Digital Classroom Management Solutions

In our district, we have three kinds of student devices available to teachers and students to use in most schools;
1.  Chromebooks
2.  Macbook Airs
3.  iPads
Each of these devices has their own strengths and weaknesses, which we can get into in more detail in future posts.  For now, we would like to talk more about management of these devices.  In my last post, I talked about ways to set up your cart and class expectations to ensure that the actual devices are managed and in control, this post will look at programs that you can use to help you manage student behaviour while using the devices.

Please note that none of these programs are a replacement for proper supervision of students.

Chromebooks - GoGuardian

GoGuardian is an internet-based piece of software that helps teachers to manage their students' online experiences while using chromebooks.  The software can be run on a teachers' laptop, another chromebook, or an iPad.

With GoGuardian, you can:
 - View students' screens
 - Lock chromebooks so that students can't do anything on them while you give instructions
 - Send students to a website instantly
 - Block websites
 - Control the number of tabs that students can open
 - Message students individually or as a group
 - Get data about student use (list of websites and times that they accessed the websites)

If you would like to see an introductory video about GoGuardian, click here and click on the "watch demo" button.
For a more in-depth tutorial, check out the video on the right.

Go Guardian works best if you already have your students in a google classroom.  If you would like to set up an account and start using it, please contact me (Colleen) to get started!

iPads - Apple Classroom

Similar go GoGuardian, apple classroom let you manage your students' experiences, except this time, on iPads.  The software can be run on a teacher's macbook or iPad. To install the app on your macbook or iPad, go to the self-service app and find the app called "Classroom", then click "install" Please note that the app only needs to be installed on the teacher's device, NOT on the student devices.

Here is a quick tutorial video to get you started:

 With Apple Classroom, you can:
 - View student screens
 - Direct students to web-pages
 - Open apps
 - Lock students into an app
 - Lock student iPads
 - Mute the iPads

MacBooks and MacBook Airs

Remote Desktop has been around in the district for a very long time, but people have kind of forgotten that it's here.  It's a rather expensive program, so it's not in self-service.  If you spend most of your day with MacBooks, however, please email Andrew or Clint.

Remote desktop is actually the software that is used when one of the tech department "remotes" in to your computer to help troubleshoot from afar.

With remote desktop, you can:
-  View screens
 - Take over a computer remotely
 - Lock computers so that students are not distracted while you give instructions
 - Share your screen to students to give instructions.
-  Remotely wake and shut down computers
- Message students individually or as a group
- Transfer files from your computer to students' computers.

As you can see, no matter which device you are working with, we have a classroom management solution available to you. All three of these solutions will help to decrease distractions and improve transition times in your classroom if used properly.  If you would like some help getting started (or diving deeper) into any of these classroom management solutions, please let Colleen know!