Colorado District To Deploy Classroom Management in Media Labs

  • By Tim Sohn
  • 07/19/11

Boulder Valley School District in Colorado reported it will deploy classroom management software to all of its computer and media center labs for the new school year. Installation will begin in August.

The district reported this week that it has chosen InterClass, software created by Kaminari Education, headquartered in Denver, CO.

InterClass lets teachers monitor student activity on all computer terminals, halt student Internet browsing, lock student computers, use students' computers remotely, block programs, take screen snapshots, view computer screens of all students, mute volume on student computers, restrict CD listening, and create logs of students' activity.

Teachers also can use the software to broadcast presentations from their computer terminals to the students'. Students, too, can show presentations from their screens on other students' screen. In addition, students can send messages to their teachers, and instructors can type messages to their students. Chats can be implemented with the entire class or small groups of students, and real-time video can be streamed from any device to the students' computers.

InterClass also allows teachers or IT staff members to restart, log off, or log on all computers in a classroom at once. They can also install or run any program on all student computers simultaneously.

According to details released by BVSD, "After spending time researching various programs and utilizing the demo version of InterClass, teachers and several IT technicians felt that the easy-to-navigate layout and ease of use of the software is what made InterClass stand out against the competition. Also, teachers felt that InterClass provided all of the necessary features for them to have better control over their classroom set of computers. Administrators in the district were happy for the lower cost of InterClass, especially during this time of restricted school budgets."

The district's technology budget for 2011-12 is $1.74 million, down from $2.16 million the previous year. The 2011-2012 overall district budget is $271 million.

In other news, BVSD, in a summer school program for ESL students, is incorporating iPads into science lessons. The program's focus is water contamination. Funds came from the district's technology budget and the nonprofit group Impact on Education, which raises money for the district.

Boulder Valley School District serves about 28,500 students who live in Boulder, Gold Hill, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Nederland, Superior, Ward, and parts of Broomfield and Erie. The district comprises 34 elementary schools, 18 middle schools, and 12 high schools.

Visit Boulder Valley School District's site for more information.

About the Author

Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @editortim.

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