Gradelogics software gives St James College teachers an edge
Published:Monday | March 26, 2012 | 12:00 AM
WESTERN BUREAU:
ST JAMES College is the recipient of a new information system, which was created by a local software designer to help parents keep closer tabs on their children's academic performance.
Dubbed 'Gradelogics' by its creator Uwmoroghe Deokora, the software was officially handed over to the non-traditional high school in a short ceremony at the institution last Thursday.
Gradelogics is designed to equip the school's administration with enhanced management of school facilities and activities, including staff information and student progress reports, class scheduling, and tracking of the institute's finances.
Special features
It assists teachers by enabling the creation of online lesson plans and for tracking students' attendance. It gives parents access to their children's grades and attendance reports.
"It does class scheduling, it allows parents to check up on grades; it posts the grades, attendances, and finalises end-of-year-reports as well," Deokora stated, in explaining how Gradelogics works.
"Initially, it was piloted at the start of September 2011. We've gone through the implementation stages and we've made mild changes, but today is the official launch of the final product," said Deokora.
Stephen Dear, chairman of the school's board of trustees, said Gradelogics' primary selling point was the fact that its creator resides in Montego Bay, allowing the St James College's administration to work with him in developing the software to its final draft.
"We feel that we've actually been able to come up with a final product, working in tandem with Deokora, that really makes the school meet some of its major objectives, which is to take technology into the classrooms, and also bring the parents and guardians in to participate remotely using technology in the schools," Dear said.
"In Jamaica, we suffer from a lack of parental participation in the education process. What this facilitates is that parents don't have to physically come to the school; they can know what is actually happening with their child, if they log on remotely, so they can actually see the progress," Dear added.
Makeda Solomon, the director at St James College, said she was already seeing the impact of the new technology.
"I have seen this product really transform the relationship between ourselves and the parents of the school. For us and our administration, what we've found is that it's improved our efficiency," said Solomon.
"We're a small school, so improving our efficiency has been one of our core objectives," continued Solomon. "This system has allowed us to do that. I'm really pleased and I'm hoping Gradelogics goes wider in Jamaica, and who knows where else worldwide; it's an excellent system."