Learning
On March 24, we hosted a gathering of technology directors and coordinators from schools around Asia at Diocesan Boys’ School in Hong Kong.
The day began with a company retrospective and update from our CEO & Founder Theodore King, which detailed the company beginnings and key initiatives for the future, including robust enhancements to the ManageBac learning platform, new technical infrastructure to improve service to schools in China, and development plans focused on student-centered learning.
Managing Director Angelica Nierras led an interactive workshop focused on school technology system ecosystems, in recognition of “jobs-to-be done” and the myriad of systems supporting school processes. This provided an opportunity for participants to share the different approaches at their schools and insights into the data flows across systems.
ManageBac Director Kevin Piersialla then provided a deep dive into data best practices, which distilled lessons learned over a year of integrating various different systems. We’ve helped schools around the world improve their data quality and manage data integrity, but there is still a long way to go. We also discussed the increasingly important role of the data manager.
Following lunch in the Diocesan Boys School beautiful glass pavilion, we looked at the ways in which schools evaluate software systems to purchase. Kevin led a robust discussion around key criteria when choosing a software provider.
Next, Technology Coordinator Karl Suits from Hangzhou International School provided an inside look into the systems landscape and selection processes at his school, which included the data flows across systems and a detailed review of implementation processes & timelines.
Lastly, Adam Morris, who leads IT systems at IGB International School, demonstrated some of the work he has produced by using the ManageBac API to ease communication flows at his school.
The day ended with a brief tour of Diocesan Boys School and dinner at the Nathan Hotel in Kowloon.
Participants said:
“Thank you so much for Friday, it was really useful!”
“It’s rare to get a professional development opportunity that focuses on more back-end processes like data integrity.”
We look forward to hosting more get-togethers in the future to facilitate the exchange of knowledge amongst our schools’ technology teams and hear feedback on the work we do here at ManageBac.
