Web Filtering

GoGuardian Updates Filtering Tool with Context Awareness, Smart Alerts

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 06/21/17

GoGuardian, a company that provides Chromebook management tools for schools, has updated GoGuardian Admin, its web filtering and analytics tool, with features designed to improve online student behavior and facilitate personalized learning.

The new version has added smart alerts, a feature which uses machine learning to predict and improve student behavior. Smart alerts continuously scan web pages and use context instead of simple keywords to identify material that some schools may deem inappropriate. Users can set up notifications for content based on customizable categories and organizational units and set up automatic responses, such as content blocking, a tailored message for the student or assignment of a specific staff member to respond.

Personalized messages sent to students as they browse are also designed to help them become more aware of their online behavior as they engage in it.

"I received a Smart Alert last night," said Mike Daugherty, director of technology and information systems at Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools, in a prepared statement. "The alert referenced a student with a history of trouble who is already in a 'white-list' only situation. The smart alert was able to detect an issue of serious concern with this student, who had managed to find a way to circumvent some of the restrictions. I am confident that without GoGuardian, we would not have been able to discover this. Smart Alerts and machine learning are going to help reshape how schools handle content filters!"

Admin 2.0 has also added context-aware filtering designed to help teachers implement personalized learning.

"Admin 2.0 was built around the concept that the needs of students in the digital classroom are just as variant and complex as the needs of students in the classroom," said Cody Rice, Admin 2.0 product manager, in a prepared statement. "A high-schooler needs different filtering than a middle-schooler. A middle-schooler needs different filtering when using the Internet at home than a middle-schooler using the Internet at school. A student who is highly focused needs different filtering than a student managing problems with attention"

Admin 2.0's filtering tools work on and off campus, can be customized for individual students and can automatically categorize apps, YouTube Videos and comments according to school policies.

The newest version of the filtering software also offers tools for theft recovery.

GoGuardian Admin 2.0 is currently available. Visit goguardian.com for more information or to sign up for a free 14-day trial.