When you are in the educational field, you know that technological advances are constantly emerging that help to improve academic management, both in the pedagogical and administrative aspects. Therefore, when choosing an educational software, it is essential to ensure that it has the ability to adapt to the tools that the school currently has available, as well as to the innovations that may arise in the future.
This is where integrations start to become relevant.
Educational software: the importance of integrations
In an educational software, integrations represent the possibility of interconnecting systems specialized in different processes of the school, in order to be able to adjust the exchange of information and maintain synchronization between the different databases.
In this way, educational software can satisfy the needs of all areas of the institution, providing benefits such as:
- Increased productivity by reducing manual labor
- Time saving, thanks to database synchronization
- Increased operating efficiency
- Increased user satisfaction
For any school, this is key to its management, as it allows it to integrate current mechanisms and those that may be required in the future in an effective manner. Therefore, it is a decisive aspect to face the coming technological changes and to avoid that the systems implemented in the educational institution end up being obsolete.
How are integrations carried out in educational software?
Currently, the most requested integrations by schools in their educational software are with:
- Accounting systems
- Online payment platforms
However, depending on the particularities of each educational center, it is possible that more integrations may be required, such as with an LMS(Learning Management System), with access control systems, cafeteria management, timetable control, etc.
Nowadays, as we know, there are different methods to carry out integrations between systems. Among them, the most prominent are:
API
It is a connection method that enables the transmission of data from software to software in a practical way through a set of definitions and protocols. Its main advantages are the wide scalability and flexibility that allow the system (in this case, the educational software) to be coupled to other specialized software and to be nourished by them. For this reason, it is the option we use at Phidias.
Web service
This method is based on the transmission of data over the Internet. Its format is text-based, and one of its great advantages is that it integrates services regardless of whether the servers are in different programming languages.
Flat files
It operates from data strings in a single file and in an alphanumeric format. The system is structured so that each record is organized in a separate row, while each column of the record corresponds to a specific database component.
Undoubtedly, integrations are a fundamental aspect that any academic software for schools must have nowadays. There is no software capable of performing all the tasks associated with the internal processes of an educational center. Thus, integrations help to make the most of the technological tools installed in the institution and to maintain efficient workflows.
Are you looking for an educational software that adapts to the real needs of your school? At Phidias we help you transform your academic management into an intelligent management that simplifies, integrates and coordinates the processes of all areas of your institution.
Contact us and discover the benefits of being part of the technological innovation that is revolutionizing the education sector.
