The start of the new academic year is a busy time of new beginnings for families and professionals. It means new classes, perhaps a new school, college or even leaving home for university. For schools, it means new intakes, new goals, starting afresh the journey to deliver the best educational experiences possible for every student.
With that in mind, dare we say it’s also a time to consider new technologies, and how they can help take the experiences offered in education to the next level?
Kiosks are already a familiar sight in schools, colleges and universities up and down the country. Their built-in flexibility is helping them quietly revolutionise operations, boosting efficiency and convenience for staff, students and parents alike.
With the start of the new term upon us, we thought it was a good time to take a closer look at the benefits kiosks offer in education.
Taking the Load Off Administrative Tasks
Perhaps the most visible example of kiosks in schools is their use in reception areas for managing visitors. Rather than having to wait to be signed in by a member of staff, a kiosk lets visitors input their details and print off an access badge or sticker (complete with photo) in just a few seconds.
As well as saving staff time and speeding things up for visitors, this is an important security protocol, ensuring every visitor is logged digitally. It’s also possible to link digital access control systems to codes printed on passes, so visitors are only allowed into designated areas.
Some more forward-thinking establishments are now starting to experiment with using kiosks for student enrollment, too. With kiosks located at main entry points, students can ‘tap-in’ each day, removing the need for teachers to take a register and therefore increasing the amount of time available for learning. Digitised enrollment systems can also be used to monitor students leaving the premises.
Tackling Transactions
Schools and especially colleges and universities have their fair share of transactions to handle and payments to process. Kiosks are best known for providing self-service payment options in retail and hospitality, and it’s a use case that education establishments can very much get on board with, too.
For example, demonstrating the versatility of kiosks, the same consoles used in reception areas to register visitors can also be used for making payments for things like school dinners and trips. This even opens up new commercial possibilities for schools, for example by partnering with retailers to allow parents to order uniforms, books etc.
Speaking of school dinners, kiosks have also been central to most dinner halls moving to ‘cashless’ service. Instead of having to carry cash to pay for meals on the day, or being limited to pre-ordered meals, kiosks allow students to log into pre-paid accounts (biometric identification makes this fast and efficient), and then order whatever meal they like, with payment taken out of their account at the touch of a button.
Kiosks can also be used in a similar way in libraries, giving students a self-service option to check in and return books, search the catalogue etc.
In conclusion, self-service kiosks offer a versatile and efficient solution for schools and universities. By automating tasks, providing information, and enhancing the student and staff experience, they can contribute to a more modern and effective learning environment.
Contact the Acante team to find out more.
