Technology is constantly changing and progressing. The field of education is no exception to the enhancements brought about by these innovations. One significant change in recent years has been the shift from assigning class periods to assigning entire schedules for an academic year, enabling students and teachers alike to plan ahead with more detail.
The following article will explore how Classroom scheduling software has evolved over time, what’s at stake for schools that are devoid of effective classroom scheduling solutions, and why you should invest your time in building yourself into a trusted sales representative for these programs.
History of classroom scheduling
Like most educational institutions, schools in the past have assigned class periods to individual students and teachers. This method of scheduling was effective for distributing classes but presented a challenge in properly organizing the entire year’s schedule. There were no standardized checklists or procedures to go by for assigning and arranging each school day’s lessons. Teachers had to do it on their own and thus neglected to provide a well-organized curriculum or lesson plan for each class period, if necessary at all.
Additionally, school schedules were not designed with parental convenience in mind; therefore, parents often considered this issue as an inconvenience which they did not want to deal with on a daily basis.
With the advent of technology and its integration into society, classrooms have had to evolve as well. As a result, schools began implementing digital classroom scheduling software to aid in creating organized and efficient school schedules for all students.
First Classroom Scheduling Software
The first instance of classroom scheduling software that sought to solve this problem involved using pen and paper to arrange each daily lesson plan on a piece of paper. This was followed by the creation of a spreadsheet that allowed teachers to create a monthly timetable with ease. Unlike the newly designed software today, these programs were not entirely digital; however, they did provide the user with some substantial advantages over past methods.
Software became popular as a tool for school administrators to manage and organize their own daily schedules, as opposed to relying on the teachers to do it. These programs were also very easy for the user, which made them ‘user-friendly’, and therefore more appealing and favorable in comparison to pen and paper methods.
At first, databases were not incorporated into classroom scheduling software. The programs at that time were designed in such a way that the user had access only to one year’s worth of class schedules all at one time.
However, as technology progressed, databases were included in classroom scheduling software. This allowed the user to input all of his class information into a program, and to retrieve that information easily. As a result, the program became more up-to-date and current on a daily basis; thus making it extremely beneficial for both teachers and students alike.
The user could also arrange class periods however he saw fit into an entire year’s schedule in a digital format. Classroom scheduling software was advantageous because it not only allowed for easy planning of lessons by teachers but also created a convenient method of transportation for students.
The user could create his own schedule in whatever fashion he saw fit, as opposed to the way in which school administrators wanted students to go about it. This was a factor which aided in making this software so user-friendly and successful.
The first classroom scheduling software was invented and developed by Mary Ann Westcott, who was a guidance counselor at an elementary school in Massachusetts. It kicked off the start of a new era for schools across the globe, as it helped solve many of their organizational issues associated with classroom scheduling.
