GoGuardian Teacher vs. Signal Messenger

GoGuardian Teacher is great for a teacher who needs a way to monitor student activities and work time on a laptop. It is easy to set up, simple to use and helps to keep students accountable when online in class. It integrates with Google Classroom which is a big help. It is more powerful for teachers experienced in using tech in the classroom. The archiving ability is great but the UX needs to improve.

Incentivized

Signal is great for high-security applications where privacy is a concern, perhaps because of the sensitive nature of the materials being communicated. For instance, if you are sending sensitive information about a film that hasn't been released yet, and you want to make sure that paparazzi and fans don't get access to spoiler information, Signal is a great way to communicate.

Incentivized

• Cloud-based. Teachers do not have to monitor from just one device - they can do it from any device.
• GoGuardian allows teachers to lock a student's screen when he/she needs the students attention.
• GoGuardian allows the teacher to view all students' devices simultaneously.

Incentivized

• Encryption end to end
• Audio quality
• Ability to permanently delete messages and history

Incentivized

• Scope of device monitoring (laptops, desktop computers and not just Chromebooks)
• Needs an updated interface to more accurately fit advances in technology
• Ability to more easily interact and adjust with a student's device

Incentivized

• Backup functionality on iOS devices
• Sometimes messages can be delayed

Incentivized

For a technology-heavy school, it is a necessary and good tool for managing classroom use of laptops. It is easy to set up and use. Helps track time on task and internet usage. Another source of data when speaking to parents about student work and activity. Can help plan and manage work time when you have limited devices.

Incentivized

The support is great. On the rare occasion that I've had to reach out to support they have been very quick to respond and extremely helpful. I've also had teachers reach out directly to support themselves. Most of the time I don't even know that a teacher has reached out to support until after the fact. They always seem satisfied.

Incentivized

I've never contacted support but I see that they are on the ball for bug fixes, highly communicative in release notes, and continually releasing updates to Signal that address common user complaints. Given how responsive the development team is, and how they are continually improving Signal, I think their support is top notch.

Incentivized

I have used Hapara in a previous school district. GoGuardian is more user-friendly and easier to setup. I do think GoGuardian has some room on improving the ease of finding some areas of the program, but once you know the path to get there it is quick.

Incentivized

Signal is far and away better and more feature-rich. Skype is no longer the app it used to be before Microsoft acquired it, and WhatsApp, while trying to be much like Signal with claims, has too many features that lead to a sense of insecurity as it's too widely used and used for too many things.

Incentivized

• We have been able to identify inappropriate websites that students have discovered. For example anonymous proxies, movie streaming, etc. Through this software, we have been able to identify the students and in turn block the websites.
• We have been able to identify which students have been using other user's accounts. This was an unintended side effect of the software. If a teacher knows that a student is using a Chromebook but the student is not showing up in the software, we are easily able to deduce that the user must be using another student's account.

Incentivized

• Communication is crucial to accomplishing our mission
• Cost of similar commercial apps could be very prohibitive

Incentivized