Information school management system
Content
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
SMIS: A Web-Based School Management Information System
Mihal Brumbulli, Blerina Topçiu, Arbora Dalaçi
Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Information Technologies, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania
Abstract: Web applications are popular due to the ubiquity of the browser as a client, sometimes called a thin client. The ability to update and maintain web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers is a key reason for their popularity.This paper presents a complex management information system designed for Albanian high schools. The primary goal of this application is to offer a suitable interface to its users in order to simplify and reduce the time needed for information and procedure management relating to different school activities. This system is designed for three categories of users: director, teachers and secretary. We aim to present a mostly complete view of our application focusing especially on the design process. Keywords: SMIS, SMS, Web-Based Application. 1. INTRODUCTION Nowadays the database is the only professional structure for storing and elaborating complex information and huge amount of data. The database structure brings about several advantages, like: quick and real time access, high security, standards establishment, automated reports and statistics etc. It is the most popular format that businesses, banks, government, universities, schools and many other institutions all over the world are using for storing data and information concerning their activities. Many schools in the world have already installed their information management system and are efficiently using advantages of Information Technology. A School Management System is a large database system which can be used for managing your school's day to day business. SMS is configurable and can be configured to meet most individual school's needs. It is a multi-user system and can be used by hundreds or even thousands users at same time. General speaking, it is platform running on a Local Area Network (LAN). This paper deals with the development of such system for Albania’s high schools. 2. MOTIVATION School Management Systems allows users to store almost all of their school's information electronically. Most importantly, this information can be easily shared with authorized users, records can be easily searched, and reports can be easily generated. Actually Albanian Government is working on a developed strategy which aims the development of ICT structures in all the high schools of the country. Most of the high schools are already equipped with necessary hardware and network structures under the supervision of the Ministry of Education [7]. Having this infrastructure implemented the school managers identified the need of managing the information electronically. Therefore, their needs moved toward School Management Systems as an appropriate method for managing information on students, employees, teaching processes etc. School Management Systems could make school staff's life easier than ever. Using SMS, finding student information is just a few seconds away which might have cost 564
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
hours, or even days, before. At the end of the semester, printing students’ statement becomes just a few minutes job, but it could be a nightmare without using SMS. Furthermore, it will increase the security level and will install a hierarchic order on information access. With the initiative of the manager of a Professional High School in Albania and the support of European Union we established a working team for the design and implementation of this system. The goal of this project was to develop an electronic computerbased system to automate teaching procedures in the high schools. 3. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT SMIS is a dynamic web-based application of type client-server developed and implemented in a Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP platform [5, 6, 10]. Therefore, the application is installed once in the server and, the clients (the director, the secretary and the teachers) can access and use the application from their local computers. 3.1. Analysis and Definition After several meetings and interviews with the potential users (the staff of the school) the requirements specification document was created. Review of existing documents such as forms and reports in excel or hard copies were a good reference when working for the final requirements specification document. Paper documentation is a good way to become familiar with the procedures/activities performed within the school.
Fig.1: Use-Case Diagram
After acquiring and collecting the necessary information from the administrative and academic staff, our work has been focused on structuring the information and on defining what really will facilitate the work of each of them. In figure 1 is depicted a reduced use case diagram [1, 2, 3] of the system.
565
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
In general, users don’t know what to request and what really may facilitate and simplify their work. The success or the failure of a software system depends mostly on its utilization. If the software doesn’t help and facilitate user’s work, if it is too complicated and time-consuming for them, they will never use it. That’s why the correct definition of functional requirements is essential. Following this concept, this phase was mainly focused on interacting with the school staff to better and correctly define specifications. 3.2. Software Design Software design is the heart of the project and it is usually considered crucial for the success of a software system. It consists in developing a database and software model wich will interact with the database for storing, modifying and retrieving data. 3.2.1. Data Model The first step in this phase was modeling the real world system in a well structured database. This model is represented by the entity-relationship diagram [9, 11] as shown in figure 2. When designing the database, we have to make decisions regarding how best to take the system in the real world and model it in a database. A well-designed database takes time and effort to conceive, build and refine. An effective data model completely and accurately represents the data requirements of the end users. It is simple enough to be understood by the end user yet detailed enough to be used by a database designer to build the database. The model eliminates redundant data, it is independent of any hardware and software constraints, and can be adapted to changing requirements with a minimum of effort [9].
Fig. 2: Entity-Relationship Diagram
In figure 2 are shown the most important entities of the model and their relationships, representing the core of the daily work and data storage in a high school. This “core” model was achieved after consulting several times the requirements specification document in order to assure the best modeling of the real world system.
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International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
3.2.2. Software Model The second step is designing the software model. We decided to use ObjectOriented Modeling as one of the most used techniques and therefore using the advantages it offers [2, 8]. In figure 3 is depicted the core Class-Diagram of the system. This model was designed in order to define a good ORM [4, 11] for establishing communication with the database. Also this model better describes interactions and relationships between objects representing real life entities.
Fig. 3: Class-Diagram
3.3. Implementation The next step is the implementation of the software for interacting with the database and most importantly offering a user friendly interface to do so. The communication between the database and the software includes: • Storing data/information into the database • Modifying data/information already stored in the database • Retrieving and consulting data/information
567
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
The application is intended for 3 levels of users with different rights upon the data/information that can be stored, retrieved or modified: • Director – organization issues, consulting almost all kind of information • Teachers – teaching process, classes under supervision • Secretary – students registration, student information retrieving Each user of the application should fill identification requirements in order to login in its personalized interface and use the application and its features. The main activities are divided in three main groups: Director’s Interface, Teacher’s Interface and Secretary’s Interface as shown in figure 4.
Fig. 4: Interface Organization
4. CONCLUSIONS The need of managing the information electronically is growing rapidly in all important areas in Albania. One of these areas, considered to be crucial for the development of the country, is education. Therefore, School Management Systems are being identified as an appropriate method for managing information in schools. 568
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
The SMIS software system was built based on real life situations in Albania’s high school, taking into consideration all possible situations and functionalities of the daily work in these schools. Therefore, this system maybe considered as a good first step in implementing performing electronic based information management in schools. 5. REFERENCES [1] Amber, S. J., (2006) Introduction to Object-Orientation and UML. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.agiledata.org/essays/objectOrientation101.html. [2] Booch, G., (2007) Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications. Pearson Education. [3] D'Sousa, D. F. and Wills, A. C. Objects, (1999) Components and Frameworks with UML. Addison-Wesley. [4] Fussel, M. L., (1997) Foundations of Object Relational Mapping. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.chimu.com/publications/objectRelational/. [5] Greenspan, J., Wall, D. and Bulger, B. (2004) MySQL/PHP Database Applications. Wiley. [6] Lane, D. and Williams, H. E., (2004) Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL. O'Reilly. [7] Ministry of Education and UNDP, (2006) E-Schools Program in Albania. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.eschools.org.al/. [8] O’Docherty, M., (2003) Object-Oriented Analysis and Design: Understanding System Development with UML 2.0. John Wiley & Sons. [9] Riordan, R. M., (2005) Designing Effective Database Systems. Addison Wesley. [10] Yank, K., (2004) Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL. O'Reilly,. [11] Zendulka, J., (2001) Object-Relational Modeling in UML. Retrieved 2008, from http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/rd/.
569
SMIS: A Web-Based School Management Information System
Mihal Brumbulli, Blerina Topçiu, Arbora Dalaçi
Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Information Technologies, Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania
Abstract: Web applications are popular due to the ubiquity of the browser as a client, sometimes called a thin client. The ability to update and maintain web applications without distributing and installing software on potentially thousands of client computers is a key reason for their popularity.This paper presents a complex management information system designed for Albanian high schools. The primary goal of this application is to offer a suitable interface to its users in order to simplify and reduce the time needed for information and procedure management relating to different school activities. This system is designed for three categories of users: director, teachers and secretary. We aim to present a mostly complete view of our application focusing especially on the design process. Keywords: SMIS, SMS, Web-Based Application. 1. INTRODUCTION Nowadays the database is the only professional structure for storing and elaborating complex information and huge amount of data. The database structure brings about several advantages, like: quick and real time access, high security, standards establishment, automated reports and statistics etc. It is the most popular format that businesses, banks, government, universities, schools and many other institutions all over the world are using for storing data and information concerning their activities. Many schools in the world have already installed their information management system and are efficiently using advantages of Information Technology. A School Management System is a large database system which can be used for managing your school's day to day business. SMS is configurable and can be configured to meet most individual school's needs. It is a multi-user system and can be used by hundreds or even thousands users at same time. General speaking, it is platform running on a Local Area Network (LAN). This paper deals with the development of such system for Albania’s high schools. 2. MOTIVATION School Management Systems allows users to store almost all of their school's information electronically. Most importantly, this information can be easily shared with authorized users, records can be easily searched, and reports can be easily generated. Actually Albanian Government is working on a developed strategy which aims the development of ICT structures in all the high schools of the country. Most of the high schools are already equipped with necessary hardware and network structures under the supervision of the Ministry of Education [7]. Having this infrastructure implemented the school managers identified the need of managing the information electronically. Therefore, their needs moved toward School Management Systems as an appropriate method for managing information on students, employees, teaching processes etc. School Management Systems could make school staff's life easier than ever. Using SMS, finding student information is just a few seconds away which might have cost 564
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
hours, or even days, before. At the end of the semester, printing students’ statement becomes just a few minutes job, but it could be a nightmare without using SMS. Furthermore, it will increase the security level and will install a hierarchic order on information access. With the initiative of the manager of a Professional High School in Albania and the support of European Union we established a working team for the design and implementation of this system. The goal of this project was to develop an electronic computerbased system to automate teaching procedures in the high schools. 3. SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT SMIS is a dynamic web-based application of type client-server developed and implemented in a Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP platform [5, 6, 10]. Therefore, the application is installed once in the server and, the clients (the director, the secretary and the teachers) can access and use the application from their local computers. 3.1. Analysis and Definition After several meetings and interviews with the potential users (the staff of the school) the requirements specification document was created. Review of existing documents such as forms and reports in excel or hard copies were a good reference when working for the final requirements specification document. Paper documentation is a good way to become familiar with the procedures/activities performed within the school.
Fig.1: Use-Case Diagram
After acquiring and collecting the necessary information from the administrative and academic staff, our work has been focused on structuring the information and on defining what really will facilitate the work of each of them. In figure 1 is depicted a reduced use case diagram [1, 2, 3] of the system.
565
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
In general, users don’t know what to request and what really may facilitate and simplify their work. The success or the failure of a software system depends mostly on its utilization. If the software doesn’t help and facilitate user’s work, if it is too complicated and time-consuming for them, they will never use it. That’s why the correct definition of functional requirements is essential. Following this concept, this phase was mainly focused on interacting with the school staff to better and correctly define specifications. 3.2. Software Design Software design is the heart of the project and it is usually considered crucial for the success of a software system. It consists in developing a database and software model wich will interact with the database for storing, modifying and retrieving data. 3.2.1. Data Model The first step in this phase was modeling the real world system in a well structured database. This model is represented by the entity-relationship diagram [9, 11] as shown in figure 2. When designing the database, we have to make decisions regarding how best to take the system in the real world and model it in a database. A well-designed database takes time and effort to conceive, build and refine. An effective data model completely and accurately represents the data requirements of the end users. It is simple enough to be understood by the end user yet detailed enough to be used by a database designer to build the database. The model eliminates redundant data, it is independent of any hardware and software constraints, and can be adapted to changing requirements with a minimum of effort [9].
Fig. 2: Entity-Relationship Diagram
In figure 2 are shown the most important entities of the model and their relationships, representing the core of the daily work and data storage in a high school. This “core” model was achieved after consulting several times the requirements specification document in order to assure the best modeling of the real world system.
566
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
3.2.2. Software Model The second step is designing the software model. We decided to use ObjectOriented Modeling as one of the most used techniques and therefore using the advantages it offers [2, 8]. In figure 3 is depicted the core Class-Diagram of the system. This model was designed in order to define a good ORM [4, 11] for establishing communication with the database. Also this model better describes interactions and relationships between objects representing real life entities.
Fig. 3: Class-Diagram
3.3. Implementation The next step is the implementation of the software for interacting with the database and most importantly offering a user friendly interface to do so. The communication between the database and the software includes: • Storing data/information into the database • Modifying data/information already stored in the database • Retrieving and consulting data/information
567
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
The application is intended for 3 levels of users with different rights upon the data/information that can be stored, retrieved or modified: • Director – organization issues, consulting almost all kind of information • Teachers – teaching process, classes under supervision • Secretary – students registration, student information retrieving Each user of the application should fill identification requirements in order to login in its personalized interface and use the application and its features. The main activities are divided in three main groups: Director’s Interface, Teacher’s Interface and Secretary’s Interface as shown in figure 4.
Fig. 4: Interface Organization
4. CONCLUSIONS The need of managing the information electronically is growing rapidly in all important areas in Albania. One of these areas, considered to be crucial for the development of the country, is education. Therefore, School Management Systems are being identified as an appropriate method for managing information in schools. 568
International Scientific Conference Computer Science’2008
The SMIS software system was built based on real life situations in Albania’s high school, taking into consideration all possible situations and functionalities of the daily work in these schools. Therefore, this system maybe considered as a good first step in implementing performing electronic based information management in schools. 5. REFERENCES [1] Amber, S. J., (2006) Introduction to Object-Orientation and UML. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.agiledata.org/essays/objectOrientation101.html. [2] Booch, G., (2007) Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications. Pearson Education. [3] D'Sousa, D. F. and Wills, A. C. Objects, (1999) Components and Frameworks with UML. Addison-Wesley. [4] Fussel, M. L., (1997) Foundations of Object Relational Mapping. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.chimu.com/publications/objectRelational/. [5] Greenspan, J., Wall, D. and Bulger, B. (2004) MySQL/PHP Database Applications. Wiley. [6] Lane, D. and Williams, H. E., (2004) Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL. O'Reilly. [7] Ministry of Education and UNDP, (2006) E-Schools Program in Albania. Retrieved 2008, from http://www.eschools.org.al/. [8] O’Docherty, M., (2003) Object-Oriented Analysis and Design: Understanding System Development with UML 2.0. John Wiley & Sons. [9] Riordan, R. M., (2005) Designing Effective Database Systems. Addison Wesley. [10] Yank, K., (2004) Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL. O'Reilly,. [11] Zendulka, J., (2001) Object-Relational Modeling in UML. Retrieved 2008, from http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/rd/.
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