The rise in teacher workloads has meant that teachers are spending more time dedicated to their profession, with less time spent on themselves. Teachers have cited planning, marking and data tasks as the biggest cause of their increased workload, yet with the right technology these tasks can be reduced, meaning teachers can spend more time teaching while at the same time achieve a better work-life balance.
Groupcall surveyed 2,497 teachers across the UK and found that 70% of teachers have expressed an interest in welcoming technology to help reduce workload.
The benefits of using software are clear; technology helps transform internal processes and reduce workloads. Specialist software can provide major opportunities to optimise teachers’ workflows in schools as well as giving them the flexibility to securely access essential databases from multiple locations, for example at school, home, or on school trips. 65% of teachers surveyed were positive about having more software to help increase their efficiency at work.
How can technology help to reduce teacher workloads?
The EdTech industry is constantly advancing. Software is now in place in the majority of schools to assist with everyday tasks, such as registration and logging behaviour.
Survey respondents found technology worked best when it was of a high standard, when they had been given appropriate training and when their schools were consistent in their technology usage. Schools can benefit the most from technology when the software can be integrated, meaning teachers don’t have to enter data into several different programmes.
Reporting
Teachers are required to report on students’ progress on a daily basis. Technology can be extremely helpful in this instance, making it easy to access up-to-date data. Teachers can have much-needed information on a student’s progress, attendance and punctuality instantly, making interventions and communication with staff and parents simple and effective.
Planning
Planning takes a significant amount of time, especially for new teachers. Planning isn’t about producing lengthy documents, but is a way to evaluate, adapt and improve lessons, as well as logging how far a class is through the syllabus, which also comes in handy when having to prove what you’ve taught – something that happens more often now than five years ago.
Software can assist teachers by storing templates and plans available through a system which the entire department can access to help reduce the time teachers need to plan.
Communicating
Whilst emails are the most popular way to communicate during the working day, research has shown other forms of communication can help to reduce workloads. Messaging systems such as Groupcall Messenger gives teachers the ability to communicate to parents and peers quickly, with a record for reference. Time is saved as there is no need to spend time searching through emails to find information.
Flexible working
There are many reasons why teachers need the ability to be flexible with their work, for example if they are on a school trip or if they need to work from home. While working from home isn’t ideal, it can be improved through software.
Teachers can securely access key data, records and marksheets to help them complete their work, which can then be synced from home or - if they are on a school trip - whenever there is a connection.
Embrace technology in schools
Before any significant changes can be seen in schools, the implementation of technology needs to be embraced by all teaching and support staff. This can be done by educating staff about the positive effects technology can bring to schools to help reduce workload and increase efficiency.
Develop a culture to help staff innovate and adapt to change as many teachers who want to incorporate technology into their lessons need more knowledge to do so. Ensuring sufficient training is given to staff will help them with their roles. This will obviously take time, but is vital as often technology in schools fails due to staff not fully understanding its purpose.
Ensure the software serves a purpose
Introducing technology into your school is a proactive way to reduce teacher workloads, helping staff gain a better work-life balance. In order for this to work, the software needs to be valuable and work better than previous processes.
- Ask yourself if staff would want to use software out of choice if it wasn’t a requirement?
- How many operational and workflow problems can software and technology solve?
- Will this software actually help save teachers time?
Groupcall Emerge is the powerful yet intuitive software tool enabling schools to have an up-to-the-minute copy of their MIS data instantly and securely available for access anytime, anywhere.
If you’d like further information about how Groupcall Messenger and Groupcall Emerge can help reduce workload in your school, please contact us.
