With the rapid digitalization of the education industry, schools must be able to offer the latest management and educational methods available. And once you realize that technology makes running your institute easier and more efficient, there’s no turning back.
But first you need to find an application that does what you need it to do. With all the options out there, how do you choose a platform that’s just right? You don’t want to spend valuable time and resources on an application that does only half the job.
Here’s a simple checklist of the quintessential features and tools you need to look for in an education management application:
1. Online 24/7: One of the most basic features of an app is its availability—it has to be accessible whenever it’s needed. You wouldn’t want the app to shut down while a student is uploading their assignment, or a teacher is entering grades.
2. Personalized portals: A portal is a great way for an organization to allow its users to log into their dedicated internal system and access important data. Teachers, students, and parents can each have their own login to access the app and view student submissions, assignments, grades, and more.
3. Payment options: When collecting fees online, it’s essential that your app is linked to a payment portal, for the parents to be able to pay fees, or for admin to buy office supplies. The application must be able to accommodate different payment gateways for this process to happen.
4. Integration: Your application should be able to integrate with other third party vendors and services, such as Google, Paypal, WordPress, and more. For example, you can integrate your education management application with other core apps, like an employee database to retrieve student and faculty details. These integrations can enhance your application by grouping various services all in the same place. This feature greatly aids you when you want the benefit of handling transactions through your app, or if you wish to send SMS notifications and emails to parents or students.
5. Multiplatform usage: With continuing advancements in technology, it’s unlikely that users will only access your application from a computer. The application should be able to launch on any modern platform—including phones, laptops, and tablets. And don’t forget that it needs to be able to adjust to fit different screens.
6. Cloud-based: No one wants to lose their data. With all the paperwork and folders, it’s easy to misplace important data and records. Not to mention the time it takes to browse through those files to find a single bit of information, whether it’s a student record or a fee receipt. With cloud-based technology that collects, stores, and saves an institution’s data at a centralized location, educators can easily access and utilize data at any time, from anywhere.
7. User-friendly: One of the basic requirements of an application is that it be user-friendly. There’s no point in using an app that you can’t make heads or tails of. Not everyone is tech savvy, which is why your app needs to be easy to learn and understand.
8. Generate reports: Gone are the days when creating a decent report involved configuring data manually and using your imagination to convert it into a visual representation of your numbers. Applications can now automatically create graphical reports on any data that’s entered, like student grade comparisons or classroom attendance reports.
9. Customizable: There’s no point in an application if you can’t customize it according to your specific needs and requirements. Not every institution has the same set of requirements for an app, so finding one that can be tailor-made for you is the goal.
10. Increase ROI: From the minimum cost of implementation to going paperless, there are many factors that affect the return on investment of an education management application. But when packaged together, everything we’ve talked about above will ensure a significant increase in ROI.
We hope this article has shed some light on how to choose the best platform for your education management application. Apart from increasing efficiency and enhancing productivity, we can guarantee that your app will make your stakeholders’ day-to-day interactions with your institution that much easier.
In your search for the best education management application, take a look at the Zoho Creator platform to ensure you get all the features above—and many more!
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