K12 administrators and educators deeply understand the benefits of online student record management systems, they know that schools benefit in a number of ways.
Not only do parents and staff save time, but records are more accurate, more accessible, and — most importantly — more secure.
These benefits speak for themselves.
However, when you’re asking parents to make a change, there may be pushback — or, at the very least, questions and concerns.
With that in mind, here are some common questions and customer insights on making a successful transition to a new online student record management system.
The challenge
No matter the task at hand, people are notorious for their tendency to resist change.
Luckily, technology transitions are fairly common across the board. Think about your bank, cellular, or online shopping accounts. You’re rarely happy when things change, but you eventually understand and buy into the new process.
In regards to parents, simply telling them that you’re eliminating duplication, streamlining communication, and improving student safety should be enough. Think about how many times they duplicate information for their children, every sports season, every school year. It’s daunting.
“Once the families understood FinalForms eliminated repetition and duplication, they were on board,” Lori Lohman, secretary to the Superintendent at Hamilton Community Schools (Michigan) said, “I didn’t have any complaints from parents.”
How much time will this take to learn how to use?
When you choose a platform that’s intuitive by design, there won’t be much of a learning curve — if there is one at all.
Technology providers should be committed to your district’s success, because it’s good for business! They may even offer training services as needed to make sure everyone, including parents, get up to speed as quickly as possible.
What are the benefits of the new system?
Online student record management solutions help districts save time and money, eliminating costly “downstream” problems. Top service providers offer time-stamped, digital paper trails that provide answers when lawyers, insurance companies, or board members want answers.
However, parents may not really care about that. They will value benefits such as ADA compliance, language translation, single-sign-on, and friendly reminders that help keep their student records up-to-date.
Parents and staffers alike appreciate good support from people that communicate like “school people” or parents. Make sure to confirm your new system is fully supported by a team of people ready to answer questions for any user; then tell parents about it!
Is my child’s data secure?
Storing sensitive information online is serious business. That being the case, security needs to be a top consideration when choosing which online student record management solution to invest in.
Moving to a platform that complies with federal and state student data privacy terms and offers enterprise-grade security — trusted by the U.S. military — you can rest comfortably knowing sensitive student information is protected by the highest standards.
How long is my child’s data stored?
Some parents may also wonder how long their children’s data is stored.
This is an understandable concern. But the fact of the matter is that moving records online doesn’t change district, state, and federal regulations.
In other words, student data will be stored in an online student record management system the same amount of time it would be stored in a filing cabinet. Depending on the regulations governing your district, you may have to hang on to data for a few years — or in perpetuity.
To ensure compliance, the best online student record management solutions only delete data upon a district’s request.
What is the best online student record management solution on the market?
Easy: FinalForms.
Okay, this might be a bit direct. But... we’d like to think there’s a reason we have a 100% customer retention rate.
Schedule a demo of FinalForms today to learn more about the easiest way to move to an online student record management system that parents love to use.
