This is an initiative to empower the Tamil Schools in Malaysia to efficiently manage and operate their schools with a cost effective and cutting edge IT infrastructure. The goal is to create a platform for monitoring and managing all aspects of the school efficiently. Efficiency is measured by giving the best education to our students that money can afford. Further to ensure that every penny spent is fully utilized and accountable.
The title is Cloud Computing because it really makes a lot of sense to utilizes this technology that is fast growing on the internet today. Thanks to the rapid development in IT, fueled by the need for communication, IT systems have matured very quickly and cost effectively. I am sure you would have heard of Google the Internet search giant. Today they are a threat to the incumbent giant Microsoft because of cloud computing. Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google Online Maps, Google Docs, Google Calendars are just a few examples of Cloud Computing; sharing software on the internet very cost effectively (almost free) is bringing about a lot efficiency cost effectively. There is no need to own and operate any software or hardware. No installation or maintenance is required and it can be used at anytime from anywhere.
However, I would to like describe Cloud Computing and how it will be used to help the Tamil Schools to improve their School Management, Student Management and Customer Relationship Management.
Brief Overview of Cloud Computing
There are 3 major parts to cloud computing which was first tested in 2008 by Intel, HP and Microsoft. These three are Application, Platform and Infrastructure that make up cloud computing as a service. The major providers of platforms are Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Sales Force.com to name a few have their own implementation of Cloud Computing that does the same thing effectively.
Traditionally you would have to setup a huge infrastructure like servers, racks, cooling rooms, backups, system administrators and security systems to operate and run a server on the internet 24/7. Then comes the platform or operating system that can support the demands of the scalability and uptime requirements. Most platforms are complex implementation of various Operating systems with dedicated hardware or infrastructures. Finally the applications are even more complex where it can cross between platforms and infrastructure. Similar to a highway that allows any vehicle with loads to use as one single transport channel.
Today all these services can be outsourced and you can focus on the usage of your applications based on your current demand. The system infrastructure can be scaled up or down based on your demands. Basically paying for what you need only when you need it. This reduces the cost of ownership of IT both in software and hardware cost and maintenance. There is no software to install or maintain, no virus attacks can affect the data, or no onsite maintenance required. This technology is the next cost cutting venture for businesses that is going to sweep across the corporate world in the next 18 months. It is expected to grow to US$100 billion by the end of 2011.
There are various options for the platform and the infrastructure that is required to manage and operate the cloud computing service for Tamil Schools in Malaysia. Many proven platform will have the necessary capabilities to deliver this technology cost effectively to the community as a social responsible effort. However, the key is the requirements and how much of the schools operations that can be managed via the cloud.
You may already have used Cloud Computing but may not have realize it. An example that comes to mind is Facebook. It is a very good example that proves that 400 million people have learned how to use Cloud Computing WITHOUT a single training session. From young children to elderly grandparents have all started to be cloud computing savvy. Why not our Tamil students?
This only proves that age is not a barrier and learning is not limited to the classroom.
The Objective
The proposition here is to create a Facebook equivalent for Tamil Schools. The objective is to develop a comprehensive database of all students, teachers, parents, staffs and others who contribute to the development of the Tamil School system in Malaysia. The Tamil School Management system is an application that will be the primary database that drives the entire objective of this project. The database is to track the development of student potentials and further enhanced with training programs, scholarships and certifications for advanced learning. Identifying the needs and providing for the students placements needs either in further education or skills training and jobs.
The next enabler needed for empowering our youth with is a Student Management System. This will extract attendance and exam results for the School management system to produce performance reports of Tamil School students. These students that portray a potential in any specific area such excellence or deficiencies can be given the correct attention immediately. This is addressing the problems and opportunities while they are still in school.
Once the potential student has enrolled in these programs, these students can be tracked on their progress and development so that the investment of time and cost can be justified for these programs. This system also serves as an accountability tool for sponsors and social workers to determine the best return for their contribution. A database of skills programs, training opportunities and other auxiliary services can be targeted to potential students with needs.
Finally is up-to the minute notification. This is to alert the related individuals on the progress and presence of the tracked students. This will enable parents and teachers to keep a closer tab on the development of their students. This is only one part of the customer relationship management for the Tamil schools. The customers are defined as those that benefit from the services provided by the schools which is the parents and the students. This applications is for the teachers and staff of the schools to notify and inform their customers of the pertinent information using Short Messaging Service (SMS) and emails systems.
School Management System
The main objective of school management is to stream line the operation in accordance with best practices which incorporates the ministry and state education department guidelines. All reports and forms required for submissions to the respective departments will be catered thru the school management reporting tool application. These reports will be created with a click of a button and improve the day to day operation of the office staff leaving them with more free time to focus on other not repetitive matters. This will ensure that the staff will get an immediate benefit when using the system.
The Tamil school office management staff must be active users of this application. Handling of office management and operational tasks must be done thru the School Management System. School management includes enrollment, admission, accounts, administration, monitoring of attendance and exam results reporting.
There are several ways to enable the office to use this application on a daily basis by and one of them is to get them to use the system to generate the required reports.
Some sample reports but an exhaustive list can be added as per their requirements:
1. Admission list by year/class
2. Listing of Student/Teachers by year/class
3. Class Timetable Scheduling/Year Planner
4. PIBG Notification Newsletters
Student Management System
The student management system is a collection of applications that serves to manage the programs and activities for each student. Based on student profiling, each student will be attending and requiring specialized attention that will be monitored and tracked. Programs and activities carried out by any organization will be managed such that each students benefits fully.
Student management system is a collection of applications that extract and tabulate information for all organizations to search and source for their target customer. It is this application where students can be matched based on the skill requirements with what is available out there from skill providers. These skills matching applications will enable employers and/or other skills training institutes to reach out to the large pool of Tamil students effectively. This is a powerful proposition for and NGO that is fully committed to address the needs of the youth in the area of eduction.
Customer Relationship Management
There are many applications that focus purely on customer management however the Tamils Schools require a more custom solution because there are many customers. The parents and students who are the customers have different needs the same goal. An intuitive use of IT is the key to manage these two types of customers with one application. Here are some of the applications that will in the CRM collection of applications.
Key application functions and features;
1. Notification and alerting
2. Web portal with announcements and highlights
3. Newsletters and publications
4. PIBG Member Database
5. Funding and Sponsorship management
6. Feedback and complaint management
The Cost
This initiative is a community effort and cost is set at the bare minimum. The constrains are only the inherent cost that is payable to 3rd parties that is essential and required to host and maintain the application, platform and infrastructure. However, if this cost is shared over large number (e.g. >100) of schools then it becomes more affordable. Without burdening any one school, this solution will have to pay for itself. Our intention is to create a large pool of schools to adopt this system and we have a much higher rate of churning a business model that is self sustaining.
Possible implementor and their costing:
Item | Website | Product | Pricing | OTC | Recommendation |
1 | School Management System (SPS) | None available on site | N/A | Malaysian company but may not be suited for our purpose. | |
2 | w.ialda.com | School Management System 1.2.1 | Free | None | Installs on the PC this is can be a problem. |
3 | http://www.mushroomsoftech.com/ Mushroom/School.htm | School Management System | USD 222/yr | RM 700/yr | Possible solution but need to know support level |
4 | http://www.quickschools.com | Apollo | USD3/student/yr | $∞ | Not feasible |
5 | http://www.eduswift.com | EduSwift | None available | N/A | Possible solution but need to contact the vendor in India |
6 | http://www.schoolmanagementsystem.net | School management system | None available | ||
7 | http://www.cri-mms.com | MMS: Student Information Management System | None available | ||
8 | http://headmastersoft.com | School Management System Pro | €119 | RM500.00 | PC based no exactly cloud computing but some adjuadjustments can be done |
No comments:
Post a Comment