New Barcode System Cuts School Paperwork

The new ClassNet barcode system, introduced by ASP Microcomputers of Ormond, Victoria promises to revolutionise class record keeping, reduce admin workloads, safeguard students attendance records and make successful school wagging a matter of extreme difficulty. The ClassNet system, designed and manufactured in Australia, is the result of 2 years intensive R&D, according to Paul Stuart of ASP. Stuart predicts that handwritten class registers will become obsolete thanks to the ClassNet concept.

The ClassNet hardware consists of barcode readers mounted at classroom entrances and wired back to a central admin computer. Each barcode reader displays a centrally synchronised time. Students log on by sliding their barcoded cards through the reader. Data is held in the barcode reader until it is collected at programmed intervals by the admin computer, which produces documentation required by the school. The system is estimated to save 15 hours a week for the admin record keeper and it also saves time for class teachers. A ClassNet installation is already operational at Forest Hill Secondary College in Melbourne.

ASP's downloading software allows schools to do their own data analysis using a spreadsheet or database program. Forest Hill's data analysis software was prepared by teachers Kevork Crozian and Roderick Smith, while 18 year old student Leigh Fitzgibbon did the database programming in Turbo Pascal.