January 08, 2019

School works better with LanSchool

Dianna Wolf

Computer Application and Computer Science Teaher

Bowling Green Independent Schools (Education Management, 201-500 employees)

Score 10 out of 10

Vetted Review

Verified User

Incentivized

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I used LanSchool in my classroom of up to 30 students. I had the paid version of LanSchool, so I was able to restart computers, log off computers, monitor computers, send messages to users, control computers, send users to specific sites, block sites, etc. This was used in my class to monitor, but also to teach. This was helpful to see what students were doing right and wrong, to get ideas, to share my screen or another student's screen for a teachable moment, and so many other ways to use the program.

Pros and Cons

Monitoring computers to see what users need assistance with or seeing what they are doing to determine what you need to do to support the users.
Allowing control of the computer in order to show the user how to do a task they were having difficulties with.
Sharing the screen of another user to demonstrate what to do or showcasing their work.
Allows for restarting multiple computers at once.
Allows communication in a messaging format within the program

Messaging could be improved for notification when messages are sent.
When multiple users use the same computer, sometimes LanSchool needs to be restarted to show changes in usernames.
You can save layouts, but I would like more options for how to arrange the layout you see the computers on your screen.

Likelihood to Recommend

It was great for my classroom of 30 students so that I could help multiple students at a time with sharing my screen, another student's screen, or just blocking all screens to get everyone's attention to clear up misconceptions. This made management of student classwork, including projects like the yearbook, much easier when they had a question.

Return on Investment

Students were more focused knowing I could see all computers at once.
My time was used more efficiently with having access to helping many people without having to go from computer to computer.
Students took pride in what they did knowing it could be shared during class to others.

Alternatives Considered

iTalc--Similar, but did not have what I could use at school per our technology department. Classroom Orchestrator for Teachers-This allowed for Chromebook use which was useful, but the layout and familiarity of LanSchool was much easier at the time that I test Ochestrator. I chose to keep LanSchool as it met my needs best at the time.

Other Software Used

Google Classroom, Edmodo, Google Drive

Users and Roles

I am the only one using the full version while many are using the LiteVersion. The LiteVersion allows everyone to monitor, while the full version allows for more teaching and learning.

Products Replaced

Yes

iTalc--Similar, but did not have what I could use at school per our technology department.

Classroom Orchestrator for Teachers-This allowed for Chromebook use which was useful, but the layout and familiarity of LanSchool was much easier at the time that I test Ochestrator. I chose to keep LanSchool as it met my needs best at the time.

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Features
Product Usability
Prior Experience with the Product

Price combined with features were important to me. I had specific needs that LanSchool Elmer at a price that my school was able to meet.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

From everything I’ve seen since, I would not change how I’ve chosen my product.

Operating Systems	Unspecified
Mobile Application	No

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