Enabling teachers, office personnel and administrators to track the progress of their distance education students.

In 2005, due to changes in the Ontario government’s funding model for distance education learning, a need was created for a comprehensive program which would allow teachers, office personnel and administrators to track the progress of distance education students. Based on this need, a leader in distance education programs contracted Supra Its to develop a solution which would empower their school board to take control of their most important assets.

Challenges

• Bridge application gap. Enable the ongoing transfer of legacy system data into a more suitable application.
• Organize and track. Manage details of student contacts, registrations, courses, attendance, grading and more.
• Report. Provide comprehensive reports needed to track student progress as well as information required to successfully claim government funding.

Solutions

• Compatibility. Legacy compatibility is maintained via flat file imports of student and course information from common data manipulation applications such as Excel.
• Comprehensive tools. Task specific modules provide an integrated suite of tracking and reporting tools for managing every aspect of online student progress.
• Availability. Developed as a Cloud-based solution, access to the application requires only a PC and an Internet connection.

Impact

• Greater control. All facets of student academic progress have been made available and easily manageable.
• Optimization at all levels. What was originally a complicated and labour intensive process has been organized and streamlined.
• Accountability. User and action based logging tracks changes and comprehensive reports make applying for government funding much easier.

When it comes to securing government funding, a comprehensive solution such as this is a must for any school board offering distance education programs.

Comprehensive and intuitive

The solution provided to the client contained a flexible tracking system that enabled them to administer their online distance education student records. An intuitive user interface ensured a low learning curve and integrated search capabilities enabled them to locate information quickly and easily.

Robust reporting features simplified the sharing process and allowed for direct methods of gathering the statistics necessary to apply for government funding based on student participation and advancement.

Student Records

The new system allowed the client to manage a full range of information including contact, school and registration details. Extended detail options allowed for up to two parent/guardian contacts and continuous comment logging provided the opportunity for teachers to share information about students on an ongoing basis. A simple point and click system ensured that individual course enrolment was fast and hassle-free.

Student Tracking

By selecting the appropriate module, grade and date, the tracking of each student’s module completion could be made quickly and easily. Module information for all courses could be updated by individual student or by students enrolled in a particular course simultaneously.

Student Achievement

To tracking student achievement at regular milestones the client provided marks and comments as well as indicated whether reports had been completed and submitted.

Student Attendance

Student attendance could be tracked on a weekly basis and was tracked by course, allowing teachers to set students as present or absent. Attendance reports in the reporting area would identify any student records that are past due and have not yet been marked, thus allowing office staff to keep on top of the attendance process at all times.

Reports

Comprehensive reports covering a wide range of criteria including new registrations, expired orientation status, student records, student lists by school, school board, course and register type, achievement, module completion, attendance and more were all integrated into the system.

Mass Data Import

In order to facilitate the flux of new student records each year, mass data import tools were also included, enabling information to be brought in, even from older legacy programs, with minimal steps.