I’ll be attending the MAEDS (Michigan Association of Educational Data Systems) the fall, October 10th through 12th. This is usually a great conference. There is lots of good, practical information and discussions. 

This year, I’ll be presenting. My presentation will be “Create Workflows Using Open Source Software”.  This presentation will focus around creating a workflow (approval processes) using Joget

Although certainly not as easy to create as a Google Form, Joget does allow one to create a form for users to complete. The real difference is what happens after that form is filled out. Joget will automatically advance the completed form to the right person to approve. If that person approves, it goes to the next person that needs to approve. If it is denied at any point, whomever originated the request is notified. 

Let’s take a look at an example. Let’s say that a principal wants to add a new teacher to his/her staff. Let’s say that principal wants to use Title MCM funds to pay for the teacher. The principal would complete the form that has been created for adding staff. Then, the request would automatically go to the Title MCM coordinator for approval. If approved, the Director of Instructional Staff would be notified and able to approve. Once that Director approves, it could go to the Superintendent to approve. If the Superintendent denies the request, the principal would receive notice that the Superintendent has denied the request (actually, the principal receives notification all the through the process). 

Joget will allow for full tracking of where everything is in the process. It also allows for historical records of knowing who was entered, approved, and denied. 

There is a LOT of work to make this all work. Everyone has to agree on discrete steps and actions. All of that has to be programmed in Joget. The good news is that this is relatively easy to do. It is very graphical. 

At the end of the day, Joget is a lot more work than Google Forms. However, Joget also is much more complete in providing an actual useful process. 

There will be a lot to cover for my presentation. Wish me luck.