RM Explorer 2 Vanilla Equivalent

[CommodoreS]

Does anyone know if there is a similar program to RM Explorer 2 for use on Vanilla Networks?

[sukh]

Why not just use the native menu's? Something which is a standard which will help when students leave and move on?

[PiqueABoo]

It's about *little* kids e.g. perhaps in the range Nursery - Year2. I think the difficulties are overestimated, but many schools definitely want something easier than the small/fiddly native menus for that age range.

[CommodoreS]

As PiqueABoo said, apparently young children (and some staff!) do not know how to use the Start Menu. Its about making things as easy as possible for them.

 

If nothing exists than I am considering getting a custom program developed, so am not sure if there would also be a market for that as it seems to be an issue.

[sukh]

For that audience I can see it can be useful. There isn't one that I know of, may need to be custom developed.

[TronXP]

I don't know if this is exactly what your after but we use this in our junior and senior school, its not too badly priced either

 

XIALinks

[CommodoreS]

I don't know if this is exactly what your after but we use this in our junior and senior school, its not too badly priced either

 

XIALinks

 

That does look like what I am after, although it seems to be missing the file explorer section that was in Explorer 2. Thank you for the info. I was expecting it to be a bit cheaper than £500 though.

[PiqueABoo]

I was expecting it to be a bit cheaper than £500 though.

 

Been there, done all of this a couple of years ago. RM do give you things for the money and if you're trying to make a system that's in the CC feature ballpark, then one way or another it won't be free i.e. you either have to pay for stuff or spend time making it yourself. The key trick is not to blithely trade expense of management tools for management via manual labour (costs of which can wipe out apparent saving). There are lots of details like the one in this thread, but I think the biggest issue to sort out is s/w deployment.

[CommodoreS]

Unfortunately CC also features an awful lot that primary schools do not want or use, along with being locked into having to pay £2000 a year (the equivalent amounts to 100 hours of 3rd party technical support) for poor RM support (which seems to go up £100 every year!). All that is needed is a well set up vanilla system with a handful of 3rd party tools to make usage easier for younger children.

 

SW Deployment is quite easily handled by deploying MSI software through the AD, although more and more software is starting to become web based. Its also not too hard to create MSI files using MSI Creation Software (Which I already have).

[beany1]

At the primary I work at we use a combo of the Win7 start menu and a mapped network drive in computer with a link to all relevant programs. The drive is called programs, and its separated into folders relating to the subject with links to the programs in each. I've found the kids can use it better than the teachers and often the kids will tell the teachers were a program is! I agree with sukh the transferable skills are paramount. Also it's really easy to maintain.

[Steve21]

That does look like what I am after, although it seems to be missing the file explorer section that was in Explorer 2. Thank you for the info. I was expecting it to be a bit cheaper than £500 though.

 

If you can explain exactly what you're after I can see how long it would take to knock one up. I'm assuming it's fairly simple program you're after if it's for younger students who can't use start menus/ctrl alt del? No harm in looking at what you're after if you have a spare time to explain it a bit more

 

Steve

[glennda]

Custom made web app as an active desktop launching programs should be fairly easy to code.

[theforce]

If you can explain exactly what you're after I can see how long it would take to knock one up. I'm assuming it's fairly simple program you're after if it's for younger students who can't use start menus/ctrl alt del? No harm in looking at what you're after if you have a spare time to explain it a bit more

 

Steve

 

Hi All, just wondered if there has been any further development on this. RM explorer equivelant for vanilla network would be awsome. I've also been reading about the an alternative (free alternative) to RM Tutor called iTalc. Has anyone used it?

[johnfermor]

Hi

 

I have started working on a project that may fit the bill. Please have a look at John Fermor's Development Blog and click on the "MyStuff Navigator" link. There's still a lot to do before it is finished and it isn't my top priority but if it could be helpful out there ..

 

John

[mjs_mjs]

I've done something like this for my dad using a HTA... white screen on top of the windows desktop, 4 big graphic buttons for the things he uses and Google search built in. Works really well for him.

 

gui.zip - and here it is for you to see what's I'm talking about. Open it with microsoft HTML application host, edit the HTML with notepad.... yeah it really is just a HTML file.

Edited November 7, 2013 by mjs_mjs

[johnfermor]

Thanks.

 

It looks simple enough but I suspect making changes could become too cumbersome. Maybe a good starter for others though.

 

Mine will literally read a folder of .LNK (or .MSI) shortcuts and only get displayed if the program target is actually installed. Ideal for people who want a more flexible method than folder redirection. Also, you can create a separate 'settings.ini' for staff, pupils, etc.

 

John