VNC in Dorset

Do any schools in Dorset use VNC or similar? I would like visually impaired students to be able to see the IWB from any seat in the class instead of having to sit nose to board to see it. My idea is to broadcast the IWB image to a laptop or slate wirelessly. I have been recommended VNC or Impergo. Has anyone any experiences? The usual answer from the network managers in middle schools or high schools is that it is too hard to run or will make the network vulnerable. If one school can make it work I can use their expertise to share with others and life for our VI students would be transformed.

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Originally Posted by visualman

Do any schools in Dorset use VNC or similar? I would like visually impaired students to be able to see the IWB from any seat in the class instead of having to sit nose to board to see it. My idea is to broadcast the IWB image to a laptop or slate wirelessly. I have been recommended VNC or Impergo. Has anyone any experiences? The usual answer from the network managers in middle schools or high schools is that it is too hard to run or will make the network vulnerable. If one school can make it work I can use their expertise to share with others and life for our VI students would be transformed.

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There is very good reasons for no-one wanting students to have vnc access to machines. If wrongly setup you'll give them full access to whoever is logged on. Students will be able to view private information that they shouldn't be able to see on the teachers screens. If anyone else manages to find the password any student could login to the machine from anywhere in the school etc.

How do your students currently deal with viewing projectors etc? (Not specifcally IWB but any projected screens/tvs etc)

If you're going on the assumption that the users will have a laptop/slate etc already, can't you ask the teacher to save the slides (most IWB boards can do this), and then send them to the students?

Steve

Thanks Steve, that makes things clearer. At present the VI students either sit up front or use a "portable" cam connected to the laptop but both methods mark them out as being different and are usually rejected by the student. Yes the teachers can save slides but the need is for access to the script being written onto the board "live" by the teacher. It is very frustrating for all concerned and I find it very puzzling that there is no tech solution.

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Originally Posted by visualman

Thanks Steve, that makes things clearer. At present the VI students either sit up front or use a "portable" cam connected to the laptop but both methods mark them out as being different and are usually rejected by the student. Yes the teachers can save slides but the need is for access to the script being written onto the board "live" by the teacher. It is very frustrating for all concerned and I find it very puzzling that there is no tech solution.

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Well without sounding rude, it's not really a tech issue as such. If they have options, such as sitting closer, cameras, live streams etc and they don't want them as it makes them seem different. There are options that do what you're asking, without the need to compromise on security of the network, and as such these are the options nearly always chosen.

From your other comment you mention you don't work in the school and are a guest, so I'm assuming the students manage with one of the other methods in all other lessons? What are they using in these?

In my personal opinion, VNC certainly "isnt" the way to go about this, and it sounds as if all the schools you mention agree on this. The potential fallout from a single screen being shown that students shouldn't view, combined with the management of allowing every pc to be remote viewed only if the students are in that precise lesson seems a bad way to go.

Steve

You are right in that their visual impairment is not a tech issue. However as an advisory teacher I am charged with enabling all our VI students to have equal access to the teaching and learning as every other student. In order to achieve that I often have to apply technical solutions. Some are simple but as the pupils move into secondary schools and are faced with different classrooms, greater expectations and a faster pace of learning, the problems become greater. Then there are so many psychological issues attached to being a teenager with sight problems. If I can find a way of using technology to balance the books a little then life becomes easier.
I can see the problem with VNC. It probably isn't the way to go. All I need now is an alternative.
Thanks for your analysis of the tech side of things. It all helps build the picture.

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Originally Posted by visualman

All I need now is an alternative.
Thanks for your analysis of the tech side of things. It all helps build the picture.

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Check your other posts on this issue, several other solutions have been suggested there.