Technology & Learning - February 2009 - (Page 35)

W W W.T E C H L E A R N I N G . C O M W. T. WOODSON HIGH SCHOOL IN FAIRFAX, VA PART OF FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, WHICH HAS 168,384 STUDENTS SYNCHRONEYES 7.0 FROM SMART TECHNOLOGIES “Our IT department evaluated three classroommanagement solutions and published a report. Based on our use and the cost of the license, we decided to go with SynchronEyes. We already had a good working relationship with SMART, the pricing was the best, and the features met our immediate needs,” says Ryan Dillon, technical support specialist. Elyse Walker teaches Web development, advanced information systems, and programming classes. She says, “I like the program because I can see what all students are doing on their computers at once. When you walk around, they can minimize things or pull up work and pretend they’re working. With SynchronEyes, I can observe and they don’t know it.” Walker doesn’t always use SynchronEyes to enforce policies. “I have lots of students who are hearing impaired or deaf, and we can use it to chat. They can ask a quick question.” Walker also finds the product helpful if she wants her students to view a Web site but doesn’t want them to start surfing the Web. “I can send the site to all their screens.” COLOMA HIGH SCHOOL IN COLOMA, MI THE SCHOOL HAS 500 STUDENTS SCHOOLVUE FROM CROSSTEC CORPORATION “I was using another program that had quirky features I didn’t like,” says Dale Quattrin, a drafting and preengineering instructor. He tried SchoolVUE and found it more to his liking. WHAT DO YOU USE? WHY DO YOU USE THIS PRODUCT? “I like its ease of use and how easily I can control Internet access—restricting or allowing students to access specific Web sites. All of this reduces problems in the classroom dramatically.” Quattrin also likes that SchoolVUE lets him save on bandwidth, since students aren’t able to stream videos. He especially likes having the ability to control components on each individual computer. “I can give kids access to USB ports or not, to the DVD players or not, and I can control what they can do with those devices. “One of the big things is the support I get with CrossTec; it’s fantastic and continues to be,” he says. “I’ve sent suggestions to the developers and to the techs, and I have email conversations with them.” “I wish they would expand the capabilities of the testing console. I can use it to create and send tests to individual students or the whole class, but it’s not as well integrated as it could be. It just needs to be tweaked.” “Yes. This year I purchased it for four other teachers for the first time. The teachers keep saying they wish they had had it last year.” WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT IT? “One thing I’m not sure about is how to chat to just one student without allowing everyone else to chat as well,” says Walker. “It may be possible, but I can’t figure out how to do it.” WHAT DON’T YOU LIKE ABOUT IT? “Yes. I really enjoy using it and would never go without it. It is a necessity in a computer class, especially when they could be doing something that could hurt the computers or get them in trouble.” List price: $1,198 per training-room license, which includes one teacher-edition install and unlimited student-edition installs. Volume discounts are available. ARE TEACHERS USING THE PROGRAM SUCCESSFULLY? SchoolVue is licensed by computer. Pricing runs about $40 per PC for a typical installation and can be significantly less for larger deployments. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? TECH & LEARNING | 35 http://www.techlearning.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technology & Learning - February 2009

Technology & Learning - February 2009 Contents Editor's Desk News & Trends How It's Done - The Science of Class Collaboration Put to the Test: T&L Editors Take Some New Products for a Test Drive NComputing X550 Epson DC-10s Samsung UF-130DX Digital Presenter Brother MFC-6490CW All-in-One Adaptive Curriculum: Science Dukane AirSlate 3 A Second Life for Professional Development Control Room 11 Tips for Better Laptop Learning One-to-One Veteran Advice What's New They Said It

Technology & Learning - February 2009

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