Technology Based Solution
I proposed to use a classroom management software program that could keep students on track during the class. Classroom management software uses the network functionality so that all the computers could be controlled by one computer. (Villano, 2006) Classroom management software can be either hardware or software based. Hardware based management systems were ruled out due to the higher costs of installation and support. After conducting research on software solutions, we decided to use Smart Technologies' SynchronEyes. Smart Technologies is the company that produces the Smartboard, an interactive whiteboard that is gaining more and more popularity in classrooms across the United States. The school district has already purchased 15 smartboards for use in the district and has been very happy with their use in the classrooms and support from Smart Technologies. Therefore, the Technology Department felt comfortable purchasing additional products from this company.
SynchronEyes allows the teachers a way to manage the computers so that students are unable to access programs that are outside of the teacher's lesson plan. This prevents students from multi-tasking and allows the teacher to have total management over his classroom environment. SyncronEyes software displays thumbnail images of all student's screens on the desktop so that questions can be answered and lessons can be broadcast to all the computers in the lab. Teachers can take control of student's computers and guide them through a problem or focus attention by locking all screens and disabling mouse devices and keyboards.
Some of the features of this software include the ability to:
- Enable in-class collaboration by assigning students to groups.
- Automate class-list creation by including anyone connected to the Internet regardless of their location
- Broadcast any media to students simultaneously.
- Create quizzes on the fly using Quiz Wizard.
- Export grades to excel for easy reporting.
The specific computer lab that was studied for this Capstone project was a beginners computer applications class for Juniors and Seniors. SynchornEyes has been installed in three computer labs; however, although the subject of the Capstone project is limited to one class.