SpuffMonkey Posted November 20, 2008 Posted November 20, 2008 Just had the flyer for ABTutor v6 - looks even better! AB Tutor Control
Dos_Box Posted November 20, 2008 Posted November 20, 2008 Too right - biggest waste of money we ever spent - was very glad to see the back of it. May I ask why? Just so we don't get NetOp breathing down our necks without a valid reason!
Dos_Box Posted November 20, 2008 Posted November 20, 2008 Hi L.Kay. I don't know what version NetSupport School you had but I would recommend trying the new version (10.1). Things have improved in versions released over the last few years, in that if a student reboots their pc, when it starts up again, the Tutor settings are picked up again. So blanking the screen will re-appear if that is the setting made by the Tutor. There have also been improvements with internet & application blocking over time due to the introduction of new technology. It won't cost you anything to try it out for 30 days, just visit the website to download for free. Netsupport School The Classroom Management Software Also - if you had NetSupport School previously, depending on when you first purchased it, you may get a reduced price if you decided to update to the latest version. Hope this helps. I just downloaded 10.5 yesterday. I couldn't work without NSM. It really is the best choice for remote management, but it does cost.
BlueDragon Posted December 2, 2008 Posted December 2, 2008 Hi All, Just reading through this thread I see a couple of you report some bad experiences with Netop School. To qualify: We're an IT supplier to schools and amongst the solutions we provide is NetOp School. If possible I would like to know more about the negative experiences you have had so that we can feed this back to NetOp. We have been working with NetOp for a few years and have hundreds of happy customers (I know... I would say that ) so it would be really helpful to have your feedback on the School product. I know this post is slightly off topic and I don’t want to hijack this thread so please feel free to PM me. Also, if it helps, we would be happy to offer any assistance we can in getting the most out of your NetOp products for you. Regards
poblesec Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 We used Lanview for a while but found it to be a bit flaky, we have now moved onto AB Tutor and haven't looked back, does all the stuff we require regarding blocking plus it enables us to push out mass messaging to the masses
siuko Posted January 14, 2009 Posted January 14, 2009 We use a mixture of iTalc so the teachers and IT admin can view what the students are on. If they continually break the rules about games they are then banned from accessing the internet using the Dansguardian filter groups. (The filter groups can be setup in such a way that the internet is banned but certain sites can be made available to them - samlearning etc) All free - as our budgets like that
SpuffMonkey Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 May I ask why? Just so we don't get NetOp breathing down our necks without a valid reason! Sorry - DB - only just noticed this port - NetOp - just didn't work properly - it was flaky from day one and kids swiftly discovered that pulling the network cable out for a little while during the login disabled most of the restrictions. We spent untold hours of technician time with it and with their support - but (for us at least) it just didn't work. Whereas ABTutor just did - hardly any support calls and easier for the teachers to use too - and lots of nice features.
Azhibberd Posted January 16, 2009 Posted January 16, 2009 Currently we use ABtutor here and have been for about a year or 2 now atleast.... Its so nice and simple to use very rarely have any problems with it, Its nice enough to have an MSI install so we have it install on all machines once they are on the network and also automacally sets up the password. We dont regret going to abtutor and wouldn't look back now as before AB we did use netop...
ejb Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 Well, forums are for opinons... so here's mine. There's much more to classroom management than just "management". What about teaching tools built right in? Assessment built right in? Full integration to interactive whiteboard software? Full integration to clickers too... Some very interesting developments were shown at BETT '09 -- namely SMART Classroom Suite. http:http://en.sourcews.com/smart-classroom-suite-be-installed It will be pre-installed on every Intel Convertible Classmate-PC globally ...
BlueDragon Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 Sorry - DB - only just noticed this port - NetOp - just didn't work properly - it was flaky from day one and kids swiftly discovered that pulling the network cable out for a little while during the login disabled most of the restrictions. We spent untold hours of technician time with it and with their support - but (for us at least) it just didn't work. Whereas ABTutor just did - hardly any support calls and easier for the teachers to use too - and lots of nice features. Out of interest, what version of NetOp where you using? How long ago are we talking about? What MS platforms where you running? I am sure your comments are vaild, however from my experience of other forums people tend to express a negative opinion about a product but sometimes there can be mitigating circumstances. We tend to find that when people have encountered problems the reality is they are either trying to get old versions to work on new platforms hoping they will work or get themselves into a fix with the configuration. I am not suggesting this is the case with your situation, but I would be interested to know of your experience if it was recent as the new versions of the product are very stable and well developed. (nb if you pull the cable out using NetOp it simply puts you back in the class once plugged back in and has had this feature for a long time)?
moggy Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 We have a folder with a .dat for each ICT suite in, that only has the details for that room, when a teacher kicks up ABTutor, a script looks at the name of the teacher PC and puts them in the appropriate folder for the room. Us IT techs get access to all the rooms - you can choose a PC by name fairly simply. We did it like this because we had a problem with (some) teachers using the system to control PCs in other teacher's lessons - so we had to lock it down. I believe in the latest version - you can turn off the "Find" button - so should be even easier - though we haven't rolled that one out yet. Also - it works for TS/Citrix sessions too - which is a boon if you use that sort of stuff (we do). We use Ranger Remote Control (rebadged Net Support) but it can't be used with a mixture of Citrix sessions and normal PCs. This is a real pain in a mixed environment, on top of that even when setup to 'control' Citrix sessions it only shows the username of the logged in student, not the terminal name. This results in a not too careful teacher in one room takes control of a student in another. How does ABTutor handle mixed environments and does it display terminal names for thin clients. TIA
ricki Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 HI I spent hours testing loads of programs and I found ab tutor to be the best value for money and just works. You can deploy the client with a msi and tech support is good. Richard
SpuffMonkey Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Out of interest, what version of NetOp where you using? How long ago are we talking about? What MS platforms where you running? I am sure your comments are vaild, however from my experience of other forums people tend to express a negative opinion about a product but sometimes there can be mitigating circumstances. We installed in 2005 with whatever was the current version then, and battled for the next 18 months or so. This was on a vanilla 2003/XP network. We certainly gave them enough opportunities to sort out whatever the problems might have been. A casual search of these forums will show I'm not alone in this experience.
KWestos Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 We have used Impero for two years + ( Impero - Network Computer Monitoring and Classroom Management Software ) & would recommend you take a look. You can download & trial it for free. It should do most of what you want plus some other extras thrown in. It's a good admin tool for ICT support staff when you want to push out changes across a whole suite of PCs too. The development team are approachable & responsive to ideas about enhancements & they are pretty quick with bug fixes. The product is still very active in its development cycle, so updates come thick & fast & sometimes with the occasional bug... There is an active user forum available for self-help & communication with the developers too. Staff seem to like it, the user interface is relatively teacher friendly too. There's a new version (V3) scheduled for next year although the timeline for updates often slips. I would second this!
BlueDragon Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 We installed in 2005 with whatever was the current version then, and battled for the next 18 months or so. This was on a vanilla 2003/XP network. We certainly gave them enough opportunities to sort out whatever the problems might have been. A casual search of these forums will show I'm not alone in this experience. Hi, thank you for responding to my question. Its very useful feedback. Based on the dates you have given we are talking about an experience you had with a product some 4 years ago and at this time I believe the supply and support of the products was not with NetOp directly but an agent of NetOp that are no longer working with them. Whilst I appreciate you have a valid point and have had a poor personal experience it would also be fair to say that the products have moved on significantly and undergone many years of development since your experience, coupled with UK based offices for direct support and a new team of reseller partners. I do believe NetOp has taken a bit of bad press in various forums, some of it possibly deserved and some of it unfairly but currently the NetOp products and service will stand up to anything any other vendor can offer. Add to this the new range of education products and now taking on Geneva Logic the whole company is very different to that of 4 years ago. I feel its a bit unfair on NetOp to discourage people in this forum from considering their new set of solutions based on historical experiences from so many years ago.
SpuffMonkey Posted February 27, 2009 Posted February 27, 2009 Hi, thank you for responding to my question. Its very useful feedback. I do believe NetOp has taken a bit of bad press in various forums, some of it possibly deserved and some of it unfairly but currently the NetOp products and service will stand up to anything any other vendor can offer. I feel its a bit unfair on NetOp to discourage people in this forum from considering their new set of solutions based on historical experiences from so many years ago. Well - happy to see any current NetOp users giving it the thumbs up?? As I say - we use AB Tutor now and its been first class.
NetSupportJames Posted March 9, 2009 Posted March 9, 2009 Hi, You initially voiced you had some problems with NetSupport School - did you try our technical helpline? Normally we find that if there is an issue, there's normally a quick fix! Let me know if you need any assistance. You can contact me direct at NetSupport Software on [email protected] Thanks
moggy Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 I can't see an answer to the point I asked about ABTutor. Sorry if it's buried somewhere. Using ABTutor in a mixed fat/thin client system can a single controlling PC, e.g. the techies' one, see all the clients?
meastaugh1 Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 Using ABTutor in a mixed fat/thin client system can a single controlling PC, e.g. the techies' one, see all the clients? Yes, that is possible. 1
moggy Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 Thanks heastaugh1. Sorry if the next is obvious. Do the clients show by client name or username or can you select? We use Ranger Remote and you can't show thick and thin at the same time!!!!
meastaugh1 Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 They show by client name, but the username is displayed next to the computer/client name. The clients don't show when there's nobody logged on to them, which is reasonable. However, you can group clients together in the same way that you can regular desktops. You just need to initiate a connection with the terminal server(s) (which can be done automatically in the config). Once you're connected to the terminal server, all the connected clients show.
cwestran Posted March 12, 2009 Posted March 12, 2009 iTALC They have improved iTalc. This is used in many Southern Illinois K-12 schools. At last.... I have been looking for this for ages. Someone told me about it and then I forgot who told me and what it was called. As soon as I saw it I remembered! Thanks
cpjitservices Posted October 21, 2010 Posted October 21, 2010 Vision 6 or NetSupport, The way forward with Internet is a proxy server you can use Squid and Dansguardian (alot of schools here run it) it's very easy to setup and maintain even with little / no Linux experience. I have it installed in Ubuntu 9.04 and Ubuntu 10 in 2 diffrent schools and it works a treat - when exams are on we can block IP ranges so that certain IT suites can be used for nothing but Exams.
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