Endless notes from the classroom teacher could be a thing of the past if an idea developed by a Central Queensland University education student is introduced in Queensland.

Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) student David Falknau and two other education students have created a database designed to decrease teachers’ administrative demands.

“With the growing number of computers in the classroom we developed a system that decreases the workload of teachers and enhances the management of administrative functions,” he said.

“The database is like a tracking system that records details about students so teachers can quickly look at information such as a student’s medical history, academic history or absenteeism.” .

The database was developed after interviewing numerous teachers and identifying the need for cutting the time taken to access student information currently held in a hard copy format.

“This system provides a digital portfolio of the student and allows the teacher to update and review the details with ease throughout the child’s education.” .

“Teachers entering a new classroom have to search numerous channels to find this information at the moment. This database saves time and provides an accurate reporting system where teachers can quickly identify achievements against intended outcomes.” .

“Instead of sending home a lot of paperwork and asking for responses from parents, this database will provide an on-going record that simply has to be updated occasionally.” .

Access to the database is restricted to individual teachers, yet the system could support networking capabilities. .

Mr Falknau’s project formed part of his assessment for a BLM ‘Futures’ unit of study.

First-year BLM students will showcase their work at a Futures Expo Day at CQU Mackay campus on October 15 from 3.30pm at the Conservatorium foyer.

Caption: Caryl Turpin, David Falknau and Sharon Grubb designed the system that allows hard copy information to be accessed quickly on a computer database.