The Admin Burden
At best, the administrative side of teaching and assessment is seen as a necessary evil; at worst it is burdensome and stress-inducing. Admin duties appear to get in the way of teaching rather than improve outcomes, and paperwork is often viewed as nothing more than a ‘tick box’ exercise to appease senior management in the run up to Ofsted.
And while a certain level of administration is par-for-the-course in any occupation, in teaching, it often equates to unpaid overtime; an out-of-hours exercise that can be demotivating and unproductive. The figures seem to bear this out: a recent NEU survey of teachers in schools and further education found that 48% of teachers find their workload unmanageable ‘most or all of the time’, while 34% described their workload as ‘only just manageable’.
Clearly then, administrative duties must be kept to a minimum, with automation at the heart of workload transformation. Digital solutions should alleviate the teacher from menial tasks such as entering the same data onto different systems, creating paper copies of documents that are filed for inspection, and writing lengthy assessment evaluations.
Automated Management
Automation and reduced administration can be achieved with the right Management Information System (MIS) in place. With Advanced’s MIS, registers can be taken on mobile devices, tablets, laptops, and PCs, eliminating the need for paper and duplicate input. The system also allows for timetabling of lessons and exams, with intelligent clash detection to reduce administration time and scope for error.
The software makes exam preparation more efficient by allowing the import of awarding body base data, and the import and export of exam results and submissions. For learners with special requirements, the Seating Plan Wizard understands room layouts, and can support a variety of paper outputs, depending on need.
Advanced’s MIS also allows the user to record details of learners receiving Additional Learning Support and the associated costs. This information than gets automatically populated in the Individualised Learner Record (ILR), removing the need to re-enter learner details at a later stage.
The management of ILR data should bring time-saving functionality for educators, as well as make it easy for admin teams to export learner details for ESFA funding. The all-in-one Learner Management System (LMS) from Advanced makes ILR data capture easy, with inbuilt validations, smooth onboarding, and accurate ESFA reporting to ensure maximum funding.
Enhanced Assessment
For teachers of Functional Skills, Advanced’s Assessment and Learning software greatly reduces the amount of paperwork needed through digital tools that accurately record leaner progress and achievement. Assessment and Learning is the perfect tools for learners, since it keeps them engaged, while stretching them with adaptive AI. Functional Skills (or GCSEs) can be practised on any mobile device.
For educators, the software is exceptionally intuitive, meaning less time is spent navigating and learning new systems. The user is able to set targets for individuals and groups, track progress, view comparative charts, and export reports based on time parameters. The software makes it easy to provide evidence of assessment for Ofsted inspection and funding bodies.
With Assessment and Learning’s Resources module, educators can take material aligned to each module and topic, and share it digitally in class for further explanation, or set as homework to act as a progress check. This not only allows the teacher to focus on areas of weakness, but provides a ready-made lesson resource. Assessment and Learning even integrates with Advanced and other 3rd party software solutions, including Eportfolios and Learner Management Systems.
