MyVision 2.0 Gets Full Active Directory Integration, Expanded Mac OS X Support
Netop has released the newest version of its mixed-platform classroom management software MyVision.
Version 2.0 features several key enhancements, most notably in the area of Active Directory support, which expands teachers' management capabilities, allowing them monitor students' computer activities and be available for remote assistance no matter where in the school facility each student is located when logged into the network. The software now also offers full support for Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6, and Netop has optimized the installation process for both the Windows and Mac editions.
Originally launched in 2009, the software is available in two editions. MyVision Free is available for download free of charge and is a rudimentary solution for teachers to monitor students' in-class computer activity. MyVision Basic includes more extensive classroom computer management and monitoring features, including the tools to share screens with computers throughout a classroom, to blank out monitor screens, and to shut off Internet access with the click of a button.
The Basic edition is available for a $199 annual subscription rate. The company also offers a $25 discount per unit for two or more subscriptions from the same school, as well as volume discounts available at levels of 10- and 25-user classrooms.
Montrose High School (MHS) in Montrose, CO implemented the Free edition during the previous school year, using it primarily to monitor the library's 10 computers in the open area of the library and to make sure students used them for academic goals and stayed away from social networks, games, etc.
Ellen Engebretsen, library media paraprofessional at MHS, said the school is now in the process of upgrading to the Basic edition, which she said the school plans to use in its two 35-station computer labs, both for monitoring and as a more advanced teaching tool. "They also use it to demonstrate, for instance, if students needed to go to a certain Web site and navigate its components," she explained. "It can also keep you from having to do a demonstration using a projector and then repeating it in a computer lab."
Ultimately, she said, she believes reliable classroom management simply allows teachers to make more productive use of their time, noting, "there's more that we can be doing than just walking around and looking over people's shoulders."
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