How to Choose the Right Business Analytics Tool for Your School

In today’s data-driven world, educational institutions are under increasing pressure to make informed decisions quickly. To achieve this, they need access to reliable data and powerful analytics tools that can help them make sense of this information. But with so many business analytics tools on the market, how do you choose the right one for your school? In this article, we’ll discuss some of the factors to consider when choosing a business analytics tool and take a look at Domo as a potential solution for your school.

What to Look for in Analytical Tools

  1. Ease of Use
    One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a business analytics tool is ease of use. The tool you choose should be intuitive and user-friendly, so that staff can quickly learn how to use it without requiring extensive training. Domo is known for its user-friendly interface, making it easy for staff to access the data they need and generate reports with just a few clicks.
  2. Integration Capabilities
    Another factor to consider is integration capabilities. The tool you choose should be able to integrate with other systems and applications that your school is already using, such as your student information system or learning management system. Domo’s cloud-based platform is designed to integrate with a wide range of systems and applications, making it a versatile choice for schools, it also has thousands of ready-to-use connectors to ensure integration of all your data sources.
  3. Scalability
    As your school grows and your data needs expand, you need a business analytics tool that can scale with you. Domo is a cloud-based platform that can scale to accommodate even the largest data sets, ensuring that your school always has access to the information it needs to make informed decisions.
  4. Customisation
    Every school is unique, and the business analytics tool you choose should be able to accommodate your school’s specific needs. Domo offers a high degree of customisation, allowing you to create customised dashboards and reports that meet your school’s specific requirements.
  5. Security
    Finally, when choosing a business analytics tool, security is a critical consideration. Your school’s data must be protected from unauthorised access and breaches. Domo offers robust security features, including data encryption, user authentication, two-factor authentication, and access controls, ensuring that your school’s data is always protected and never falls into the wrong hands.

Conclusion

To conclude, choosing the right business analytics tool is critical for educational institutions. When considering factors like ease of use, integration capabilities, scalability, customisation, and security, Domo emerges as a strong contender. With its user-friendly interface, integration capabilities, scalability, customisation options, and security features, Domo can help schools make informed decisions based on reliable data.


The Future of IT: Embracing School Data Analytics for Competitive Advantage

The future of IT in schools is constantly evolving, and one trend that is gaining momentum is the use of data analytics and tools to gain a competitive advantage. By analysing school data like enrolment rates, student performance, operational data, and marketing data, schools can gain valuable insights into their operations, enabling them to optimise resources, improve educational outcomes, and stay ahead of the curve.

Benefits of Data Analytics for Your School

One of the key benefits of using data analytics in schools is the ability to track and monitor key metrics related to educational performance. With these tools, schools can gain real-time visibility into enrolment rates, student attendance, and academic performance, allowing teachers and administrators to quickly identify and address issues as they arise.

By analysing operational data like resource utilisation and facility usage, schools can optimise their resources, reduce waste, and improve efficiency. For example, schools can use data analytics to identify underutilised classrooms or equipment, which can be repurposed or sold to generate revenue.

Marketing data is also a valuable source of information for schools. By analysing marketing data like website traffic and social media engagement, schools can gain insights into the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, enabling them to optimise their outreach and attract more students.

Looking to the future, the role of data analytics in schools is only going to become more important. With the increasing use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, schools will be able to analyse even more complex data sets and gain deeper insights into their operations.

In order to stay ahead of the curve, it is essential for schools to embrace data analytics. By doing so, they can gain a competitive advantage, optimise resources, improve educational outcomes, and provide a better experience for students, faculty, and staff.

Conclusion

The future of IT in schools is bright, and data analytics will play a critical role in driving success. By analysing school data and leveraging tools like Domo PowerBI, Tableau or Qlik Sense, schools can gain valuable insights and optimise their operations, ultimately leading to better outcomes for everyone involved.


Analysing Data on IT Service Requests to Improve Support

In today’s digital age, educational institutions are increasingly reliant on technology to deliver high-quality education to their students. From online learning platforms to communication tools, IT services play a critical role in supporting the smooth functioning of schools, universities and trade schools across the globe. However, managing IT service requests can be a challenging task, particularly when it comes to tracking and resolving issues quickly. In this article, we’ll discuss how analysing IT service request data can help IT managers in educational institutions improve support.

How to Leverage Your IT Support Data

  1. Identifying Common Issues
    By analysing IT service request data, IT managers can identify the most common issues faced by their users. This could include issues like password resets, software installations, or network connectivity problems. Once these issues are identified, managers can take steps to address them proactively, such as providing user training or investing in new software or hardware solutions.
  2. Improving Time to Resolve
    Analysing IT service request data can also help IT managers improve their time to resolve issues. By tracking the average time it takes to resolve a particular issue, managers can identify bottlenecks in their support processes and take steps to streamline them. For example, they could implement a more efficient ticketing system or provide additional training to support staff.
  3. Reducing the Number of Open Tickets
    One of the most significant challenges IT managers face is managing the volume of service requests they receive. Analysing IT service request data can help managers understand the volume of requests they receive, the time it takes to resolve them, and the number of open tickets at any given time. Armed with this information, managers can take steps to reduce the number of open tickets, such as hiring additional support staff, implementing automated self-service tools, or prioritising urgent issues.
  4. Providing Better Customer Service
    Analysing IT service request data can help IT managers provide better customer service to their users. By tracking metrics like response time, resolution time, and customer satisfaction, managers can identify areas for improvement and take steps to address them. For example, they could implement a more user-friendly ticketing system, provide more frequent updates to users on the status of their requests, or invest in additional training for support staff.

Conclusion

Analysing IT service request data is a powerful tool that can help IT managers improve support for their users. By identifying common issues, improving time to resolve, reducing the number of open tickets, and providing better customer service, managers can ensure that their users receive the best possible support and, in turn, help educational institutions deliver high-quality education to their students.


Using Analytics to Improve Parent and Community Engagement

Parent and community engagement is crucial for the success of any educational institution. By involving parents and community members in school activities and decisions, schools can improve student outcomes and create a more supportive learning environment.

What is Analytics?

Analytics refers to the process of collecting, processing, and analysing data to gain insights and make informed decisions. It involves using statistical and mathematical techniques to identify patterns, trends, and correlations in data. Analytics can be applied to various fields, including business, finance, healthcare, sports, and educational institutions. The goal of analytics is to extract meaningful and useful information from data to improve performance, optimise processes, and drive decision-making. There are several types of analytics, including descriptive analytics, diagnostic analytics, predictive analytics, and prescriptive analytics.

There are multiple tools available to help your education institution get the most out of its data. Analytical platforms such as Domo help users unlock hidden insights that are otherwise untapped within their data, to drive decision making and identify patterns early.

How can I use Analytics to Improve Parent and Community Engagement?

Here are some ways that schools can use analytics to improve parent and community engagement:

  1. Analyse parent and community communication:
    Schools can use analytics tools to track the effectiveness of communication with parents and community members. By analysing metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and engagement rates, schools can identify which types of messages and communication channels are most effective at reaching and engaging their target audience.
  2. Track event attendance:
    Second, schools can use an analytical tool to track attendance at parent and community events, such as parent-teacher conferences, PTA meetings, and community outreach events. By analysing attendance data, schools can identify which events are most popular and effective at engaging parents and community members. Allowing them to adjust their outreach strategies accordingly.
  3. Monitor social media engagement:
    Thirdly, many parents and community members use social media to stay connected with their local schools. By monitoring social media engagement, schools can identify which types of content and messaging are most effective at engaging their audience and adjust their social media strategies accordingly. Domo can help ease the pain of having multiple social media accounts, by visualising data across multiple platforms on a single page. This way, the most effective social media networks can be outlined, and decisions can be made for future success.
  4. Analyse survey responses:
    Finally, schools can use surveys to gather feedback from parents and community members about their engagement efforts. By analysing survey responses, schools can identify areas where they need to improve their outreach and engagement strategies.

Conclusion

In conclusion, analytics is a powerful tool that schools can use to improve parent and community engagement. By collecting and analysing data on communication, event attendance, social media engagement, and survey responses, schools can develop targeted strategies to improve engagement and create a more supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students.


Using Predictive Analytics to Support Student Retention

Predictive analytics is a rapidly growing field that has the potential to shake up how schools and universities approach student retention. By leveraging their data, schools and universities can identify students who are at risk of dropping out and provide them with the support they need to succeed. In this blog, we’ll explore how predictive analytics can improve student retention rates and some tricks to help you do so.

What is Predictive Analytics?

Predictive analytics is a process that involves analysing data to identify patterns and make predictions about future outcomes. In the context of student retention, predictive analytics involves analysing student data to identify students who are at risk of dropping out. This can include data such as grades, attendance records, and student demographics.

By identifying students who are at risk of dropping out, institutions can provide them with tailored support to help them succeed. This can include interventions such as tutoring, academic advising, and mentorship programs. By providing students with the support they need to succeed, institutions can improve student retention rates and help more students achieve their academic goals.

How do you do all of this?

The answer may be simpler than you think. Analytical tools like Domo can help institutions monitor, manage, transform, visualise, and even blend data from multiple sources to unlock hidden insights into what is otherwise untouched data.

Here are a few simple ways an analytics tool like Domo can help schools and universities support their student retention rates:

  1. Identify at-risk students
    Predictive analytics can help educational institutions identify students who are at risk of dropping out by analysing student data such as grades, attendance, and engagement. This allows institutions to intervene early and provide support to help these students stay on track.
  2. Analyse student feedback
    Institutions can analyse student feedback from surveys, focus groups, and other sources so they can understand student needs and preferences. This information can help institutions improve programs and services to better meet student needs and improve retention.
  3. Track institutional goals
    Key performance indicators (KPIs) related to student retention, such as graduation rates and student satisfaction should be measured and evaluated over time. By monitoring these KPIs in real time, institutions can quickly identify areas for improvement and take action to improve retention.
  4. Personalise support
    Finally, institutions should personalise support for students by analysing data such as student demographics, academic performance, and engagement. As a result, institutions can tailor interventions to meet individual student needs, leading to improved retention.

Conclusion

In summary, predictive analytics is a powerful tool that can help educational institutions improve student retention rates. By using their data, institutions can identify students who are at risk of dropping out, monitor their progress over time, analyse student feedback, track internal institutional goals, and personalise student support. By embracing predictive analytics, institutions can improve student retention rates and help more students achieve their academic goals.


Using Analytics to Improve Student Performance

Analytics, or the use of data analysis tools to gain insights into complex systems, is revolutionising the world of education. Educators are now using data analysis tools to gain insights into student performance, identify areas of improvement, and implement targeted interventions that can help students succeed. In this blog post, we will explore how analytics can be used to improve student performance.

What is Analytics?

Analytics refers to the use of data analysis tools to gain insights into complex systems. In the context of education, analytics can be used to analyse student performance, identify areas of improvement, and implement targeted interventions that can help students succeed.

Why is Analytics Important in Education?

Analytics is important in education for several reasons. First, it can help educators gain insights into student performance and identify areas of improvement. Second, it can help educators identify students who are at risk of falling behind and implement targeted interventions to help them succeed. Third, it can help educators track the effectiveness of interventions and adjust their strategies accordingly.

Using Analytics to Improve Student Performance

There are several ways that analytics can be used to improve student performance. In this section, we will explore some of the most effective strategies.

  1. Tracking Student Progress
    One of the most effective ways to use analytics to improve student performance is to track student progress over time. This can be done by collecting data on student performance, such as grades, test scores, and attendance records, and analysing this data to identify trends and patterns.For example, if a student is consistently receiving low grades on math tests, analytics tools can be used to identify specific areas of weakness, such as algebra or geometry. Based on this information, educators can implement targeted interventions to help the student improve their math skills.
  2. Identifying At-Risk Students
    Another effective way to use analytics to improve student performance is to identify at-risk students. This can be done by analysing data on student performance, such as grades, test scores, and attendance records, and looking for patterns that indicate that a student is at risk of falling behind.For example, if a student is consistently absent from class, has low grades, and is not meeting benchmarks for reading and math skills, analytics tools can be used to identify this student as at risk. Based on this information, educators can implement targeted interventions to help the student succeed, such as providing extra support or adjusting the curriculum to meet the student’s needs.
  3. Personalise Learning
    Another effective way to use analytics to improve student performance is to personalize learning. This can be done by analysing data on student performance, such as grades, test scores, and attendance records, and using this data to create personalized learning plans for each student.For example, if a student is struggling with reading comprehension, analytics tools can be used to identify specific areas of weakness, such as vocabulary or critical thinking skills. Based on this information, educators can create a personalized learning plan for the student that includes targeted interventions to help them improve their reading comprehension.
  4. Predict Results
    Combining historical results with existing data and artificial intelligence can yield scarily accurate predictive models on how a student will perform. The benefits of this are numerous, both from career planning for older students, to determining where funding is best used for interventions in earlier years. As schools and analytics systems mature, these predictions will continue to grow in accuracy and prevalence.
  5. Evaluate Interventions
    Finally, analytics can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. This can be done by analysing data on student performance, such as grades, test scores, and attendance records, and comparing this data to the data collected before the intervention was implemented.For example, if a student is receiving extra support to improve their math skills, analytics tools can be used to analyse their math test scores before and after the intervention was implemented. Based on this information, educators can determine whether the intervention was effective and adjust their strategies accordingly.

Conclusion

To date analytics is a powerful tool that can be used to improve student performance in a variety of ways. Whilst most schools are already collecting structured and unstructured data across a range of various systems, the sad reality is they are not utilising this data effectively. Through combining their data into a useful, structured data set, schools can better track student progress, identify at-risk students, improve, and personalise learning and lesson plans and evaluate their actions, all while minimising the out of classroom activities that teachers wish to avoid. A tailored analytics suite can also compare your performance data to other schools and provide a useful indicator on where resources are best utilised to ensure students succeed.


Education360 Launch Day | Penola Catholic College

The team have headed to Penola Catholic College in the suburbs of Melbourne to throw an end-of-year barbeque and celebration day, as well as to assist with the full-scale launch of Education360 within the prestigious Catholic School.

It is always a nice opportunity to catch-up with clients in a more low-key, informal environment like this, as it gives us a chance to connect with people on a more personal level. We hope everyone enjoyed the food that was cooked up on the day, and got a chance to get stuck into Education360 and all its amazing data management, visualisation and monitoring capabilities!

To learn more about Education360, click here.


St Therese’s Principals’ Day Recap

As much as we love doing massive, multi-day events to showcase our services and abilities, we still highly value and engage with smaller, more intimate events such as the Principals’ Day hosted by GM Sponsors at St Therese’s Primary School in Cranbourne.

It was amazing to get to meet and talk to so many experienced and open-minded principals from the local area, and even more amazing to give them a brief demonstration of Education360. GM Sponsors really know how to put together an effective, engaging day, and we are looking forward to attending more in-person, intimate events in 2023.


2022 EduTech Australia Wrap Up

The team at 9X5 has had an amazing 2 days of showcasing our Education360 product at this year’s EduTech Conference at the Melbourne Convention Centre!

It was a true pleasure to get to meet and connect with so many amazing educators, technology professionals, and principals from around the state & country. We hope that all who came and said hello to us had an informative visit, got to get their hands dirty with an Education360 demonstration, and left thinking about the next steps of their school’s data journey.

This was the first (of many!) major events showcasing Education360 to full effect, and we are so amazed and proud of the reception we have gained from people within the education technology and data analytics sectors.

We cannot wait to be back for the 2023 show!


9X5 Joins The Victorian Technical Support to Schools Program

9X5 is proud to have joined the Department of Education established and managed supplier panel for Technical Support to Schools Program (TSSP) in Victoria, assisting schools with their Information Technology support and infrastructure requirements.

With a large array of capabilities across K-12 Education, from end-user devices through to core infrastructure, 9X5 Consulting can provide onsite Information and Communications Technology (ICT) support to all Victorian Government Schools, through the eduSTAR program, delivered by our skilled engineers.

We are excited to be a part of this program.