How automation in education is changing classrooms

Automation in education is transforming classrooms across the country. The more educational institutions implement automation software, the more streamlined and effective the learning process becomes.

For example, automation saves time and vast quantities of paper. There’s no longer any need for teachers to print out dozens of forms or tests for each student or for students to print out their homework. 

There’s also a lot less administrative work for teachers to worry about. Ultimately, that lets teachers spend more time with their pupils, writes Alyssa Johnson at eLearning Industry. Teachers still spend a lot of time on administrative tasks like marking exams and assessing homework, but technology can take care of a lot of these tasks for them.

Spending more with students improves the quality of education as well. Best of all, automating different aspects of the classroom has never been easier. Here are five common tasks that teachers can start automating today.

Attendance and registration

An online spreadsheet is a much more effective and efficient way of taking attendance than paper-based registers. Not only does it save paper, it also makes it easy for teachers to generate attendance reports at the end of the semester without having to sift through dozens of pages.

And you can track more than just student attendance with spreadsheets. They’re also a great tool for automating book logs so teachers can see at a glance which students have checked out which books and how long they’ve had them. 

Quizzes and tests

More and more students are using laptops and tablets in class, so it makes sense to start doing away with paper quizzes and start creating electronic versions instead. Running quizzes online means teachers don’t have to print them out or grade them by hand.

Instead, they can use online forms or other software tools to generate quizzes that grade themselves automatically after students submit them. Teachers can add explanations to the correct answers if necessary or even provide links to additional materials. 

Automating quizzes and feedback doesn’t just save time, says former teacher Matt Miller, author of Ditch That Textbook. It also gives students feedback when they need it most. The more time there is between testing and feedback, the more disconnected the students’ learning experience becomes. 

Student information

Teachers collect a lot of important information from students at the start of the year. This can result in dozens or even hundreds of different paper forms that teachers have to collate and store. That isn’t just time-consuming — it also increases the chances of one or more of those forms getting lost.

Instead of having students fill in paper forms by hand, collect information electronically and store everything in a spreadsheet or database.

Communication with parents

Endless email chains and one-on-one conversations with parents can eat up a lot of a teacher’s time. There’s no reason why teachers can’t automate at least some of these conversations, giving them more time to focus on their students. 

One way to do this is to use an online form to collect information from parents or to request a classroom volunteer. Rather than emailing every parent individually and having to make note of their answers, a teacher can use an online form that feeds every response into an online database, making it easy to find the information they need.

Teachers can create a shareable online spreadsheet to keep parents abreast of progress, key dates, and any other information they want to share with parents, says Kelly Bielefeld, executive director of college and career readiness at Wichita Public Schools.

Assignment tracking and submission

Teachers can use online forms and databases to monitor and collect assignments from students. Rather than having them print out work or even email it to the teacher, students can use online forms to submit tasks in a standardized way.

When used in conjunction with an online database, all assignments feed into a single space, which allows teachers to see at a glance who has submitted work and who hasn’t.

Teacher Jessica Parker says she does this with her students. She used to have students email her assignments, but would then waste time trying to find them. Having students submit everything in one place is much more efficient and saves a lot of time.

Automate your classroom with Jotform

Jotform’s online forms and templates make it easy for teachers to start automating their workflow. There are dozens of education-related templates that let teachers track everything from attendance to student information to reading logs. 

Our suite of education forms also helps you get rid of paperwork and collect data in a standardized way. Use these forms to gather student feedback and other information, evaluate courses, and generate pop quizzes. 

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