BCeSIS (Student Company Information System of British Columbia ) is a public student information system implementation by independent schools and school districts of British Columbia, Canada. eSIS is a commercial software developed by The Administrative Assistants Ltd of Ontario, Canada, which provides a platform for student information systems that can be accessed centrally and accessible on the web.
Video BCeSIS
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The BCeSIS system is currently organized by Fujitsu Canada under contract to the British Columbia Education Minister. Currently all districts have signed a memorandum of understanding to voluntarily adopt BCeSIS on their own timeline. Support for schools and districts that adopt the new system is provided by their own local staff resources together with the Fujitsu Service Desk and the Ministry of Education. BC Independent School has collected their resources as a consortium (iGroup) and the implementation/training and support of BCeSIS for Independent Schools and First Nations is handled by this consortium.
Maps BCeSIS
Criticism
Social Criticism
Some teachers do not like the system, believe it as a social control tool, centralize potentially sensitive personal information, and place important decisions about student education in the hands of unelected committees without educational background.
Bad User Interface
The system also draws criticism for its archaic user interface. Some screens in the program allow movement of arrow keys, some functions use icons or multi-level text clicks, others require mouse clicks. The general design is not tested on the intended users, nor tested on some browsers, and resulted in a poor user experience. For example, a field containing parent phone numbers shows only part of a number; click the mouse and click the required arrow to see the rest. The student list (general class consisting of 24-30 students) shows only thirteen names on the screen; someone must roll up for the rest. The Marks entry finds the same design error: scrolling sideways in the student fields is required to access the three types of data typically included (percent, work habits, comment selection). Combined with start-ups hit by server introduction problems BCeSIS meets with sharp anxiety and calls to check if the system is worth $ 80 million in expenses.
BCeSIS requires the use of an outdated Java version, as support for newer versions of Java has never been implemented. There are many serious security issues that are known to the outdated Java version required to run BCeSIS
Using the Teacher Assistant interface, teachers have access to student demographics and contact information as well as details on student performance, programs and special educational needs. BCeSIS collects attendance in the classroom using electronic attendance checklists and allows both teachers and offices to share information about student attendance. In the upcoming BCeSIS release, the province will implement a new capability called Parent Assistant that will allow parents to monitor the presence and performance of their children when entered into the system.
Media Attention
BCeSIS attracted media attention in September 2010 for slow performance that hampered school efforts to make schedule changes, process student transfers, and complete attendance. With the new school district using this service, the Fujitsu Service Desk is forced to limit the number of logins and send the message "BCeSIS unavailable" during peak usage hours. This complicates performance issues and generates a number of internet parodies, including subtitle scenes from Downfall movies.
On September 19, 2011, The Vancouver Sun reported that the Department of Education will stop using BCeSIS software, based on recommendations by Gartner, Inc., and will likely not have a replacement in place until 2014. Education Minister George Abbott said the system had disruptions but still good value for money, and replaced on a large scale because the technology is outdated.
Future
BCeSIS is now replaced by MyEducationBC. The first school will be aired in September 2014. More information on the implementation of MyEducationBC can be found at: http://sisimplementation.ca/
References
External links
- BCeSIS Main Website
- BCeSIS for Independent Schools
- MyEducationBC MyEdBC for Independent School
- Consortium of Ordinary Student Information Systems
- http://fwix.com/vancouver/share/8283773e3f/give_us_back_our_bcesis_money_district_says
- the manufacturer of the software
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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