Notes to Facilitator (Continued).

“We have spent considerable time looking at how ICT can enhance teaching and learning. But another area where ICT can bring value to education is in school administration – that is, the collection, storage and reporting of school information. For example, computers are being used for enrolments, class allocation, attendance and timetable generation. The generation of student grades and their reports is another major advantage for educators.

Using a database of students generated at the time of enrolment and drawing on the marks and comments loaded onto the system by students’ various teachers, a school administration program can generate professional-looking school reports for each student in the school. Besides report generation, the systems can also be used to send district, provincial and national education authorities summaries of the schools’ statistics to help with education planning. The tools are, however, only as good as the teachers who provide the data. In this practical we will introduce you to such a system and provide you with some experience of the different modules that make up the system.”