- OpenSIS
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openSIS Developer(s) OS4Ed Stable release 4.8.0.0 / 2011.2.07 Development status Active Written in PHP Operating system Cross-platform Available in Multilingual Type Student Information System License GNU GPL v2 Website [opensis.com http://www.opensis.com] openSIS is one of several free and open source student information system available to K-12 and higher education institutions. The solution has been in development for several years and appears to have much of the functionality that long time commercial versions have today. The solutions is a 100% web-based application and has polished looks, a great deal of required functionality and appears to be easy to use based on the online demo website. openSIS is developed and maintained by Open Solutions for Education (OS4Ed).
openSIS is written in the PHP programming language and uses the MySQL database system to store information. The community edition is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, is free software and can be downloaded from the Sourceforge website. The application appears to be stable, has continuing activity in the community forums and offers alternative paid versions at the openSIS website. Also offered is a cloud or SaaS version and low cost hosted trials are available allowing users to test drive their own instance at a very low cost.
openSIS seems to be gaining traction as it is getting published or noted in various places around the web. In January 2010, openSIS was featured in an article in District administration magazine alongside other notable long time companies such as Pearson and Century Consultants. openSIS is also up for voting at the Bitnami website to become a supported application stack. A search on Google returns results from many independent sources where openSIS is being discussed, a good sign for a community product that demonstrates interest and usage. openSIS is listed as one of the top 50 Open Source Apps Transforming Education for administration![1] Another sign of maturity and popularity is for-profit companies beginning to offer paid services for support and customization beyond the parent company.
While openSIS appears to moving into a leader position in the open source SIS market for K-12, there are other alternatives, which are listed in the See Also section below.
According to the company's website, the solutions features these features:
Contents
Base Product Features
- Student Demographics
- Contact Information
- Scheduling
- Gradebook
- Reports/Report Designer
- Report Cards
- Transcripts
- Health Records
- Attendance
- Parent Portal
- User Customizable Preferences
- Security
- Light weight IEP
And lists these as additional modules available in their paid edition or cloud version that is hosted.
Additional Modules
- Discipline
- Email and SMS Text Messaging
- Food Service
- Student Billing
- State Reporting (important for US based schools and districts)
See also
- SchoolTool, alternative open source
- FreeMIS
- Centre/SIS
- Focus/SIS, a Fork of Centre/SIS
- OpenAdmin Open Admin for Schools
- SIMS.net, commercial SIS, used mostly in the UK
- ScholarPack, commercial MIS/VLE, for UK schools
Notes
- Killer Startups
- Bitnami Application Stack Voting
- District Administration Magazine
- FlossEd
- Find Best Open Source
- http://www.baudlabs.com/archives/956
External links
Categories:- Learning management systems
- Free software projects
- Free educational software
- School-administration software
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