“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” ― Benjamin Franklin
Information is man’s primal asset in this age. Impatience is the buzzword of our generation which is stoked by the lack of timely, actionable and veritable data. As we evolve to seek answers, our methods of ingesting content have also got more sophisticated. We seek involvement in the matters of our interest and we also strive to know how we can further apply the insights we obtain from our pursuit of solutions.
Given how dynamic our pattern of data consumption is, it would be naïve to think that traditional methods of classroom learning would suffice in our endeavors to conceptualize and grasp the fundamentals of yore and present day. Besides nostalgia, the traditional blackboard and chalk serve our purpose with diminishing returns. Cutting to the point, students of today are in need of a holistic system for getting attuned to the rigors of education.
Don’t get us wrong here. Traditional methods of delivering lectures and training still persist, that too with high acceptability. However, they exist as a one size fits all approach. Delivery of education needs augmentation, if not an overhaul.
The advent of learning management systems (LMS)
Learning management systems facilitate delivery of content and resources to students. An LMS also helps in anytime access to resources plus a more collaborative learning environment to engage with. Unlike regular classroom sessions, learning management systems ensure repeatability and self-pacing of the resources to be studied.
Numbers are also in favor of the learning management system industry. According to eLearning Industry , the estimated growth rate of the LMS industry is approximately 24% with the market set to be at an impressive $8 billion in 2018. For now, the industry is at roughly $3 billion. Providers seem to be in favor of establishing cloud based classroom LMS systems as this reduces capital and operational costs
Learning management systems also facilitate cross device access which means that one would be able to tune into their classrooms from the comfort of his or her desktop, tablet, smartphone or laptop. Such ease of access and the ease of replaying content does learning management systems a world of good.
This is wonderful, but…
Having eulogized learning management systems, one can be forgiven for thinking that such systems are paid/freemium versions of YouTube or any other video service focused solely on education. Besides delivery of quality content, learning management systems need to involve everyone and everything in the scheme of things. That would include teachers, parents, attendance, examinations, grading, administrative functions, attendance, notice boards, alumni relations, community management and even recruitment activities.
Enter student information systems (SIS)
If learning management systems place flexible content at your fingertips, student information systems strive to measure the impact of the learning and translate the same into verifiable metrics. We not only get to learn swathes of concepts, we also get to measure our grasp of them. Not only that, we also get to involve the key stakeholders of our education into one robust system to make sure everyone is on the right track.
The student information system has the potential to be the very gateway and the backbone of an educational institute.
A hybrid approach
So the need of the hour is a product that combines the best of LMS and SIS as a unified and a comprehensive solution. A product that fosters adequate learning, tracking and measurement of progress is the future of education management systems. After all, learning and academics persist outside the confines of the classroom and it is only helpful if an end to end solution exists to cater to them. To know more, take a tour of Classe365’s education management system