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A student information system is, by definition, a data management tool that synchronizes all management processes in an educational institution. Its purpose is to gather various data and integrate it into a single centralized operating system.
Not so long ago, handling student information meant keeping records manually or buying expensive equipment. But with the advent of cloud-based SIS, everything changed. For the better, of course.
Nowadays, most student information systems are online tools that provide their subscribers with vital features that keep the school’s operations running smoothly.
In other words, virtually everybody benefits from integrating SIS solutions. For the sake of explanations, we systematized these advantages into three main categories:
- How does SIS help educators?
- How does SIS benefit administrators?
- How does SIS benefit students and parents?
To be clear, many advantages of this information system are valuable for multiple categories at once. For example, both students and administrators benefit from efficient payment processing.
But in most cases, certain features and their betterment of the school’s operations generate the most value for a particular category.
Here’s the lowdown.
Advantages of Student Information System For Educators
Although all of the benefits teachers gain from SIS can be packed under the designation “enhanced productivity,” there are details and features worthy of a separate discussion.
These are:
Student Database Management
In simple words, when a web-based system is in charge of handling paperwork, teachers and professors can dedicate more time to what is the core of their profession – answering their students’ educational needs.
The best student information systems have an efficient database manager integrated, allowing educators to track students’ behavior, keep attendance records, handle class scheduling and course registrations, and mark daily progress in the classroom.
Simply put, the student database management system is a way of unburdening educators from administrative tasks that could potentially interfere with their occupation’s primary focus.
Enhanced Productivity
Somewhere in line with the previous benefit is enhancing productivity through improving the educational materials, methods, and resources.
For teaching staff, integrating student information systems means automating certain aspects of the lesson planning and examination process, which entails spending more time on critical steps of the processes.
Essentially, everything that liberates educators from manual tasks is a high-way to boosting their productivity.
Reports
Through dynamic dashboard reports, educators can use SIS to keep a close eye on the key performance indicators, such as attendance, participation in class, homework, and achievements.
In a word, reporting is an SIS feature that records each student’s learning path, precisely depicts where there’s room for improvement and which facets need special attention.
Benefits For School Administrators
Among many other things, an educational institution is a complex administrative machine that needs to handle multiple bureaucratic tasks on a daily basis.
Student information system supports this machine by reducing the manual work, which is often the source of errors and delays.
Library Management
Automating the management of large databases that need to be searched daily is one of the SIS’s most important benefits. In library surroundings, the system will be in charge of all the tasks once done by hand, including issuing books, collecting fines, tracking inventory’s condition, students’ records, etc.
Admission Management
Admission management is one of the SIS’s core features because it not only automates the administration work but increases the enrolment rates.
In simple words, when students have fewer barriers on the way to admission, they are more likely to apply.
A traditional enrolment process is time-consuming, complex, and resource-intensive. By contrast, SIS enables the admission department to manage large amounts of data without demanding students engage in extensive paperwork. The transition between each part of the enrolment process thus runs smoothly, while human resources aren’t overpowered at any given moment.
In a word, SIS is an excellent tool for boosting enrolment rates, handling inquiries, and nurturing effective communication with students from day one.
Easy Payment Processing
Even though this benefit is listed as an advantage for administrative workers specifically, the centralized billing system is useful for everybody included in the educational process. University’s accounting staff have an effective tool for automating their tasks, while parents and students can avoid waiting in lines to complete their payments.
Enhanced Security
Empowering a university or a school with a cloud-based student information system means keeping all the sensitive data in one central platform that’s highly secured.
Despite the wrong belief that clouds are more susceptible to data breaches, studies have shown that clouds are safer environments for storing data than traditional IT systems.
In simple terms, SIS gives educational institutions the ability to preserve the students’ information in a safe way, with a high level of confidentiality.
Connecting Departments
Siloing information within separate university departments is the shortest way to administrative confusion, if not utter disorder.
An effective student information system prevents this by enabling departments to communicate efficiently, transport important data, and manage smart access to information.
In other words, SIS makes departments into a single centralized institution.
Easy Reporting
Imagine going through each data segment (attendance data, admission statistics, etc.) on foot to present results, depict trends, or simply measure the school year’s success. Now imagine doing all that with just a few smart clicks on an intuitive analytic dashboard. These disparate images should say it all about the benefit of the reporting feature, which many SISs are equipped with.
Benefits For Students & Parents
When it comes to students and their parents, the most critical benefit of the student management system is the smooth operation of the educational system they’re entering.
But, more directly, there are features in SISs especially designed for learners and crafted to involve their parents in the educational process effectively.
Parental Portal
A well-designed student information system comes with fully segmented access to student-related data, including attendance reports, grades, examination results, etc. In practice, this means that parents are invited to co-create a healthy learning experience by providing unwavering support to their children.
Improved Student Success
Keeping track of students’ performance and detecting room for improvement is beneficial to the teaching staff and the students themselves. Through innovative reporting features, they can tailor their way through the learning process and receive individualized approaches from their educators.
Eventually, this all translates into higher success rates and greater satisfaction with the university of their choice.
Easy Scheduling & Integration With Teachers and Administrators
Besides the mentioned benefits that are more general and far-reaching, a well-crafted SIS makes education easier on a daily basis. Through its organizational features, students can easily apply for courses, see their examination options, and make plans accordingly.
In simple terms, a centralized information system allows students to arrange and personalize their learning process. Through their individual accounts, they are more connected to both teachers and administrators, which sets the ground for more efficient cooperation.
AstriaLearning: The Future of Education is Here
At the end of the day, the importance of information systems resides in their ability to connect, unify, and consolidate faculty’s workload.
As every educational leader will tell you, enhancing staff productivity, increasing enrollment rates, and improving educational outcomes eventually means building a faculty’s reputation and financial well-being.
To start building your future today, contact our experts or request a demo to see how Astria’s SIS can take your educational institution to the next level.
