Today’s students are busier than ever. They’re also more equipped to use technology than ever – as a result, educational institutions need to digitize their operations, particularly when it comes to document and content management. Effective education content management ensures that any and all materials are accessible to educators, students, and administrators when they need them. It should also enhance productivity and support regular, seamless communication.
In doing so, this kind of content management can ultimately affect the quality and efficiency of the entire educational process. It’s time for educational institutions to take the leap toward digital transformation. Below, we explore how digitization of content management in education can change the way students, staff, and admin alike interact with their institutions.
Defining “Education Content Management”
Before we dive into the “how” of digital content management, let’s first explore the “what.” When we talk about education content management, we’re referring to the process of creating, organizing, and delivering materials used by educational institutions.
From lesson plans to permission slips, multimedia presentations, assessments, and more, there’s no shortage of resources that fall under this umbrella.
The Problem with Traditional Content Management in Education
Despite the value that digitization brings to educational institutions, many have yet to fully take advantage of it. But this reality certainly isn’t due to a lack of trying. In fact, many schools and institutions have already begun to step up their digital transformation game.
The COVID-19 pandemic played a major role in pushing schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions to hit the accelerator and ditch decades-old practices for shiny new electronic workflows.
But even in the absence of an urgent reason to focus on digital tools, educational institutions would still have to cope with an important new reality. Students need to learn to use technology to succeed in our 21st-century workforce.
A lack of digital content management at the administrative level doesn’t just strain budgets and staff; it can also negatively impact student success. Without a system that allows students to interact with technology and digital systems organically, schools may find themselves falling behind.
In response to this change, many institutions have invested heavily in placing technology in the hands of students. Access to personal laptops and tablets, for example, gives students regular experience working with different digital devices. Shifts to online tools like Google Classroom likewise motivate students and staff alike to use technology as part of the educational process.
However, studies show that technology in the hands of teachers and administration can be just as, if not more important, for student learning. In other words, how staff uses technology – or a lack thereof – to create and distribute materials matters.
Overall, an electronic document management system for educational institutions supports student success by:
- Providing a foundation that supports the use of other technology.
- Streamlining administrative tasks that affect education.
- Helping staff keep up with growing compliance, security, and reporting demands.
- Lightening workflows for educators and staff so that they can spend more time meeting student needs, not trying to stay afloat.
6 Reasons to Switch to Digital Education Content Management
Across nearly all industries, there’s a growing need for digitized and automated content management; education is no exception. Here are a few specific reasons why educational institutions should digitize their content management systems as they move forward.
1. Automated Workflows & Routine Tasks
With the help of machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities, many digital content management tools can automate tasks for teachers and staff.
The right technology can help with everything from distributing assignments to simplifying lesson planning.
Likewise, a content management system can help administrative staff digitize forms for registration, approvals, permission forms, and more, all while reducing paperwork and time spent on follow-ups.
2. Centralized Document & Record Management
Using a digital system to manage content instead of traditional pen-and-paper allows you to organize data across your entire organization. That means that the right people will always be able to access the right content when they need it most, whether they’re physically nearby or not.
With a centralized content repository, staff can store and find all teaching materials, lesson plans, forms, and other resources in one place. No more time wasted searching for or duplicating resources; everything you need to educate students effectively lives in a single, easy-to-access location.
Thanks to automation, electronic records management is also a breeze. Your content management system can automatically distribute, collect, organize, and store documents according to set rules or triggers. As a result, it can save you time and simplify workflows.
With the help of CDP, Keller Independent School District (ISD) was able to do just that. The district replaced five separate software solutions with just one – Laserfiche – and saved more than $70k annually.
3. Simplified Real-Time Collaboration Across Teams
With a digital document management system, students, admin, and teachers can all come together to collaborate on projects and documents simultaneously. In this way, digitization improves communication efficiency and consistency.
When you integrate other communication tools, like messaging and automated reminders, into your content management system, you unlock new ways to simplify collaboration across departments.
4. Improved Security & Compliance
By investing in a digital electronic content management system, you can secure sensitive information and automate compliance tracking. Ensure that your educational institution can meet regulatory standards like FERPA without creating hours of additional work for administrative teams.
5. Automated Document Processing
Benefits like automated document processing are huge when it comes to digital content management for higher education. AI-powered software can automate things like admissions, financial aid decision-making, and HR processes to improve response times for both students and staff.
AI can autonomously make preliminary decisions about documents based on their contents and pass on the rest for human approval. It can also ensure that documents are sent directly to the parties responsible for approving them so they’re processed quickly and efficiently.
CDP uses Laserfiche to help higher education institutions cut back on the time spent reviewing documents. Say goodbye to paper forms and hello to a system that automatically routes completed form information to the right place.
With CDP’s support, Linn-Benton Community College was able to reduce the time it takes to review transcripts during the admissions process from six weeks down to just one!
6. Support for All Locations, On and Off Campus
Centralized data storage and automated workflows help institutions bridge the gaps between departments and individual locations.
With a digital education content management approach, documents don’t need to pass through dozens of hands to get where they need to go.
Students no longer have to travel to specific offices or locations to access materials; they can find what they need digitally. Administrative staff can then instantly receive, review, and approve requests from anywhere, anytime.
Choose the Right Tech for Your Education Content Management System
As you embark on your digital transformation journey, let CDP’s content management and tech expertise become your institution’s guiding star. Digitization is just the beginning; it’s the first step toward innovation that could transform how your institution functions.
Help your staff save time spent on low-value tasks with software built to meet your needs. Book a demo with CDP today to discover a personalized approach to content management that supports your goals.
