Program seeks to keep student attention

Many students and teachers at Big Spring have been faced with a new software that is being put on all student Chromebooks and teacher computers. This software will allow teachers to view students’ computers on the Smartboard and will give teachers the power to monitor student computers without having to leave their desks.

As of now, “The school is going through a 4 month trial with LanSchool to decide whether or not they would like to purchase the program.” said the district’s technology engineer, Mike Fronk. Fronk also said, “Since the school is only in the testing phase of LanSchool there is no certain date that this software will be permanent and the school may not even keep the program.” There are problems with LanSchool and the Chromebooks which makes running the software hard because the school’s tech department has to constantly work with LanSchool support to fix the problems caused. Fronk said, “We may also test similar software in the near future to see which one works best.” So none of the softwares are final yet and the school is testing new ways to enhance and make better use of the technology.

The reason the school  is looking to get a software like LanSchool is so that “students can quickly and easily share their work with others.” said principal, Bill August. Even though the administrators think this will be a way for students to interact easier with teachers, some students think that this software may not be the best solution. Student Nick Black said, “Teachers will just use it to spy on what people are doing, and even more teachers will have no idea how to use it.” Many of the students throughout Big Spring feel that LanSchool or any software like it would not help improve the school or better their learning. Fronk said, “We hope to make the classroom more interactive through the use of technology.”  The intentions of this software is to allow students to be able to write on the Smartboards through the use of the new touchscreen laptops that will provided to teachers and can be used anywhere in the room.

The LanSchool software as of now is just a part of a tech pilot and was available for the school to try out.” After the pilot teachers use it, they will report to the administrators on its usefulness and a decision will be made.” said August. The software will create a significant cost to the school after the first year, so it is extremely crucial that if the school decides to implement the program it will be used for a purpose. In conclusion, none of the softwares are set in stone and it is all just a testing period to try and get students more interacted with the technology