5 Ways Automation Can Save Time in Education

More and more tasks are being automated across several industries. That’s because workers and consumers are using more software and online tools than never before and technology – in this case automation – helps them keep up. The education sector is no different.

Automated tasks can help give educators more time to spend helping students.

For students, automation can be a way to optimize their time and focus on accomplishing their academical goals.

Here’s a look at 5 ways automation can be used in education to help everyone achieve more.

Email responses

Auto-replies are one of the easiest and most obvious automations to set up.

Professors can’t be expected to respond to emails 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. But at the same time, you never know when a student might need an urgent answer. Setting up auto-replies ensures that when parents or students have questions, they expect a delayed reply and can act accordingly. It can also be used to provide emergency contact details.

During term time, professors can also use automatic email replies to answer basic questions like what their office hours are, should emailers wish to pay them a visit in person.

Auto-replies can also benefit students, particularly over the summer when they’re less likely to check their emails. Giving potential employers an alternative form of contact can be the difference between getting that exciting internship or not.

Meeting scheduling

Whether you’re a student, educator, or parent, there’s no avoiding meetings. Automating meeting scheduling can save everyone huge amounts of time.

Those involved in the meeting can sync their calendar to the meeting booking software. This software can then work out the best time (and even place) for everyone to meet, based on everyone’s real-time availability.

When staff need to conduct several meetings in a short space of time – such as admissions interviews – meeting scheduling software can really make this process easier.

Finding convenient times for admissions teams to meet every candidate takes huge amounts of time, especially if more than one person conducts the interview.

Meeting scheduling software that’s calendar synced can factor in everyone’s schedule, allowing potential students to book their own interview time. Allowing them to do this creates a better experience for potential students and means that they can book the interview at their own convenience. They can also factor in things like travel time when booking their interview.

Equipment reservations

Sometimes a class requires a particular piece of equipment, but schools and universities only have a limited supply. Using an equipment rental software, institutions can ensure that there’s no double-bookings. Teachers can guarantee the equipment they need is available, and if they can’t find it, trace it back to the person that used it last.

Timetable updates

Timetables are a crucial part of education. They help staff and students to work out where they need to be and when. In large locations, this can be particularly difficult to keep track of. When a location changes last-minute, it can cause havoc.

Syncing students’ and teachers’ schedules to their calendars avoids this predicament. If something changes, they can be sent a notification as soon as the change is made. This prevents them from going to the previous location, and saves them time.

When you’ve just started somewhere new, it can be difficult to find your way around. It’s even worse if a university spreads out over several campuses. A Geolocation feature saves this confusion. Locations can be added to calendar events, complete with time-to-leave notifications. These notifications even factor in traffic.

Social media scheduling

Many schools and universities now have social media accounts. Using scheduling tools such as Buffer or HootSuite ensures that accounts stay active no matter how busy account managers are.

In the build-up to events, posts can be scheduled in advance to maximize the event’s exposure weeks or even months in advance.

Conclusion

Automation gives teachers and admin staff more time to spend on their main goal: giving students the best education possible.

Students, meanwhile, have more time to work on their education.

With Cronofy’s Calendar API universities can build powerful calendar automation within their software. This can be used to ensure that students can book meeting with their professors in real-time based on their availability or to share any changes to timetable in minutes.

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