Types of Automated Schools

There are different systems for managing educational processes, and they differ from each other primarily in the set of learning aspects they control. The following types of automation programs can be distinguished.
 

Adaptive Learning

Adaptive learning in school education is implemented through artificial intelligence control. AI can perform many operations that help better understand the personal level of a specific student. A learning application with artificial intelligence can determine the level of material comprehension and identify strengths and weaknesses. To do this, it takes data about the child's activities on the platform, as well as their responses in testing and other forms of knowledge assessment.
 

Based on this information, the AI organizer can create programs and systematically suggest materials in a form that will be easier for the child to absorb. In other words, this is a personalized learning program that takes individual criteria into account. It can provide hints where necessary, advise or adjust the sequence of skill acquisition.

An adaptive system can also be used to assess the student's preparation level. In it, as tests are completed, the student receives more difficult or easier subsequent questions based on the success of answers to previous ones.

Electronic Textbook
 

This is a less radically changed type of educational automation compared to an adaptive AI assistant. Its essence lies in abandoning traditional textbooks for each subject and replacing them with a single device — an electronic textbook. Its convenience lies in several things at once.

First, it removes the physical burden from the student because there's no longer a need to carry a heavy backpack. Second, the electronic textbook can also function as other organizational educational documents, particularly as a performance journal. And third, students will be able to use this device-program in any form of education: in-person in the classroom, correspondence, or distance learning at home.

Another important feature of the digital textbook is its adaptability to the learning process of a specific institution. At the teachers' discretion, information in electronic textbooks can be deleted, supplemented, and changed, unlike simple books, which are complex and expensive to reprint.

The device can contain digitized versions of ordinary textbooks. Or contain exclusive content released specifically for the online format. And another very important feature of the digital version of the learning subject is interactivity. During material presentation, students may encounter links to sources and other thematically related pages. And the student will be able to use convenient tools like creating bookmarks, adding marks, highlighting points in different colors for ease of navigation, and more.

Online Learning
 

Online learning is a format of distance subject mastery that requires only a computer or tablet and internet access. The process can occur in different ways. The most basic is via video connection with a teacher who conducts a lecture and communicates with children as in a regular lesson.

The second method is more complex and flexible — pre-prepared programs. They often contain lessons already recorded by teachers or standardized general educational audio and video materials approved by the Ministry of Education and regional authorities. Online learning possesses all the attributes of familiar classroom learning and allows:

• using electronic books;
• maintaining digital journals;
• having a content library in different formats;
• including a set of recorded lectures;
• conducting control work, tests, and other assessment methods;
• organizing student forums for discussions;
• staying in touch with teachers;
• creating Q&A formats.

And most importantly: online learning takes place in a more interesting, unobtrusive interactive form for children that can engage and generate genuine interest in learning.

Digital Library
 

This is not exactly a method of school education automation, but rather a good collection of materials with additional capabilities that will help significantly improve the speed and effectiveness of learning if the student is motivated.

A digital library includes a greater variety of information sources than any physical storage facility of the same name in a school or even university can replace. This includes not only text, but also audio recordings, videos, presentations, tables, and much more. You can also find research results, specialist works in scientific topics, and laboratory work in the digital library.

Most importantly, such an educational information center is stored on protected servers. And all students can access the material, even if they are in another country.

Features of Learning in Schools with Automation

Studying with special LMS and CRM systems has many features that could be devoted to a separate article. Here we'll only touch on the main distinguishing characteristics of such education.

The first important feature is the digitization of paperwork. Automation and digitization help eliminate bureaucratic costs by transferring documentation from paper to electronic form. Now multiple data items don't lie in stacks and files on shelves but are systematically stored online. This also helps protect information by storing it on a secure dedicated server.

The second feature lies in managing the learning process itself. So that students don't depend on schedules in journals that can be forgotten or not filled out, CRM systems offer a unified digital space with lesson information: what subject and in which classroom is conducted, who teaches, start and end times, teacher notes (if desired), reminders to bring certain materials, etc.

Comparison of Automated and Regular Schools

An automated school has many small differences from a regular general educational institution, and each of them makes the process a little better and faster. For example, you can set up a system for handling inquiries in school messengers. For this, a special page is created where a chatbot is installed. It can quickly and informatively process requests. For example, provide schedules or notify about recent announcements or changes. The chatbot in messengers will also help obtain access levels to certain materials, channels, and online rooms through authorization.

Another important point — an automated school differs by having a smart database. It can store personal files with students and staff members, providing all necessary information about them, making changes and notes. Additionally, an automated program can adjust the teaching staff workload, distributing their employment (very relevant for large institutions).

Every school has a financial management department. In regular institutions, accountants and other workers handle this personally, but with an automated system, a program can process data and maintain financial reporting, which it does faster than humans.

Using AMS, it's possible to create electronic schedules for each class of students, plan classroom distribution, and perform other calculations with multiple variables. And through a website, all information for students and teachers can be presented in the form of beautiful infographics and tables.

Pros and Cons of School Automation
 

An automated management system is the result of technological development. Modern technical progress is designed to help people and improve their lives. Therefore, an automated school environment can provide many advantages for students, teachers, and administrative workers of institutions. Let's start with benefits for students:

1. Unlimited access to resources. Thanks to educational automation and bringing learning processes into the digital environment, a student can learn not from one textbook, but from all data available in the content library.
2. Increased understanding of material. While studying a subject, if a student doesn't understand something, they can immediately clarify the question in various ways: open other sources, follow links, study footnotes, write to the teacher in online chat.
3. Engagement. The electronic education format itself generates much more interest in modern children than regular boring classroom lessons.
4. Presence of control. When a student can independently open and explore an educational course, study lectures in desired order, this gives them a sense of confidence and adds motivation.
5. Mobility. Unlike general education schools, an automated management system is accessible from any point in the world and is not tied to a specific location.
6. Flexible schedule. Students on distance courses don't need to spend 6-8 hours a day on lessons and additional time to get to the institution. Instead, they can create their own schedule and study at convenient times (except for online lessons with teachers that follow a schedule).
7. Additional tools. Each service for automated school learning has a set of functions unavailable in a regular classroom.
8. Savings. There's no need to buy paper textbooks, school uniforms, and other attributes. Also, no need to spend on transportation and school lunches.
    

The effectiveness of an educational system greatly depends on the comfort and capabilities available to system workers. Let's examine the advantages of AMS for teachers:

1. Program creation. Teachers, having studied the tools of online learning platforms, can create and plan educational programs faster and more conveniently. Automation will also help set up delayed course and lecture releases for specific dates and times.
2. Flexible customization. Some CRMs have open program code, which allows those with programming skills to independently adjust some capabilities (especially relevant for teachers in IT fields).
3. Content creation. Tool sets exist for both students and their teachers. This helps teachers comfortably teach children, make presentations, create graphs, tables, and other material presentation variants.
4. Collaborative experience and organization. In automated education programs, you can find different communication methods: chats, discussions. With their help, teachers can communicate with each other and even organize something like a faculty meeting with audio or video connection.
    

There's also material benefit for educational institution management. Usually, the cost of purchasing and implementing AMS like CRM and LMS costs the school less than expenses for providing the institution's material base.

Disadvantages of School Automation

Such a complex and multifaceted phenomenon as digitization and automation of learning processes also has negative sides. Here are the disadvantages that can be highlighted for children:

1. Weak socialization. Besides studying, school usually also performs the function of developing communication skills and teaches children to interact with society. If students sit at home, they may develop socialization problems.
2. Technical requirements. To study with an automated program, you need to have a device and stable connection. Problems can arise with both for various reasons: family lack of money to buy communication devices, power outages, poor communications in remote regions, etc.
3. Online threats. When a child spends a lot of time at a PC, the risk of becoming a victim of internet fraud or cyberbullying increases. Also, when visiting some sites, there's a danger of getting viruses.
4. Health. Incorrect sitting has a negative effect on the musculoskeletal system both at school desks and at home computers. In the second case, with constant presence in front of a monitor, there's a threat to vision. That's why it's important for parents to control how far from the computer the child sits and in what position, and also take short breaks during which eyes rest and the student can stretch.
5. Student organization. To study well with an automated system and not get distracted, a child should be under adult supervision or be disciplined themselves.

Thus, both students and teachers need to make efforts so that automated school learning is truly harmless and effective.

How to Choose a Platform for School Automation

To choose an automated service for school management, rely on a number of basic evaluation criteria. 

We also recommend making decisions not independently, but discussing jointly with teachers: they clearly understand what will be convenient for teachers and their students. Here's what to look for when correctly evaluating a program:

1.    Cost. Choose an automation system that the school budget can afford. Try to compare prices of different platforms and projects considering all the criteria below.
2.    Intuitive interface. Since both children and adults must work with the system, simplicity and clarity of all internal functions and processes are necessary. Built-in training on how to use all environment capabilities and what to do during classes would also be useful.
3.    Communication methods. Consider that learning is, first of all, communication. Therefore, the platform should have sufficient interaction channels for students among themselves and with teachers in the form of chats, forums, groups for transmitting video and audio messages.
4.    Administration tools. Managers should also find it easy to organize processes: maintain journals, add data to databases, create programs, collect statistics, and maintain financial accounting, etc.
5.    Universality. A good AMS is cross-platform. It should be supported not only on computers, but also on smartphones and tablets with different operating systems.
6.    Content creation. A big plus for LMS is teacher access to an environment for creating their own materials for online lessons and lectures.

It turns out that to choose a good virtual environment for studying subjects that can automatically manage the learning process, you need to consider several factors. It's also worth looking at different types of school automation, as some of them completely replace regular school, while others supplement and sometimes help simplify learning. Remember the pros and cons of such systems in principle to decide for yourself how ready you are to implement automation right now.