🚀 go-pugleaf

Nancy
  We use ClassWorks Plus for classroom control. It's available
from the Black Box company and is a hardware configuration. No software is
involved. We had used LANSchool several years ago but it caused way too
many problems with our different network setups (Internet, CD-ROM) that we
had to get rid of it.
  Instructors can:
1. Broadcast their workstation to all student
workstations, a group of workstations or an individual workstation.
--This works well when the instructor wants everyone following along, when
the projection unit is difficult to see, when the class has a tendency to
not pay attention

2. Broadcast one student workstation to just the instructor workstation
(and, in our case, the projector), to another students screen or to the
entire group
--This is handy when one student gets stuck. The entire class can
troubleshoot the problem. It also is nice when the student wants to show
the group what s/he has found. Teachers can use this feature for class
presentations. Students needn't leave their seats and are much more
comfortable presenting from their "spot".

3. Take over keyboard and mouse control of another workstation or assign
one student control over another's keyboard and mouse.
--Instructors can use this feature to demonstrate to a students (on their
workstations) a procedure, step-by-step.

4. Blank one or all computer screens.
--An obvious use for this. Especially if instructors notice a student
banging away in a chat room or on their e-mail.

I have used this system for about 4 months now and I can attest to
students not liking the screen blanking feature. Only once, however, were
students downright belligerent when I took over their monitors. I always
announce at the beginning of class that I have all of these capabilities
(screen/keyboard/mouse control and screen blank) and will give them
warning just before I switch over the control.

Because this is a hardware solution, you needn't worry about software
configuration or re-configuration or worry about whether the classroom
control software will work with one's network. The downside is all the
extra wiring and cables. We've lost mouse control from time to time
because the cable has come loose from the little black box it plugs into.

Overall, however, I'd say ClassWorks Plus has been a success. It has
allowed me and other instructors to teach in different ways and has helped
keep the e-mailing down to a minimum.

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
   Susan E. Beck
   Dept. Head, Humanities, Education &
     Social Sciences
   New Mexico State University Library
   505-646-6171   |  susabeck@lib.nmsu.edu
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~