Computers, mobile devices, and other technology solutions have found a permanent home in K-12 classrooms. They bring myriad benefits to students throughout the school day, and enable teachers to tap countless resources to enrich classes through the Internet. Although technology use in schools is a positive advancement, it does present one major challenge for schools, however: education asset tracking.
For school staff tasked with keeping track of school assets, the labor involved can be overwhelming. In addition to assets that you tracked prior to the tech explosion – such as lab equipment, vehicles and machinery, sports equipment, and school furnishings, you now also track hundreds – or maybe even thousands – of school-issued mobile devices.
Why Asset Tracking is Necessary in Schools
Some school staffs use spreadsheets to track the serial number of each tech device or other asset and the name of the student to whom it has been issued. They may also manually log other information such as maintenance history or whether the student’s parents or guardians took out insurance on the device.
This is a manual process that can be a full-time job for a staff member, but it’s a task that must be done. Tech devices and other school assets often are funded through the district’s finances or through government programs and the assets and their use must be accounted for.
The Benefits of a Tracking Solution
There are alternatives to manual systems that can help schools track assets. Education asset tracking solutions automate the process of tracking solutions and determining who has (or should have) custody of them. Barcode labels on the devices can be scanned along with a student ID to instantly create a record in the software application showing which student the device was assigned to. The savings in time and labor that this represents are significant, but education asset tracking solutions can do so much more.
Solutions that use radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, or tracking capabilities within the devices themselves, can track where devices are located. Software may also send alerts if the assets are used beyond where they are permitted by school policy and help locate missing assets. Education asset tracking solutions can also provide a status report in real-time. These solutions also can keep track of the condition and the maintenance performed on each device.
For assets that may be borrowed from the school, education asset tracking solutions can link assets to the borrower, track their movement, send alerts when the asset is due to be returned and keep a record of past due items.
To help schools comply with funding regulations, education asset tracking software can allocate assets purchased with particular funding to those funds, and track necessary metrics required by the program such as date of purchase, vendor, and how the asset is being used. The software can also calculate depreciation using standard formulas or one you define.
It’s Time to Graduate
If you are struggling to track assets with manual or spreadsheet systems, it’s time to consider upgrading to an automated system that can provide additional benefits and even save your school money in terms of labor hours and reduced inventory shrink.
Automatic data capture (ADC) solutions providers are a valuable resource for information on how education asset tracking solutions can benefit your school and finding the right solution to fit your needs and your budget.