 NetSupport School for Google Chrome Matthew Kelley ITEC 7445 Professor Roberts July 14, 2014 Emerging Technologies Project

What is NetSupport School?  NetSupport School is a program that allows teachers to instruct, monitor, and interact with students and their computers.  All of the students screens can be seen as thumbnails on the teacher’s computer.  Teachers can send instant messages or surveys to individual students or groups of students.  Teachers can monitor and block web access and well as lock the computer screen and USB ports.

How Does NetSupport School Support the Vision for Technology Use at Camden County High School?  One of the major beliefs of CCHS is that technology empowers 21 st century learners.  Next year every student at CCHS will have a chromebook to use at school and home.  This technology supports the use of chromebooks by allowing teachers to feel more comfortable with them in the classroom.  Teachers are less likely to use the chromebooks if they are worried about having to monitor students’ access.  Teachers can easily interact with students’ chromebooks using this program.

Objectives  Increase Camden County High School students use of technology in the classroom by making teachers more comfortable with the ability to monitor students’ computers.  Increase number of student-centered activities created by teachers at CCHS.  Provide teachers to resources that will allow integration of chromebooks into the classroom at least 3 times per week.

Key Benefits  Students will be more engaged in the lesson because of the use of technology.  Teachers can monitor pace and interact with many students at the same time allowing for differentiation of instruction.  Communication can be discrete through instant messages which will increase the likelihood of students asking questions.  Implementation of project based learning and student-centered activities would increase.

Target Population  Camden County High School(9-12) is a Title 1 school that has an approximate enrollment of 2800 students.  63% White  26% African American  43% Free/Reduced Lunch  There is approximately a 16:1 teacher to student ratio.

Target Population cont’d  All students will be issued a chromebook that they will keep with them to use throughout the school year.  All teachers are issued laptops and most have an interactive whiteboard.  Wireless internet is available throughout the high school.  The is a computer lab containing about 25 computers on each hall

Equipment and Software  The NetSupport software can be downloaded for a 30 day free trial.  After the trial the cost of a 1-year subscription depends on the number of licenses bought. The unit cost goes down as the total number of licenses goes up.  Since everyone will be on the same server, no extra networking will be necessary.  The chromebooks will be in place and all teacher have their own laptop and projector.

Technical Support  Camden County High School has excellent tech support through the media specialists or SchoolDude if necessary.  There is also tech support available from 9:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. EST  Owner and tech manual are provided online.  There is also an link to or call the support team at

Limitations  Teachers will have to be willing to learn how to use the product in order to maximize its potential.  This will require a training session during a teacher workday or pre-planning.  Just like any other technology, teachers must spend some time on the front end to making students familiar with the program and expectations.

More Limitations  Teachers may take advantage of the power of the monitoring system and not interact appropriately.  They must understand that it is not a resource to make personal interaction unnecessary, it is to make monitoring easier and to eliminate the stress of off-task students.  The cost is a definite limitation. Technology grants may be available through the state.

Cost of the Technology  All technology will already be in place for the implementation of NetSupport School. The only expense is the cost of the licenses.  Chrome books are already purchased and wireless internet is in place throughout the school.

Cost for the Licenses  The approximate cost for licenses is:  users = $51.48 per license  users = $46.53 per license  users = $43.56 per license  users = $35.64 per license  users = $34.65 per license  users = $26.73 per license  500 Licenses would cost $13,365

Potential Funding Sources  CCCHS just ended our Project Starr grant, and we could reapply for the grant. It was a STEM grant through the department of defense education activity(DoDEA). Information for the grant is at  Camden County High School is a title 1 school and funding for technology can and has been provided through title 1.  Teachers could write grant proposals to possibly receive funding.  ESPLOST money has been used in the past to provide technology.

How can Teachers use this Technology?  Monitor/Interact with student screen  Show teacher’s screen to students  Block websites/internet  Student Surveys  Student Register  Send Messages

How Does This Promote Specific Learning Goals?  Teachers can monitor students’ progress, and if they are stuck or off task, a quick, innocuous message can be sent to the students without making a scene or embarrassing them.  The teacher could also send guiding question to groups of students at a time.  Quizzes and surveys can be created to assess progress or get information from students about processes.  Student based learning activities would be much easier to create and monitor with NetSupport School.

Differentiation  NetSupport may be at its finest with regards to differentiation.  Every student in the room could be doing something different, and the teacher can monitor all of them at the same time. Traditionally, a teacher could only monitor a few screens at a time while walking around the room. NetSupport School allows for constant monitoring of all screens.  The teacher can show his or her screen to specific students, or groups of students to share information.  The teacher can create questions or surveys to be sent to groups of students. When results are in, they can be shared with each desktop.

More Differentiation  If students are working on their chromebooks in groups, chat rooms can be set up with all students or a select group.  Teachers can launch a website to a specific students computer. This would allow for each student to be given a website (at the teachers discretion) to research information or study a concept.  Student can also be presented with a list of websites to choose from. This would allow the teacher to eliminate time consuming searches for information.

Communication and Collaboration  Chat rooms can be set up to promote communication and collaboration between students.  The teacher can monitor communication between students to make sure it is appropriate and on task.  The teacher can also provide input or feedback to conversations more efficiently than by walking around the room.  Even though it is not typical in a classroom setting, texting and chatting is how today’s student is most comfortable communicating. This may make them more apt to discuss.

NetSupport Awards  Since 2012 NetSupport has received and short listed for many awards. Some include:  International Trade-Highly Commended, 2012  Education Exporter of the Year Finalist, 2012  Supplier of the Year finalist, 2012  Technology Provider of the Year, 2012  School Management System Provider of the Year Finalist, 2012

NetSupport Awards cont’d  Education Exporter of the Year Finalist, 2013  Global Education Supplier of the Year Finalist, 2014  Software Vendor of the Year Finalist, 2014

Research Evaluation  I could not find any specific research that correlates student NetSupport and achievement, but I also did not find anything against its benefit. It appears that there has not been much research done on the topic.  I have read many of the reviews and most of them have been very positive.

NetSupport Reviews  In a review by Education World, five reviewers(all teachers or Educational technology specialists) were asked to use NetSupport in his or her school for at least one month. The reviewers then noted specific strengths, weaknesses, and rated the software on a scale of 1-4.  Comments on Installation, Usability, Performance, Usefulness, and Support are listed in detail at:

Education World Review  The ratings are as follows:  Installation – 3.5 stars  Usability – 3.5 stars  Performance – 3 stars  Usefulness – 3 stars  Support – 4 stars

Reflection  When I initially decide that I wanted to research NetSupport School, I thought it was mainly a tool for monitoring what students were doing on their computer.  I was hoping that it would be a way to make teachers more comfortable with the implementation of chromebooks on the classroom because it is a big investment for the school and teachers will always have the fear of students doing things they are not supposed to on the computers.  I thought that NetSupport school’s monitoring system would be a good way to ease teachers’ fear of students straying from the task.

Reflection  The more I read about the software, the more I realized that it was much more than just a desktop monitoring program.  It allowed teachers to create a classroom setting that incorporated technology in a way that would be incredibly beneficial to the students.  Chat rooms, quizzes, distribution lists of websites, and sharing of the teachers screen were not tools that I expected to be available with NetSupport School.

Reflection  Although I understand that the cost may be more than what is ideal, I think if teachers used the software to its potential, the sky is the limit.  The 30 day trial would be long enough for teachers to do 1 or 2 units and determine if it would be useful in their classroom. This could minimize the number of licenses that were necessary.  Overall, I have really enjoyed looking into this emerging technology and would be very interested in trying it out in my classroom.

References  Camden County High School. (n.d.). SchoolDigger. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from school.aspx? t=tbStudents&st=tbLunch  DoDEA. (n.d.). Department of Defense Education Activity (). Retrieved July 13, 2014, from  Ed-U-Rate: NetSupport School Reviews. (2002, January 1). Education World:. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from  NetSupport School - Classroom Management Software. (n.d.).. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from  Net Support School Software Published by Net Support Limited. (2013, January 1). Net Support School Software Published by Net Support Limited. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from