Here are all of the responses that I received about monitoring software:
Sychroneyes I have it on the library computers and love it. I can monitor but I
can also push out web pages to everyone.
You do have to make sure you set it up the way you want. I had to ask the IT people
to help me restrict access for students to the config file but they were able to do
that pretty easily.
We have Visions:
Pros: You can monitor the screen view or see what website they are on.
You can demo something to the whole class
You can turn on & shutdown the computers from the master computer
You can send a student a chat message if they are on an inappropriate site
or doing something else against your AUP
I don't have any cons...we have had it for less than a year.
We have synchronEyes this year...so far I love it. The students would, of course,
click out of "whatever" whenever I made a swing by the computers on the floor.
Now, I can go to the back room and glance at what they are doing and if
inappropriate, I can freeze their screen with "BUSTED" written on it!!!
Synchronize I loved that program when we demoed it last spring. The part that we
didn't like is when the student logs off, their screen stays on my screen until
someone else logs back in. The non-used screen has a big red x on it on my display.
Also, it doesn't have the capability to turn all of the computers off at once, so
we were having to go around and shut them all off manually.
Gone also was the function of being able to arrange the view in pods like our
computer lab does.
Our district made the decision to stay with our old program Vision 6 because it has
the capabilities that synchroneyes doesn't have.
We have something called NetSupport that I absolutely love. I can
monitor computers that are anywhere on our network. I can control them or lock
them. It is also helpful in labs because the teacher can "share" his/her screen
with the students. You can also create quizzes and assignments that can be shared
with the students. It also has a chat/ message feature.
Our high school librarian uses Synchroneyes and loves it. I am going to try to get
access to it for our 4-6 school so that I can have the full attention of the kids
while I am instructing and so that I can have all the computers on the same page
for instruction that I want the kids to work on.
Here is her take on Synchroneyes: It is fantastic, except when it is slow due to an
overly warm room, then there's a bit of lag time that can be frustrating, more so
for impatient students than for me. What I most enjoy using it for is sending
documents electronically to my students. I hardly ever have to use a copy machine!
My students then take notes or answer questions on any handouts that I send them
right on their computers. If they need to hand in an assignment to me to be graded,
they print it out when finished. Otherwise, if I don't need to grade it, then it
just stays electronically in their "ITL" folders and we save trees too. I don't
have to worry about them losing their rubrics and wanting another copy since they
have it all electronically in their "My Documents" folders.
Would you post the results. An area media specialist uses Vision software in her
media center. I've been checking around for pricing ect., from what I've seen
these software products are not only useful for monitoring computer uses, but also
correcting students from one desk.
We have been using synchroneyes for 5 years. It was first installed because of
blatant misuse of the computers when a substitute was in for me for one semester.
I am able from my circulation computer to see a snapshot of all computer screens in
the library, shut down all computers from my desk and help students without leaving
the circulation desk. I put the computers on joint control so that I could walk a
student through any procedure, help him with revisions of papers and of course,
stop inappropriate use of the computers. One of the nicest things about
synchroneyes is the ability to broadcast from my desktop to the entire class. I
have used this to explain bibliography revision/formatting and to make sure all
student will be on the same "page" when they are doing a class project that
requires the use of one website by the entire class. The only problem I have had
is occasionally an error causes the screen on my desk to shutdown. I just re-open
it.
We've been using SychronEyes for about three years now and it has it's flaws. At
my previous high school campus we use NetSupport which functioned much better and
seemed to be more user friendly. Students can get around most monitoring software
but the ease of use with NetSupport was what struck me.
We use SynchronEyes here. I can testify that it's a great program. I get thumbnails
of every screen on my desktop and by clicking on one and then clicking "observe," I
can see what a person is doing in full-screen and real-time. I can also control
screens remotely, lock them, send them warning messages, and take time-stamped
screenshots if someone is doing something really bad and I want to make sure their
privileges get yanked (I haven't had to do this yet).
I don't love the idea of spying on them. But after a parent complained to our
principal last year that her daughter was printing out nasty song lyrics in the
Library, I felt we had to do something. I put warning signs on all the computers
and frequently remind them, but kids still do forbidden things once or twice a
week, then try to deny it. I see it as a teaching tool.
The program runs about $700 for one "lab," which allows you to run one monitoring
station connected to an unlimited number of user stations.
The price goes down if you buy additional labs, but we really only need the one.
There are a number of vendors, but we bought it from CCV Software in North Dakota.
Our rep gave us great service, extending our 30-day free trial when the product
didn't arrive on time. I can get you more information if you're interested. You can
download the 30-day trial from the developer's website -- it's Smart Technologies.
We use Synchroneyes in our computer labs (not in the Media Center) and both
teachers "love" the ability to check on their students. I've use other products
(Alterus)in the past, and wish I had something in the Media Center.
I have had Synchroneyes for about 6 months now, and I love it. The high school
library in my school has 88 computers for student use, and as the sole librarian
with only a part-time aide, it was impossible for me to monitor all the computers.
Now, it is much easier. I have signs that inform the students that they are being
monitored. Once I "busted" a few students, word got around, and I have very few
problems now. Also, I have it loaded on the computer in my office, where I have two
monitors. I can keep Synchronize up on one monitor while I continue to work on the
other. I love dual monitors for so many of my library tasks.
We have Synchroneyes. We have had very little problems, in the media center, with
students going to sites that they should not, but in other places in the school it
has been a problem. I think knowing that we can watch them is an advantage. I tell
them up front that we can watch what they are doing. We also have them sign in with
teacher's name and research topic, but I still think that being close by is the
best. We have not had technical problems and are satisfied with the program.
We have purchased Synchroneyes for all of our computer labs. We had a few glitches
in the beginning just with basic technical issues with the network(logon errors)
but they are all fixed now. It is very helpful. We can turn off the internet only
allowing students to visit one particular website, we can only allow "office"
products to be used, can turn off computer games, etc. The hardest thing is to
actually sit and "watch" what students are doing. If something is in question, you
can "capture" the screen and take a picture of it for future reference. You can
view all the computers at one time and then look at the individual screen closer if
need be. So far it has been worth the effort and expense.
We used Synchroneyes in our HS media Center (70 computers). When it was set up
correctly it worked well. Lots of times though we didn't have enough staff to
continually monitor it..but when something looked suspect..we could tune
in..unfortunately some of the kids caught on quickly and kept a couple of screens
going..so it was hard to catch them..all in all it was helpful
Marilyn
Marilyn Wagner-Janssen
Library Media Specialist
Oxford High School
61 Quaker Farms Rd
Oxford, CT 06478
203 888-2468
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