Many educational institutions are increasingly facing a serious hurdle: How to keep students engaged and motivated throughout their academic careers. Traditional student portals are plagued by outdated interfaces, limited functionality and poor user experiences. They’re rigid and often fail to meet the needs of today’s tech-savvy generations.
Even students with a great deal of technical prowess struggle to use these systems. They have problems finding when tests or events are scheduled, they can’t communicate effectively with their peers or faculty if they have a problem, and they don’t know where to find the tools available to help them excel.
Add to this frustration the lack of personalization, real-time support and integration with both academic and extracurricular activities and it’s easy to see how old-fashioned student “portals” are anything but helpful. Not only can a clunky interface and out-of-date backend lead to student dissatisfaction, but it can also have a ripple effect on the school as a whole, leading to lower retention rates and less of a sense of community within the institution itself.
So what’s the solution? The answer lies in advanced student portal software. Today’s software is designed to be innovative, easy to use, and transformative in that it turns the student experience into one where the student has the control to easily access and manage their academic journey.
From connecting with their peers and teachers to collaborating on projects, staying informed of events and getting help where they need it, advanced student portal software is changing the way educational institutions attract and retain tomorrow’s best talent. Here’s how:
User-Centered Design
A powerful student portal is only powerful if the student intuitively understands how to use it, and is willing to work with it. Today’s students are incredibly screen-savvy, which makes platforms like Maestro SIS and its user-centered design, an easy match for their skills. With clear menus, personalized dashboards and quick access to frequently-used features, students feel empowered to take control of their learning and find what they need quickly and easily.
User-centered design is about more than just the ease of use of menus and navigation. It’s also about being mobile responsive. With a large number of students accessing portals via their smartphones, a responsive design makes sure they have the same familiar experience across devices.
For multilingual and international students, offering support in a variety of languages also makes them feel more comfortable with the system and much more likely to engage with it. All of these features are built into Maestro SIS and are able to be deployed quickly and easily once the system is set up.
Personalization Features
Maestro SIS lets students easily personalize their dashboards so that they can prioritize the schedules, tools and resources they use the most. Administrators and faculty can send messages and alerts to a student based on their courses, deadlines and activities, making sure that only messages that are necessary get through.
Automations also help prevent any student from inadvertently falling through the cracks. For example, a teacher can set a notification that automatically sends if a student’s grade falls below a certain threshold. This automated notification goes out to check on the student and inquire if additional resources or support are necessary, giving them the help and guidance they need.
However, automations are only the beginning. Maestro SIS also integrates adaptive learning tools to offer personalized content recommendations based on a student’s academic progress. This adaptive learning, combined with virtual spaces where students can collaborate, study together or participate in club activities helps create a centralized hub where every voice counts and every student feels heard.
Detailed Integration and Insights
Beyond centralized communication and automation, Maestro SIS’s advanced student portal software also delivers direct integration and insights that give administrators both a holistic and a granular view of their institution’s operations and results.
For example, Maestro SIS integrates directly with Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Moodle, Blackboard and Canvas, giving students a familiar way to access their courses, assignments and grades.
These features, together with digital libraries and resources and online calendar syncing help students be accountable for their deadlines while managing their time more effectively.
For administrators, engagement metrics in how the student portal is used are important to understanding how they work with the platform itself. Maestro SIS uses the latest technology and integrations to offer students, faculty, parents and administrators insights into student performance including grades, attendance and participating in different activities.
Members can also give feedback on courses, events and even in the portal itself, creating an ongoing feedback loop that’s crucial to the institution’s ongoing improvement and student retention.
Built By Educators, For Educators
Maestro SIS was built by a team of passionate educators who felt that features like these were missing from their student information systems. As the educational system is always shifting and changing, Maestro SIS regularly introduces new features based on the latest technology and ongoing feedback from teachers and staff alike. For this reason, our system is built to work with a variety of educational curriculum designs including traditional classrooms, blended and hybrid learning, competency-based learning and much more.
Our advanced student portal software conforms to online accessibility standards and the ADA, including WCAG for online access, and offline access is available for accessing critical features and materials. All of these options are backed by simplified and streamlined processes and knowledge bases that makes it easy and intuitive for students to find what they’re looking for, quickly and efficiently.
Learn More About How BocaVox Maestro SIS Can Work for You
Student information portals are only the beginning when it comes to comprehensive student information management. All of our systems are built with security in mind, and we use the latest secure data encryption to keep personal data safe and contained. We invite you to contact us to schedule a free demo and learn more about how Maestro SIS can work for your institution or organization.
