Top Features Your Student Management System Should Have
Online and on-campus classes alike need a management system that allows students and teachers to interact with each other.
The ed-tech market is filled with many such systems and each of these systems has hundreds of features and add-ons.
With so many options to choose from, here are the top features your student management system should have:
1. Course Logistics And Management
The most basic feature a student management system needs to have is the ability to handle course logistics and the management of assignments.
Course logistics include many things such as giving teachers the ability to upload and download assignments and grade them in the portal. Even when publishing assignments, teachers should have access to a multimedia toolbox that allows them to post assignments in many formats.
For example, if a teacher wanted to assign a video report to students, they should be able to upload or link the video in the portal itself.
Other advantages of this feature include the timestamp that an assignment was submitted or the device it was submitted from.
Having this information can ensure that there is no need for students to have to provide evidence in case they are missing an assignment grade or if their device stops working while uploading.
2. Enroll Students In Courses
Regardless of the mode of instruction, all students need the ability to enroll in courses as they see fit and based on their other class schedules.
Many students have multiple majors, minors, activities, and jobs to consider as they are enrolling for classes.
By giving students the ability to enroll in courses online and see their schedule at a glance, institutions can promote better time management for students and decrease the risk of burnout as students are not forced to take classes they don’t have the time for.
This feature can also allow students to better keep track of all required courses under their chosen degree and what they are yet to complete.
3. Two-way Communication With Teachers
A great feature that is a must-have when it comes to student management systems is the ability to send emails or messages back and forth between teachers and students.
Many events can come up throughout the entire year that may require teachers to get in touch with their students outside of class.
For example, a last-minute online class cancellation might require the teacher to send out an email letting students know about the same.
Similarly, giving students the option to send a message to the teacher about individual circumstances such as excused absences helps streamline communication outside of class.
4. Integrate With Other Apps
Online education means that you will be using multiple platforms and apps whether you are a student, a teacher, or an institution.
This is why you need to invest in a student management system that allows you to integrate all your other apps and platforms into the system.
For example, for a teacher who holds office hours through a video conferencing platform, your system should be able to integrate with that video call platform and give students easy access to the meeting room.
Similarly, as an institution that takes academic integrity violations seriously, you might want to invest in a student management system that can integrate with plagiarism detection software.
This ensures that documents uploaded by students are automatically checked for plagiarism.
Conclusion
All in all, many features can make a student management system attractive from basic student management logistics to advanced application integrations.
Keep these top features in mind as you decide on a specific platform that meets all your requirements.
