The COVID-19 pandemic completely changed the way teachers teach students in many countries in India. Many lockdowns and shutdowns compelled many schools in India to switch from classroom-based learning to online learning. But most schools and educational institutions find it challenging to make students acquire and retain knowledge in a virtual and distributed learning environment.
According to the Analytics India Magazine,
“Although e-learning can potentially enable many useful life skills, the lockdown has exposed the digital divide in Indian society. And not just students, many teachers are also facing the brunt of this and struggling to effectively relay information to their students, who are also grasping at straws to understand.”
As specialized software applications, learning management systems (LMS systems) help schools in India to deliver educational courses by overcoming constraints related to skills and resources. The schools can leverage the easy-to-use LMSs to make teachers focus only on improving the learning experience of students by automating repetitive administration tasks. Also, LMSs enable students can understand various concepts and topics by accessing a variety of digital study materials.
A school can make the cloud-based LMS systems accessible to both teachers and students without building and maintaining onsite IT infrastructure. Also, it can choose the right learning management system (LMS) for schools to bridge the gap between instructor-led learning and self-paced learning. Every school in India can leverage the benefits of LMSs to switch to digital learning smoothly. There are a number of reasons why K-12 schools in India must embrace School LMS systems in 2021 without any delay.
School LMS Systems: 9 Reasons Why K-12 Schools in India Must Leverage LMS Systems in 2021
Overcome Shortage of Teachers
According to the Times of India,
“India has shortage of more than 10 lakh teachers. Existing ones are poorly distributed.”
The new-age LMSs enable a single teacher to teach a larger number of students over the internet. A school can invest in the right LMS to boost the efficiency and productivity of teachers. Also, it can make teachers focus only on imparting knowledge and improving the learning experience through automation of repetitive administrative activities like taking attendance and evaluating exam papers manually.
Provide Unrestricted Access to Learning Materials
The modern LMS systems allow students to understand concepts and topics by accessing a wide variety of digital content – audio, video, ebooks, PDFs, images, infographics, and recorded video lectures. Also, the students can access the digital learning resources over the internet using a desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet. A school can further make the same digital content accessible to a large number of students simultaneously and seamlessly.
Integrate Multiple Learning Methods
The conventional LMS supported only the online learning model. But the new-age LMS for schools supports a blended learning model. A school can use an LMS platform to implement teacher-led training by setting up video-based classrooms. At the same time, it can use the same LMS to facilitate self-paced learning by allowing students to watch recorded video lectures and access eLearning materials at their own pace and convenience. Hence, a school can invest in the right LMS to bridge the gap between synchronous and asynchronous learning without incurring the extra operational cost.
Personalize Learning Approach
In a conventional learning environment, students acquire knowledge through books, lectures, and classroom discussions. But teachers often find it challenging to give personalized attention to every student in the classroom. The LMS systems make it easier for students to create and follow their own learning paths. As a student has the option to access a wide variety of content, she can easily decide the appropriate learning approach. The teachers can further help students to create their own learning paths by sharing advice and instructions.
Often teachers have to put extra time and effort to evaluate and grade exam papers after taking classes. Hence, they need some time to share feedback with students. But the LMSs these days allow students to assess the knowledge and skill of students through multiple-options questions and quizzes. The LMS automatically generates results and share feedback once the student completes the online test. Hence, the teachers can utilize their time and efforts to boost the quality of eLearning.
Options to Track Performance and Progress
The new-age LMS systems come with built-in reporting and analytics tools. The teachers can use these tools to generate a variety of reports based on real-time data. Also, they can use analytics tools to identify students who struggle to learn online. The teachers easily boost the performance of such students through personal interaction and supplemental resources. At the same time, the reporting and analytics tools help teachers to improve the learning experience and student engagement by identifying the areas of improvement in the online course.
Create and Update Online Courses Rapidly
The leading schools in India update their study materials frequently to make students access updated information and the latest research. The teachers often find it challenging to make changes to books and content in a classroom-based learning environment. But the content authoring tools provided by the LMSs make it easier for schools to update the eLearning content in a short amount of time. A school can further leverage the content authoring tools to create fresh content and expand existing courses without investing in huge resources.
Facilitate Active Student Engagement
Often parents cite a lack of personal interaction or social interaction as one of the major shortcomings of online education. In a virtual learning environment, teachers lack the option to interact with students face-to-face. But the new-age school LMS systems facilitate real-time interaction between students and teachers through video conferencing and voice calls. Also, they allow teachers to engage students actively using features like discussion forums, leaderboards, and query corners.
Reduce the Cost of Online Education
According to the Hindu,
“The pandemic is also posing a challenge for educational institutions. They have to improve their technology to conduct digital classes, which is a costly affair.“
The schools in India can curtail the overall cost of online education by investing in cloud-based LMS for schools. The cloud-based LMS systems are hosted, managed, maintained, and updated by the vendor. Hence, a school can make both teachers and students access the cloud-based LMS without incurring upfront and ongoing infrastructural costs. The schools can further bring down the operational cost by making the same teachers teach a larger number of students.
Mintbook has designed a K12 Learning Management System with features to help schools and educational institutions in India switch from conventional learning to eLearning. The schools can use the LMS to integrate teacher-led training and self-paced learning seamlessly. Also, they can make students access a robust digital library consisting of over one million eLearning resources in over 10 regional languages from over 100 leading publishers.
