Victoria EdTech Summit: Meet the exhibitors - EdSmart

Tell us about the company 

EdSmart started in 2014 as a digital solution for paperwork coming home from school to parents requiring action. Launched by two parents who are still the founders and supported by investors. Since then we have worked with our schools customers in 8 countries to build out the technology and to widen our remit. We now digitise administrative and communication processes inside K-12 schools that are slowing down the important work of running the school and teaching students. EdSmart is a cloud-based software-as-a-service platform, at its heart, a digital forms, workflow and process automation solution specifically designed with and for K-12 schools. 

We have state-of-the-art solutions for absentee management, excursion management, emergency management, staff development processes and digital approval workflows with a strong product roadmap that will, in time, digitise all the administrative areas of a school that cannot be digitised with the school’s current systems. We call EdSmart a School Organisation System. We help organise all those difficult and repetitive tasks that run a school’s day-to-day activities. 

When we started we set out to create a digital technology that could be deployed in any school in the world with online access. We have secured customers in single schools, international schools, school networks and Ministries of Education. We welcome customers anywhere in the world and integrate with most Student Information Systems and many Learning Management Systems too. If we don’t integrate yet, we’ll get the ball rolling. 

What initiatives are you working on currently 

We’re currently working on building the capability of our users through adult short form learning within our EdSmart Academy. We now have two levels of self-training that are designed to be easy-to-learn and fun and engaging along the way. 

Another large initiative is the roll-out of EdSmart to the Department of Education South Australia. After a successful Pilot and development phase, EdSmart is due to commence roll-out in the second half of 2021. 

What are the benefits for educational establishments using your product/s 

The benefits for schools and school systems in using EdSmart are the obvious ones, save time and save money by going digital. There are also less obvious but possibly more important ones, EdSmart also helps reduce risk. Because data is securely moved between systems, there is no double-handling so important compliance data maintains its integrity. EdSmart also adheres to the data and privacy standards of the regions in which we operate and data security is absolutely baked in to the platform. And of course, those schools using paper where they could be digital, can switch to EdSmart and save trees and the environment. 

Another subtle benefit is that when EdSmart is deployed the time to receive compliance responses from parents to important requests for information dramatically reduces. Forms requests that took days or weeks to receive the data, typically take hours. This increases the efficiency of a school’s administration function. 

What products/solutions are best suited for teachers? How will these products/solutions help teachers become more effective? 

EdSmart is used by administrators and teachers. All levels of the platform are relevant to teachers. We help teachers become more effective by eliminating the paper chasing around permissions and other forms from parents. This is time that is given back to the teaching and learning process. 

As a staff member a teacher will also require professional development or special leave.EdSmart is an organised way to submit Professional Development and other leave requests, with relevant workflows. Again, saving time in applying and approving the leave digitally means less worry, more productivity.