3.2_sofwtare

=**General Findings**=

Record Keeping
A database concerning students (past and present) in the school. It should include absences, information about the students academic performance, personal information about the student, contact information for parents etc. An example of this might be the school database, in which all of this information is stored.

Scheduling
Electronically organising meetings, lessons etc. and keeping track of business engagements using a computer system. This might be software such as Microsoft Outlook, which can store details about the users meetings and contacts. An example of this may be an online database with details about each students lessons and homework

Intranets
An intranet is a private computer network that uses Internet protocols and network connectivity to insecurely share part of an organization's (school's) information or operations with its employees (students/teachers). ([|Wikipedia]) An Intranet might be used in school to allow students to access certain functions of the school system which should be made private to the public, or could be accessed from home through a portal, which might allow students access to files stored on the school server when they are at home.

Public Information
Information about the school which is available to the public, such as it's website. This may contain information such as the location of the school, it's price list if it is fee-paying, the number of students they have, along with pictures of the school and other information which might be considered useful. One example of this might be a schools [|website]

=At Patana= Here at Patana, we use a wide range of software and IT systems in our school lives. The most commonly used sofwtare in place must be out Homework Database, as this not only gives students access to their homework when they are not in school, it allows them to see all of the lessons that they have for the week.

We also have a range of intranet systems, for instance the eClassroom or Link+Learn, which allow students to access some files from off campus, using their school login ID and password.

== Patana also has a very detailed [|website] which contains links to [|pictures] of the school, [|information for applicants], and current [|news] in the patana community, among many other useful items.

=In The News= While school administrative software is not a topic that comes up in the news very often, this does not mean that it is not an important part of Information Technology Systems in the Education sector. For want of a more interesting [|news] article, please enjoy this short 'plug' about how good Wren VMS software is in monitoring the school through video.