First Question you must answer is “Do I really need a software to manage my school before you think whether Online or Cloud base?
If yes, “Do I need Web or Stand-alone application?” What are the after sales support do the providers have? E.g video tutorials, Blog, user manual etc
Many school owners are trapped with application(s) from unprofessional that are looking for their daily leaving. They know that what they have is not what they really need, but do not know how to go about it or how to change the software.
This short blog gives an answer to those that want to buy new application and those who have one but are not satisfied with the application.
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1. Start by figuring out what you want from your School Software or Application and how it fits into the overall teaching, learning, examining and reporting structure of your school.
2. Cost is very important in chosen an application for your school. The cost are in different ways. You should asked, “Can I get one software/ application that can help my school to teach, learn, examine and manage data. If you get such, it will save you the cost of having many vendors knocking at your doors and marrying software/ applications from different developers together can be worrisome and sometime impossible.
3. The scalability of the software / application. Schools grows with time in number of students, staff, structures, assets etc and as the school grows, the software/ application should also grow along with the school.
School managers can only observe this through how often the developer of such application update the software/ application.
4. Include a neutral person or people in the decision making process.
Although putting a learning management system in place and maintaining it can fall on the shoulders of the school’s IT experts. But the selection of the software/ application should not rest only on the IT expert.
Due to high competitions in the market, one person may not have all the information at hand to choose from. Compromise may also play in when one person chose
5. Ask for Free Demo and Play an active role when viewing and exploring demonstrations. Ask specific questions related to your school’s situation, and request to see how certain functions work.
6. Ask for other schools who are using the solution and talk to people from schools already using the school software you’re evaluating. Look for schools that are similar to your own and ask for their opinions.
7. Evaluate the total cost of ownership, not just the price of the product. Some vendor have hidden charges they don’t disclose to the new customer.
What kind of technical support and professional development are included in the pricing?
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8. Ask for the developers of such software and their experience in software business. This good because the application usage is a long term agreement. This will save the energy of entrusting your school in the hand of learners who will use your school to experiment
When sizing up potential software/ applications, be sure not to be confuse with their capabilities and your requirements. Also, what your school needs may not necessarily be everything a vendor is offering or suggesting to you.
In Conclusion
As school and university students highly value Management System use,it is paramount that an institution takes the time to select a Learning Management System that is aligned with its educational plan and meets the needs of various stakeholders (Employees, Student, Guardians and Alumni). However, it is critical that a diverse group of people representing different academic and non-academic departments be involved in the decision-making process to ensure buy-in and minimum resistance during the implementation process. Proper project management is also required to ensure a successful implementation. If an institution is seeking to make widespread improvements to an existing LMS, it must also ensure widespread stakeholder involvement and effective project management during this process; such re-alignment is likely to succeed only if the existing LMS has the necessary capabilities.