidental mistakes or any other circumstances, believes in punishing the guilty. The policy might not fetch the expected result. Punishment cannot eliminate the chance of future bullying.

  • Conflict Resolution Methods

There is a great difference between the bully and the victim, mediation between the two is not an alternative. It can upset the victim more. Never encourage bullies by not resolving the issue.

  • Dealing each bullying incident in isolation

Compared to a school wide approach dealing the incident in isolation has little effect. Each incident should be resolved without any delay as well. Enquiring the family background of the bullies can help but counselling them is much better.

Always remember:

“If kids come to us from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important” – Barbara Colorose

Posted on by Edsys

 

Attendance is an important everyday school activity. A decade ago, attendance was taken at schools by calling out everyone’s name. Now, technology has made the process easier and faster. You might be familiar with biometric systems.

RFID technology is currently the most popular and feasible technology used for School Attendance Systems, student tracking systems and parent portals.

What is an RFID Attendance System?

An RFID Attendance System makes use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags to log the attendance of individual students to database. A database would have unique profiles for individual students with details such as their address, date of birth, class, etc which can be viewed through school apps or parent portals.

Types of RFID Attendance Systems

There are two main types of RFID Attendance systems- Passive and Active according to the types of tags used.

  1. Passive RFID

In this type, RFID readers would send radio waves to tags. The microchip in the tags power on using this signal and reflect back the signal to the reader. Thus the time of entry/exit gets registered in the database. It is due to this very reason that these are known as “Passive RFID”

These can operate in three different radio frequencies:

125 – 134 kHz – LF (Low Frequency)

13.56 MHz – HF (High Frequency)

856 MHz to 960 MHz – UHF (Ultra High Frequency)

The range of Passive RFIDs is limited as it simply reflects signals back to the reader rather than emitting signals on its own. Therefore, the range of these tags usually comes under 10 meters. However, this gives it several advantages.

Advantages

  • It doesn’t require a power source
  • Smaller in size
  • Easy to manufacture
  • Far more cheaper than Active RFID
  • Minimal health hazards

Being extremely affordable, it is no surprise that these are the most widely used RFID tags. Because of their simple nature, Passive RFIDs have numerous applications. Attendance at schools and offices commonly use these.

Battery Operated Passive Tags: These are similar to normal passive RFID tags. The only difference is the addition of a battery to power on the microchip. This helps to use the entire signal received from readers to be reflected back instead of using it to power on the microchip. Thus, it effectively improves the range.

  1. Active RFID

Unlike Passive RFID systems, these use RFID tags that have their own power source and a transmitter. Active RFIDs have superior range and data capacity. Some of these tags are known to have range over 100 meters. But these increased abilities come with an increased demand for power.

These are usually powered by powerful batteries which can last for a few years. Never the less, they have to be replaced once the batteries expire. There are two types of Active tags – Transponders and Beacons

a)      Transponders wake up by receiving radio signals from their readers. Once awake, they communicate with the readers as required. As they do not use their battery power to wake up, transponders have better longevity compared to Beacons.

b)      Beacons are used for real-time location monitoring systems. They are powered by their own batteries and emit signals at pre-determined intervals.

Advantages

  • Long range
  • Ideal for real-time location systems
  • Larger memory

However, there are numerous aspects that make Active RFID tags less feasible for large scale usage. The improved technology in Active RFID tags make them costlier and the associated radiation could be hazardous to health. Also, they are usually bulky when compared to passive tags. Hence schools and offices usually prefer passive tags for attendance while active tags are used in throughout supply chains and shipping yards.

Wi-Fi: The Future of Attendance Systems

Technology is developing rapidly, and Wi-Fi seems to be a faster, more user-friendly option as far as attendance systems is concerned. With BYOD in schools and workplaces becoming a popular trend, concerned authorities would not have to invest in hardware. However, the technology is still in evolving stage.

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It is fact that smart cards are the next big thing when it comes to data storage and security. By now it has found application in numerous fields. The use of smart cards, particularly in the field of education has helped parents to address a wide range of concerns.

With smart cards parents are able to monitor what their ward spends money on. Before going into the details of how this is made possible, it is only wise to know what a smart card is.

Smart Cards

The commonly used smart cards are a range of plastic devices embedded with an IC (Integrated Circuit). The integrated circuit can either be a micro-controller or some equivalent. It has an internal memory or a memory chip for the purpose of storing data.

With the provision of an in-built memory, large amounts of data can be stored. These cards can also carry out their own on-card functions.

They are available in a variety of forms like plastic cards, key fobs, watches, SIM (Subscriber Information Module) cards in GSM mobile devices and USB based tokens.

Working of Smart Cards

Though hybrid smart cards have entered the market, contact and contactless smart cards are the most commonly used ones these days. Their operations are very closely related.

In both type of cards the information is stored in a chip embedded on the smart card. The difference between the two technologies is in how power is supplied to the card and also how data is transferred between reader and card.

As the name suggests this is done without contact in contactless smart cards. Instead, it is done by using magnetic or RFID signals. The cards are provided with antennas which when comes in the range of an electro-magnetic signal activates the card, hence supplying power and enabling data transfer.

How does it help to track expenditure?

Now it’s time to answer the all important question of how exactly smart cards help you to track the money spent. This aspect of the smart cards has been helpful for parents to track their child’s allowance. What he spends it on or how much he spends, can easily be tracked without even a moments delay.

The students can use these smart cards to make purchases on and off the campus, like books, food and to even pay his/ her school fees. As soon as the smart card is used for any of these purposes, a notification is sent to the parents on a web portal, such as Parent Portal. The purchase details will also be stored for future enquiry.

Parents can also get information on the go with the help of a mobile app. Parent app is one such app which sends notifications to the parents. Hence, the misuse of cash can be taken care of by the parents. Moreover, using such smart cards also helps students to learn proper management of money. It also avoids the situations like losing cash, had it been carried by hand.

More Benefits of Using Smart Cards

Vast student information can be stored and made readily available to the school and also the parents. It can also be used for the purpose of marking student attendance. The IC in the smart card gets activated when in the range of an electro-magnetic field, therefore registering attendance.

It is an effective method of storing data. Since it is tamper proof and provides high level of security, it can provide safety of information. Using a smart card is not a complicated task, which makes them desirable when it comes to data handling.

Posted on by Edsys

School should be a place where children love to go. To make it lovable and stress-free we can do something.

1. Make an order and rules from the very beginning:

Having a classroom routine from the very first day of their school life will enable the kid to understand that school is somewhat a systematic place and this is how it is going to work. Setting up a classroom routine, with pre-school or lower primary children is very important in this aspect. Once the ways are carefully established, the children understand how to be a part of it.

One thing we must keep in mind is that the children should never feel that these are rules. Surely they will love following routines since they are not bothered about time at this early age. Saying ‘good morning’ or a Morning Prayer can be a part of this routine. The teacher should also follow the same.

Edsys introduces Smart cards for schools. It can be used for registering their entry and exit time, school bus attendance etc.

2. Bring novel thoughts and have enough fun:

Always bring some new thoughts or ideas for the class. Children love variety. If every day the teacher comes and lecturing, then evaluates and leaves the class, there is nothing new in it. The ability to learn is different in different students. So we have to bring new ideas every day. It will be a great blessing for those who have different learning abilities.

Some students like to learn things as stories, some other as rhymes and some others with pictures or drama. These are interesting methods that provide them with imagination and pleasure.

Fun can be created in the class in so many ways. It is not always singing and dancing. Saying stories, quizzes, games and chants everything can create fun in the class. This will help to make a Stress Free School Environment.

3. Always give surprises, praises and make fair evaluation:

Let them expect something that is really amazing every day. Give them gifts for their achievement and give surprises in different ways. For example, before they get into the class make some models or pictures in the classroom related to the new topic that is about to begin that day.

Also Read : 13 Innovative Trends in Educational Technology

Prepare for all the special days in every month and do activities related to that particular instant in that week. Encourage them to put forward their ideas and promote them to share it with the class.

Everyone likes positive feedback and respond well to a job that is well done. Surely the children surely the children will be pleased to hear positive comment from the teachers. Always praise them for their good deed and behavior and we can see many of the students trying to copy the same.

Make the classroom evaluation accurate and impartial. It is necessary to win the heart of the students. Tests are a part of teaching and it is to be conducted regularly but not constantly. It is to be evaluated in detail. Don’t trouble them with so many questions and test papers; let them relax and enjoy their childhood.

4. Teachers should be enthusiastic and stay motivated always:

It is really to be enthusiastic always but the smile on the teacher’s face will make the students enthusiastic. Letting them to guess what the teacher is about to begin. Catch their attention with a whistle or clap. Fast and smart movements will make them enthusiastic and energetic too.

Always try to know what the student hood feels. Refresh your mind and be a student by attending refresher courses and classes. Update our skills always and remain motivated for new class.

5. Know the students personally and be in touch with the parents:

It is a must thing to avoid stress in the classroom. If any student has any problem in following the classes or attending the classes the teacher must know it. The teacher must be aware of any kind of challenges the students facing, physically or mentally and should give an extra attention for them.

The parent-teacher communication is very important for a stress free classroom. Both teachers and parents can make use of Parent Portal for effective interaction between parents and teachers. If the children are having a troublesome family background, the teacher must know it and avoid situations in class that make the particular child miserable.

If a student is weak in any subject or there is a decline of grades for him the teacher must talk to the parents and find out the reason for it and should overcome that condition by giving him special attention.

The teacher should always be a good friend to the students. Then only they will feel free in the classroom. Otherwise, they may feel classroom as prison cell which suffocates their childhood.

6. Promote positive feeling towards school in students

When it comes to kindergarten, the students being relatively new to the school environment, find it little tough to fit in. Therefore, the first step you must take as a teacher, is to make them feel safe and comfortable. Academics is not the priority at the moment. The teachers must utilize the initial years of students in school to nurture positive feeling in them towards the school.  Organize group play and other collaborative activities to develop socio-economic skills of the students. Also, teachers can utilize the time to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the students and make plans to help them improvise. This will indeed contribute to a stress-free school environment for the students in future.

7. Tackle bullying

Bullying happens in schools and may even continue through college, thus emotionally breaking the students. Besides setting up rules to address bullying, it’s important to encourage students to brave up and report in case they are bullied. Also, schools can hold classes or sessions to help students to identify the different signs of bullying and to make them aware of its bad effects. Schools should also appoint a team to counsel the bullies and victims to maintain a stress-free school environment.

8. Encourage physical activities

As the famous proverb goes, ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’  When it’s about studies alone, students feel stressful. Therefore, it’s important for them to indulge in some kind of physical activities in school. Not every student will be interested in athletics and sports. But, the physical education teacher can encourage the students to exercise by making them understand the benefits of being physically active. It’s always best if the students get to interact with nature. But, most schools lack a playground or greenery these days. If you can provide one to your students, it will be great. In case, you cannot do that, include dance, aerobics, yoga or tai-chi to their usual academic schedule so that students get enough time to relax after a day’s studies.

9. Improve the potential of students

It’s a usual scenario where schools categorize students on the basis of the grades they score during exams.  However, this cannot be seen as a true determining factor of a student’s potential as there might be some valid reason for his/her low  performance in the exams. If you do so, it can even restrict the students from trying further. Instead, you can try to identify the areas the students need improvement and help them perform better. This support will indeed boost their confidence and they’ll feel at ease.

10. Personally connect with students

If teachers can try and make personal connections with the students, it really helps. Teachers can hold interactive sessions and seminars to build the bond. The closer you get to your students, you’ll have a better understanding of your students in terms of their abilities. Teachers can then put this information to use to help the students perform better. Let the students set their own rules when it comes to academics, with your approval. You can then supervise to ensure that the students are performing as planned.

11. Prepare staff and students to adapt to difficult situations

Stress is inevitable. Though you give your best shot, you cannot actually build a 100% stress free school environment. Therefore, the best thing you can do, besides all other destressing measures, is to train the students and staff to maintain and to tackle the tense situations they get to face in school. If a student performs low, the teachers should be careful not to say anything negative. Instead, the teachers can ensure their students that the failure is temporary and that they should forget this, and move forward to score better in future. Also, the students and teachers together can sit together and make plans to improve. This helps the students to be confident about themselves and to bounce back in case they perform poorly in future.

The parent-teacher communication is very important for a stress free classroom. Both teachers and parents can make use of Parent Portal for effective interaction between parents and teachers. If the children are having a troublesome family background, the teacher must know it and avoid situations in class that make the particular child miserable.

If a student is weak in any subject or there is a decline of grades for him the teacher must talk to the parents and find out the reason for it and should overcome that condition by giving him special attention. The teacher should always be a good friend to the students. Then only they will feel free in the classroom. Otherwise, they may feel classroom as prison cell which suffocates their childhood.

Posted on by Edsys

Technology has been undergoing immense transitions recently and the new advancements have already been making their presence felt in every sector. The impact is being felt in the education field as well, where traditional teaching methods have already started stepping aside to embrace technology. But, what do we gain out of this? What transformations can use of technology in education bring? Let’s have a look:

Turn digital

In this era where everything is digitalized, how can a person face the world with just a pen and paper? That is exactly why students should be exposed to technology.  Computer knowledge is a compulsory criterion for any job these days. Therefore, only a digitally literate  can survive in this world of extreme competition in each and every field.

Sharing is easy!

Remember how you used to share notes when you were a student? With exams round the corner, you might have given your notes to a friend who doesn’t return it for few days due to some reason. You won’t be able to revise your lessons until your friend brings your book back and the result? Lots of tension and panic! With technology, sharing lessons is a lot easier, that too without giving away the notes you already have with you.

Analyse instantly

In traditional teaching methods, you have to conduct exams on a half-yearly or annual basis to understand the potential of your students. With technology in your hands, analyzing your students is a simple task. You can conduct simple tests to understand the areas each of your students has to improve in. This saves a lot of time which you can utilize to help the students improve in their areas of weakness.

Share the results

Parent-teacher meeting! The word itself can startle you, if you are a teacher.  It is not at all easy to sit and prepare reports on each student’s performance and then meet each of their parents with feedback. It is indeed a laborious task and at the end of the day, you may have no energy left. Especially if conducted on holidays, you lose valuable time that could be spent with your family. With technology entering classrooms, you won’t have to put even half the labour. You can share the reports on each student’s performance instantly. You can save energy and time that way.

Turn social

Most of you play games on social media platforms where you are rewarded or ranked virtually based on your performance. You can use technology in a similar way to virtually award your students who have done well, thus instilling a healthy competition among students. This motivates the children to give their best performances while making the concept of learning more interesting.

Save money and time

This can be said as the one of the most important advantages of bringing technology to the classrooms. With technology, you are saved from having to buy desks, books, lab equipments etc. all of which are very expensive. You don’t have to write everything on the black board. Instead you can share all the lessons or resources online. This saves your effort and time while benefiting disadvantaged students to have access to education.

Updates made easy!

Updating the syllabus is not a tough task when you have technology to your support. It can be done in a very short span of time. Also, you won’t have to buy thousands of updated books every year, adding to your savings.

Go Global

With technology, learning won’t be confined to the walls of the classrooms. Students get a chance to connect globally and hence, expand their knowledge.

It’s convenient

The heavy backpacks and hundreds of books have been causing physical issues to students for long. Introducing technology to classroom can therefore, tend to be such a relief to them physically.

It is a fact that use of technology beyond a limit can have negative effects. But there is a positive side that weighs heavier. And it is not tough to help children out of the bad effects due to over usage of technology. Introducing technology to class rooms can help in breaking the monotonous learning methods, thus motivating the students to do well. It also helps in reducing the issues related to stress, for both teachers and students as things get a lot easier.

It is to note that technology has not only intervened in teaching but also in the overall school management these days. There are lots of software and gadgets available in the market to provide suitable solutions to education related issues. Edsys is one such company that provides efficient educational solutions. The RFID Student Tracking System and GPS Vehicle Tracking System by Edsys addresses safety concerns regarding students and help in managing school bus fleet while the school work force management system and timetable management software aid in overall school management. Other products of Edsys such as Parent Portal and Smart Card Solutions for schools & colleges are also quite effective.

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“A child without education, is like a bird without wings”-Tibetan proverb

Education, apart from being a human right, is a necessity for survival these days. An uneducated person finds it tough to survive, be it financially or socially. The list of these schools given below is proof that people around the globe understand the value of education and are ready to go to any extend to spread knowledge. They are much different from the typical schools we are used to.

These schools do not even come close to those large class rooms with a black board, chairs and table, plenty of students and teaches. But they all serve the same purpose-to educate. Here’s a journey through the world’s unique schools:

Boat school, Bangladesh

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Most of the rural areas of Bangladesh do not even have access to education. If at all there is a facility, it is mostly boys who attend school. Girls can attend only if the school is near their homes. But, when it is monsoon, it becomes tough. Due to the long-lasting floods during monsoon, children are unable to attend school. This is the reason architect Mohammed Rezwan came up with a unique idea-the boat school! “I thought that if the children cannot come to the school, then the school should come to them,” he says.

Nomadic School, Siberia

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This school was formed in 2006 by Alexandra Lavrillier, an ethnologist, with the intention of providing modern education to children belonging to the Evenk, a nomadic group of south-east Siberia, while preserving their culture. Before this school came into existence, the Evenk children followed a modern education system, by staying in boarding schools for months at a time. This caused them to lose contact with their tradition. The school, which has been given the status of “official experimental school,” has inspired more schools of that sort to come up in other parts of Siberia.

Train Platform Schools, India

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These schools were formed as a result of Inderjit Khurana, coming in contact with lots of children begging in trains, instead of attending schools. Being a school teacher, Inderjit understood that education is the only way to help those children escape from poverty. But to enrol these children in school was an impossible task. The concept of train platform schools enables children who dwell in streets of India to have their share of basic education.

School in the Cloud, China

gulu

Journey to attend this school in Gulu village of Sichuan Province in China is no child’s play. Located in the middle of lots of cliffs and canyons, it takes about 5 hours to walk across the narrow mountain path leading to the school, consisting of dangerous twists and turns. Unlike the present situation, the school had dirty classrooms with leaky roofs and no toilet about 26 years ago. It was the teacher Shen Qijun who toiled hard single-handedly to bring the school to the present form. Now, the school has a toilet and children have been given uniforms by volunteers. The school continues to thrive despite the difficult conditions.

Door Step School, India

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Established in 1989 by a group of social workers, the concept of Door Step School is similar to that of Boat School in Bangladesh. Aimed to provide education to the underprivileged children, the school goes to where the children are and starts the class there. “School on Wheels” is an initiative of the people behind DoorStepSchool to educate the children on the streets. For that, a school bus has been designed as a class room, with just one aim-100% literacy.

The existence of these schools proves that, beyond the facilities, all that matters is just education.

But all of these schools do not just follow a traditional education system. Technology is making education more affordable, simpler and safer. Edsys is an example of a company that provides educational solutions that help to enhance educational system, right from school management to school bus management. Some of its products include RFID Student Tracking System, GPS Vehicle Tracking System, Parent portal and smart cards for schools, that prove to be very useful in terms of overall school management.

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Be it providing education or receiving it, the task isn’t easy at it seems. It requires a lot of effort and energy. There may be various elements to tackle in between to earn real benefits out of education. Bullying, racism, inequality etc. are some social issues that the providers and the students have to face in common.

There are some other issues that are solely confined to teachers or students. Hence, it is very difficult to understand for people outside the circle. But many movies have brilliantly portrayed most of the issues related to education so that others out of the education system can understand them better.

Here are 11 movies that narrate some of the challenges faced by teachers and students in the education system. These convey the importance of education:

1. To Sir, With Love (1967)

Released in 1967, this movie highlighted racial and social issues. ‘To Sir, with Love’ narrates the story of Mark Thackarey, a former engineer, who begins his career in teaching at an area with low standard of living in London. Soon, Mr. Thackarey realizes that rather than arithmetic or any other subjects, how to survive is what he has to teach his students and how Mr. Thackarey achieves that forms the rest of the story. Actor Sidney Poitier portrayed the role of Mark Thackarey in this feel good movie.

2. Educating Rita (1983)


‘Educating Rita’ is all about self-discovery and the power to choose, that comes through education. The movie narrates how the life of a young wife Rita (played by actress Julie Walters) transforms when she comes in contact with Frank Bryant, her assigned Open University professor after deciding to complete her education. Mr. Bryant happens to inspires her and teaches her to value her own thoughts.

3. The Breakfast Club (1985)


A bit different from the usual teacher-student movie, ‘The Breakfast Club’ tells the story of five students, each belonging to a different high school group, who happen to come together during a Saturday detention and connect to each other. The movie successfully portrays the interaction between students in an education system.

4. Stand and Deliver (1988)

This 1988 movie revolves around a high school maths teacher, Jaime Escalante, who leaves his highly-paid job to take up teaching. ‘Stand and Deliver’ narrates how Mr. Escalante motivates his undisciplined and rebellious bunch of students to excel in academics while overcoming various hurdles. The movie is based on a true story and the character Jaime Escalante is for real. In the movie, actor Edward James Olmos played the role of the teacher, Jaime Escalante.

5. Dead Poets Society (1989)


This classic film tells the story of a teacher who motivates his students the break out of their normal lives to seize the day and to be extra ordinary. Late actor Robin Williams played the role of John Keating, the free-spirited, understanding and inspiring teacher, every student wishes to have. The movie ‘Dead Poets Society’ and the character John Keating has been inspiring students for many years.

6. Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

Director Stephen Herek brilliantly portrays the harsh realities related to teaching in his movie, ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’. The movie is about Glenn Holland, a music composer who is forced to take up the job of a high school music teacher to pay his bills, who later discovers the impact he made on his students. Actor Richard Dreyfuss portrayed the role of Mr. Holland in the movie packed with touching scenes that can leave you with a lump in your throat.

7. Chalk (2006)

The fictional documentary, ‘Chalk,’ narrates the challenges and problems that four teachers endure over the course of an academic year. Some moments of the documentary make you laugh, while others make you think as it honestly depicts the real hardships one has to face in one of the most respected professions-teaching.

8. Half Nelson (2006)

More than a student-teacher story, ‘Half Nelson’ explores race and class issues and friendship. In the movie, Ryan Gosling plays Dan Dunne, a high school teacher, with a unique teaching style, who is otherwise, a drug-addict. Mr. Dunne is forced to be friends with one of his students, when she finds out his secret.

9. Freedom Writers (2007)


This movie proves that education isn’t something that is merely confined to the four walls of a classroom, but beyond that. In the movie, actress Hillary Swank plays Erin Gruwell, a teacher who motivates her rebellious and underprivileged students to improve in terms of academics and behaviour by asking them to maintain journals about their lives.

10. Tare Zameen Par(Like stars on Earth) (2009)

This Indian movie, which comes with a tagline, “Every child is special” gives a new definition to education. Tare Zameen Par narrates the story of Ishaan Awasti, who is good at art but fares poorly when it comes to academics. Ishaan’s art teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh, suspects that Ishaan is suffering from dyslexia and helps Ishaan overcome his disability. Actor Amir Khan plays Mr. Nikumbh while Darsheel Safary plays Ishaan Awasti in the movie. .

11. Precious (2009)

This movie about an illiterate and obese girl explains the importance of education. Actress Gabourey Sidibe plays the role of 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones, who is physically and mentally abused by her mother and is sexually abused by her father. Precious Jones later enrolls in an alternative school and certain incidents inspire her to have a new outlook of life.

All these amazing movies help you to understand a lot about education. They might help you to provide better education to students. And for that to happen in an easier way, you can embrace technolgy. There are solutions such as RFID Student Tracking System, GPS Vehicle Tracking System, Parent portal and smart cards for schools that can be quite effective.