Software recommendations for Classroom Computer Management

March 3, 2008 12:22 PM

Looking for software recommendations for classroom computer management. The company I work for is setting up a small training room, around 6 six computers, and we want to be able to display any of the screens on a projector, give control of the computer to the teacher, etc...

The few applications I see online are thousands of dollars which is out of our price range. We would like to spend less than $500 if possible. I'm more than willing to get creative if necessary. I am in IT and comfortable with linux or any other ideas.

I was thinking that several VNC instances of the student computers running on the teacher's computer might work, but I don't know how stable this would be in practice. We do have a gigabit network so maybe that would work.

Thanks!

posted by meta87 to computers & internet (11 comments total)

I don't know much about this program, but I do know a school that uses a program called SynchronEyes.. I don't know about its capabilities, though.
posted by majikstreet at 12:40 PM on March 3

VNC will work fine, and set a password, but don't expect it to be secure. I'd install just the server on the student machines and just the client on the teacher machines. That'll keep students from snooping on / messing with each other and the teacher. You can also set process-name prohibitions in Windows' security settings. Banning vncviewer.exe will stop all the casual irritators.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 1:20 PM on March 3

You can also just put in a firwall rule to allow incoming VNC connecton from the teacher's IP only. ultravnc can be locked down somewhat, espeically if these students do not have local admin access. You can also use ultravnc to launch a pop-up that asks if someone can take control.

You can also use whats called VNC single-click on the desktop. THis is a mini server which is configured to talk to one computer (the teacher's PC) and ask for a VNC session. No need to install server, viewer, etc on the student computers.

If VNC is unstable or too slow you can move towards using remote assistance on XP machines. Through group policy you can enable it. The teacher would then run ra, type in the computer name or ip address, and each student will get a pop-up asking if he can view and control the computer. He could run 6 instances of ra throughout the course. You can also use gp to control who can start a ra session, but local admins are there by default. You can also make a firewall rule to just allow traffic from the teachers PC if need be.
posted by damn dirty ape at 1:26 PM on March 3

At the school district I worked at, we used GenevaLogic's "Vision"... it was pretty sweet, very easy to install and use. I dont remember what their pricing model is, but for 10 users or less, I cant imagine its over $500.
posted by jmnugent at 2:12 PM on March 3

I've used Danware's NetOp in the past and it was quite good. Haven't used any of the later versions though.
posted by purephase at 2:19 PM on March 3

I can provide you with a piece of software for $400 CAD. Its very similar to VNC but more secure and with far more features. It supports file access, process/service/window management.

If you're interested I can make you a video demo for how it would work.

I operate a company around computer surveillance.
posted by Jack Feschuk at 2:32 PM on March 3

We use Netsupport at my school.

Assuming you're windows-based, this will do exactly what you want it to.

They offer a 30 day trial download on their website.
posted by davey_darling at 3:33 PM on March 3

We use NetSupport school at school (I'm the tech admin) and it does what you want. There's a 30-day trial version which I would try out first. They do require you to enter some info for the trial which they will try to contact you at...
I forget the pricing off the top of my head, but I think it was $50/license. You can contact me via mefi mail and I'll get back to you tomorrow with how much it costs us.
posted by jmd82 at 3:34 PM on March 3

Unless you're doing streaming video or some such, use remote desktop which is built into windows.

Start->Program Files=>Accessories->Communications->Remote desktop connection.

On each machine you'll need to make there's a user with a password, and you'll need to turn on remote desktop access, which you can get to by right clicking on your "my computer" icon (either on the desktop or in the start menu). Select properties->remote.

There is very probably zero reason for you to either purchase or download any other option.
posted by jaded at 4:44 PM on March 3

Remote desktop locks the user at the console out. It will log out that user at the console if you dont log in as that user. This is why I recommended remote assistance because both users can use the screen. This may not be a consideration if all of this is being projected, but at the very least the trainer will have to know the login/pass of the students. In some environments thats not allowed.
posted by damn dirty ape at 5:53 PM on March 3

Thanks everyone! I've got alot to look at now, I appreciate it!
posted by meta87 at 7:07 AM on March 4