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Think your computerized classroom controls you instead of
you controlling it? You're not alone. As schools and corporations
continue to expand the use of technology in both the lab and
classroom environments, more and more instructors are finding
that the lure of computers can be a two edged sword.
While the goal is to use technology to increase student performance
and facilitate learning, the danger is having the technology
take control of the lab or classroom. The good news is that
a relatively new genre of software provides functionality
that helps ensure technology is being used appropriately and
effectively in a learning environment. These software products
are generally referred to as screen sharing, classroom collaboration,
or desktop supervision applications.
Variations of classroom collaboration software have been around
for several years. In its early forms it was known primarily
as a screen-sharing tool. In essence it gave the instructor
the ability to project what was on their computer screen to
every student's computer screen in the classroom. This was
great for demonstrating with the computer but failed to provide
true monitoring and control capabilities. In addition, the
technology was plagued by slow performance often requiring
the use of expensive hardware to overcome network bandwidth
issues.
As computer and network technology improved, so too did classroom
collaboration software. Today, an instructor can use classroom
collaboration software to control and monitor student computers
in a number of ways including locking student keyboards, monitors
and mice, projecting the instructors screen onto student screens,
monitoring the screen activity of one or more students, taking
remote control of a student’s computer, sharing a student’s
computer screen with the rest of the class, and monitoring
chat sessions to name a few.
Best of all, these programs are both affordable and non-invasive.
Typically, classroom collaboration software for an entire
lab will run under $1,000 and no longer requires special hardware
or specialized networks. New compression algorithms reduce
the load on the network while at the same time delivering
exceptional performance. The advanced technology of classroom
collaboration products such as Vision from MasterSolution,
ensures that when the instructor projects their screen to
the entire class, mouse movement and screen changes occur
on the student’s computers at the same time they are
being performed on the instructor’s computer.
The improvements in desktop supervision software programs
such as Vision can give control of the computer lab or classroom
back to the instructor while increasing student performance
and facilitating learning in several ways:
Encouraging interaction between student/instructor and student/workgroup,
thus stimulating the educational experience
Allowing the instructor to supervise student work without
the student knowing, giving the instructor the means to most
effectively focus on those students with the greatest needs
Allowing the student to know which points of a presentation
are key via special marker tools used by the instructor
Eliminating classroom distractions allowing for better focus
& concentration, and leading to improved performance
Building student confidence through personalized tutoring
without classroom interruption or without other students knowing
Making the learning experience enjoyable for both the instructor
and the student
How Does Classroom Collaboration Software Work?
Classroom Collaboration software is typically used in a computer
lab, computerized classroom or media center. The software
includes two components: the master module which is usually
installed on the instructor’s computer and the client
which is installed on each student computer.
The software uses the existing network infrastructure to establish
a communications link between the master module and the clients.
Most classroom collaboration products run across Ethernet
networks ranging in speeds from 10 Mbits to 100 Mbits. However,
many schools are now moving to wireless networks and some
of the older classroom collaboration products run into performance
issues in these environments. New technologies, such as those
built into Vision can accommodate wireless networks without
a noticeable degradation in performance. In all cases, true
classroom collaboration software will require no additional
or special hardware or software components keeping the cost
and setup time to a minimum.
Classroom Collaboration products use a variety of transmission
methods to send information between the instructor’s
computer and the student computers. Demonstration or screen
sharing modes make use of broadcast or multicast transmission
methods. Remote control and supervision modes use unicasting
to communicate between the computers. Because broadcast packets
are not routable, information sent from the instructor’s
computer to the student computers will not be transmitted
between network segments connected by a router.
If your school or company’s network is segmented by
routers, network traffic generated by the classroom collaboration
software will be contained within the network segment the
software is installed on. This keeps network traffic to a
minimum on other parts of your network.
Because classroom collaboration software is much more than
simple screen sharing, the instructor enjoys an element of
control not previously realized in earlier forms of the software.
A typical scenario for the software used in a lab environment
might be as follows (to see a video of the following scenario
click here):
1. As class is getting ready to start the instructor locks
down the student computers with a simple mouse click from
the instructor console. The instructor has the option of locking
all computers or selected ones. The lockdown prevents the
keyboard and mouse from working and with some software versions
will either blank the screen or place an instructor selected
graphic on the student screen. This ensures that the student’s
attention is directed to the front of the class and not on
a computer game, web site or email.
2. When class starts the instructor sends out a request to
all student computers asking that the student type in their
name. The text entered will identify each computer to the
instructor’s console by the student’s name, not
the computer name. This is important when monitoring student
computer screens, performing remote control or tracking chat
sessions.
3. When all names are entered the instructor begins a lesson
by initiating a demo or screen sharing mode. This mode displays
the activity of the instructor’s computer on the student
computer screens in real time. Some classroom collaboration
products, including Vision, allow the instructor to display
their screen either within a window on the student computers
or in a full screen mode. The full screen mode occupies the
entire screen of the student computers and locks the mouse
and keyboard. Full screen mode is used when you want the student’s
full attention without any computer interaction on their part.
The windowed mode allows students to work on their computer
while they are viewing the instructor’s computer. During
a lesson the instructor can easily toggle back and forth between
windowed and full screen mode to accommodate the different
activities in the lesson.
4. Built in annotation tools can help enhance or reinforce
elements of the demonstration. Many classroom collaboration
products include tools such as highlighters, redlining, pointers,
stamps, freehand drawing tools and the like.
5. After the instructor has demonstrated a task or lesson
using the demo mode, the control of the lab computers is given
back to the students so they can perform an exercise or work
independently on a program. It’s at this point that
the instructor’s ability to monitor and control the
classroom can become an issue. However, through use of the
supervision feature the instructor can easily view the activity
of every student’s computer.
With Vision, two supervision modes are available. The first
mode allows the instructor to view each student’s computer
in a separate window. These windows are tiled across the instructor’s
computer so all screens can be monitored simultaneously. Detail
is limited but the instructor can quickly get an idea of who
is on task and who isn’t. The second mode is full screen
supervision where the instructor can view a full size image
of a student’s screen. This mode can even be set to
cycle to another student’s screen every few seconds.
6. During supervision mode the instructor may want to help
a student who is struggling to complete a task. Remote control
features in the software make it easy for an instructor to
take direct control of a student’s screen from the instructor’s
computer. With remote control, the instructor can cooperatively
walk the student through a problem or exercise on the student’s
computer. The remote control feature also lets the instructor
work on a student’s computer and display the resulting
activity to the entire class in a real time demo session.
7. After class is completed the instructor can once again
put the computers in lock down mode until the next class starts.
At the end of the day the instructor can even remotely shutdown
all computers without having to visit each computer one by
one.
To learn more about Vision classroom collaboration software,
MasterSolution is offering a completely free, no obligation
version that you can download at our web site by clicking
here.
For more information, pricing or a price quote, you can call
a MasterSolution account manager toll free at 866-725-7833.
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