Remote control of student PCs

[flyinghaggis]

Sorry, When I said Lanview I meant Lanschool! No need to apologise. Sounds like we're both arguing the same point. Like you say it's not really a flaw with regards to admin's running the software but we're looking for something we can give staff to let them monitor a classroom full of pupils and i don't want to give them anything where they could accidentally or intentionally cause issues with the PCs.

I think the key features a monitoring tool needs to have is the ability to view multiple screens at once and the ability to lock workstations when pupils should be listening to the teacher. We've tried using VNCon but have found it to be pretty unstable and if I recall it's not being developed anymore.

I've found the interface for Netsupport school a bit confusing so it's looking like either Lanschool or ABTutor are the contenders at the moment. At the moment I prefer ABTutor so hopefully the coders will be able to fix the remote executable security hole. In theory like you say it shouldn't be too hard to fix. Just a case of not allowing the code to be launched if it detects that nobody's logged onto the workstation

[flyinghaggis]

I seem to be posting on this board every 15 mins today!

 

Just been checking back after the reply from the tech support at ABTutor. I didn't realise before but in ABTutor that you can password protect the client Groups/Rooms of computers and specify exactly what options a teacher will have when using it in a specific room to the nth degree.

Basically this means that I can disable the remote file execute parts and policy/port blocking options so staff cant tinker with these bits which is exactly what I was after.

 

Suffice to say I'm pretty much 100% sold on ABTutor now 8)

[MkII]

Cheers Haggis

[bishopsgarthstockton]

i have just looked at screen shots of ABTutor and bloody Viglen sell it as there own software called Remote Classroom.

 

were is that punch bag

[john]

Looks a bit like Net Support Manager to me with some tweaks, any bets that ABTutor just buy NSM and re-badge it like RM do (was it RM that we worked out did that)

[buzzard]

Looks a bit like Net Support Manager to me with some tweaks, any bets that ABTutor just buy NSM and re-badge it like RM do (was it RM that we worked out did that)

 

Yeah they badge it as RM Tutor 3, they used to use NetOp School for RM Tutor v 1 & 2

[t_guest]

we use ultr@vnc and lanview 3 client . them 2 are the best in my eyes

to get he job done

[timbo343]

we use ultr@vnc and lanview 3 client . them 2 are the best in my eyes

to get he job done

 

Use them too, great pieces of software

[ICTWizard]

at my 2 schools We are using Lanview 3.......

[webman]

We've recently been trialling VNCon in combination with MST's TightVNC package for CC3 (Thanks Kevin! ). We're pleased to report it works quite well. The VNCon interface is a bit clunky to start with (adding machines and sorting them etc) but once you've saved your LAN as a file (and modify the shortcut to load it each time) it's not too bad.

 

We've even rolled it out to the teacher PCs in the ICT suites - they seem to enjoy the novelty

[john]

Your spoiling them craig, I dont let mine use NetSupport School, its purely a IT dude thing

[webman]

We like to call it 'empowering' them

[rdhawkins]

Looks a bit like Net Support Manager to me with some tweaks, any bets that ABTutor just buy NSM and re-badge it like RM do (was it RM that we worked out did that)

 

AB Tutor is not a re-badge of NetSupport Manager/School, its there own product as far as I know.

 

Also Viglen along with RM re-badge NetSupport School not AB Tutor.

 

Rob

[john]

Looks a bit like Net Support Manager to me with some tweaks, any bets that ABTutor just buy NSM and re-badge it like RM do (was it RM that we worked out did that)

 

AB Tutor is not a re-badge of NetSupport Manager/School, its there own product as far as I know.

 

Also Viglen along with RM re-badge NetSupport School not AB Tutor.

 

Rob

 

I have just re-looked at AB's website and its VERY copied looking of NetSupport stuff then, hence my comment about it being NetSupport, so appologies for saying you were them when you are not :oops: But if you go here https://www.abtutorcontrol.com/abc/html/ScreenShots.html and look its very similar in icons etc.

[NBC_Sys_C-ord]

Ranger Remote Control, I strongly recommend it. It has everything you would ever dream of having from a remote control package,

 

But how can you achieve all of this whilst ensuring teachers remain firmly in control?

 

Ranger Remote Control helps enhance whole-class teaching by enabling staff of all technical abilities to better manage PC activity in the classroom.

Designed specifically for education, Ranger Remote Control allows staff to remotely view and take control of students’ PCs, so they can demonstrate work, interact with individuals or groups, provide support, assess progress and gather feedback – without moving from one PC to the next.

 

• Keep a watchful eye on what students are working on.

• Take control of students’ PCs to demonstrate how to do something.

• Control which applications and internet sites students can access.

• Immediately block all internet access at the click of a button.

• Lock all workstation screens and keyboards to get the attention of the class.

• Record and replay students’ screen activity to illustrate a point, facilitate assessment or demonstrate progress.

• Provide discrete student support though instant pop-up messages, ‘Chat’ and ‘Help’ requests or by taking control of individual PCs.

[rdhawkins]

Looks a bit like Net Support Manager to me with some tweaks, any bets that ABTutor just buy NSM and re-badge it like RM do (was it RM that we worked out did that)

 

AB Tutor is not a re-badge of NetSupport Manager/School, its there own product as far as I know.

 

Also Viglen along with RM re-badge NetSupport School not AB Tutor.

 

Rob

 

I have just re-looked at AB's website and its VERY copied looking of NetSupport stuff then, hence my comment about it being NetSupport, so appologies for saying you were them when you are not :oops: But if you go here https://www.abtutorcontrol.com/abc/html/ScreenShots.html and look its very similar in icons etc.

 

There is an uncanny similarity but I guess when you're at the top everyone tries to copy you

 

In all honesty though its not surprising that us NetOp, AB Tutor etc all look similar as we are all trying to do the same job after all.

 

@NBC_Sys_C-ord: Pleased you like Ranger Remote Control, it is also a re-badge of NetSupport School.

 

Rob

[flyinghaggis]

We've recently been trialling VNCon in combination with MST's TightVNC package for CC3 (Thanks Kevin! ). We're pleased to report it works quite well. The VNCon interface is a bit clunky to start with (adding machines and sorting them etc) but once you've saved your LAN as a file (and modify the shortcut to load it each time) it's not too bad.

 

We've even rolled it out to the teacher PCs in the ICT suites - they seem to enjoy the novelty

 

We've actually using the exact same setup! The main problems we found was that VNCon wasn't suitable for staff because they didn't like the interface and found it difficult to use. Cycling through screens, doesn't always show username's, etc. It also has a habit of crashing quite frequently at the client/viewer side when viewing a lot of computers at the same time.

That's why we've been looking at getting ABTutor which works really well. The only thing against it is that some of the onlince licenising activation is a bit draconian! Cant believe you have to register each workstation it's installed on with a hardware key.

[DMcCoy]

We've recently been trialling VNCon in combination with MST's TightVNC package for CC3 (Thanks Kevin! ). We're pleased to report it works quite well. The VNCon interface is a bit clunky to start with (adding machines and sorting them etc) but once you've saved your LAN as a file (and modify the shortcut to load it each time) it's not too bad.

 

We've even rolled it out to the teacher PCs in the ICT suites - they seem to enjoy the novelty

 

We've actually using the exact same setup! The main problems we found was that VNCon wasn't suitable for staff because they didn't like the interface and found it difficult to use. Cycling through screens, doesn't always show username's, etc. It also has a habit of crashing quite frequently at the client/viewer side when viewing a lot of computers at the same time.

That's why we've been looking at getting ABTutor which works really well. The only thing against it is that some of the onlince licenising activation is a bit draconian! Cant believe you have to register each workstation it's installed on with a hardware key.

 

Only the tutor machines though, not the clients. Don't forget all the clients are free! I've been using it here for a while although only more recently for teachers (older rooms don't have a teacher only machine).

[BlakBruker]

Has anybody ever used NetControl2? We are ditching CC3 this summer to go vanilla and am looking at alternatives to RM Tutor. This looks fantastic and is amazingly cheap! Problem we have is that all teachers have and use their own laptops in IT suites and with laptop trolleys and so to be democratic we want to give the software to all teachers. This would cost us £8000 with ABTutor!!!!! But as usual when something looks too good to be true, it usually is!

[gh256]

RM tutor 3 is powered by netsupport. It says so on it

[netadmin]

Has anybody ever used NetControl2? We are ditching CC3 this summer to go vanilla and am looking at alternatives to RM Tutor. This looks fantastic and is amazingly cheap! Problem we have is that all teachers have and use their own laptops in IT suites and with laptop trolleys and so to be democratic we want to give the software to all teachers. This would cost us £8000 with ABTutor!!!!! But as usual when something looks too good to be true, it usually is!

 

I use Netcontrol2. It works quite well, especially for the price. I had a few problems with it dropping connections at first, but reinstalling fixed those issues. I recommend the program.

[margesimpson]

We use Netcontrol 2 too. it's not bad and prety cost effective.

[BlakBruker]

Thanks for that claridentech and margesimpson. How do you find the company? A like the forum and feedback forms on their website for feature requests / bug tracking etc but do they incorporate these into updates?

[Edu-IT]

With Netsupport 7.01 is it possible to lock the clients on logon when students decide to log out and in again? Also I've noticed that CTRL+ALT+DEL also works when the workstation is locked. Is that correct?

[ranj]

It's not free but it's reasonably cheap,

 

Andy Bray's AB Tutor Control

 

AB Tutor Control - remote monitoring software for the classroom, office and home

 

Works really well and you only pay for the number of tutor workstations you need.

 

Really helpful too.

 

I would agree with this, if you want a great thumbnail view, ab tutor is great...