MONROE - Software that tracks students' usage of their school-supplied Chromebooks has saved administrators an "enormous" amount of time, Monroe High School Principal Chris Medenwaldt estimates.
Medenwaldt presented the school board with a technology update last week. All MHS students received a Google Chromebook in September of 2014 to use for school-related purposes, though they are able to take the devices home with them.
The Monroe school district piloted GoGuardian at the end of last year and continued using the software this year, according to District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner. GoGuardian allows administrators to monitor and filter the websites students access from their Chromebooks. It shows the physical location where the devices have been used, as well as when they were used. The software also allows administrators to see if a student has tried to bypass the filters.
"It took it away from always having to have a tech request for something to be blocked or whitelisted - sometimes days to seconds," Medenwaldt said. "That's a big deal."
Ron Olson, the district's business manager, noted the software doesn't just save time for administrators, but also for staff in the tech department.
As far as software goes, GoGuardian "was very affordable," Olson said.
Using GoGuardian, Medenwaldt said he can block websites across all of the high school's Chromebooks, or he can block sites on an individual Chromebook. He said certain students are "super-blocked," where they can't access anything except for approved sites.
If a student logs on to another student's Chromebook, the software still shows the activity under the student accessing it, rather than the one lending the device. Between GoGuardian and administrative software from Google, administrators can identify both the Chromebook's leaser and the student logging on to it, Medenwaldt said.
According to GoGuardian's tracking, the top two sites accessed on the student Chromebooks are Google Docs and Schoology, both of which are used regularly for classes. YouTube is also among the most-used sites, but mostly for educational purposes during the school day, Medenwaldt said. Administrators opted not to block the video-sharing website - some classes need access to it - but Medenwaldt said they do block certain types of videos, such as movie trailers.
To obtain a district-owned Chromebook, students have to sign an agreement form which Medenwaldt said clearly states that the device is monitored any time someone logs in. He noted only a Monroe school district ID can log in to one.
Medenwaldt presented the school board with a technology update last week. All MHS students received a Google Chromebook in September of 2014 to use for school-related purposes, though they are able to take the devices home with them.
The Monroe school district piloted GoGuardian at the end of last year and continued using the software this year, according to District Administrator Cory Hirsbrunner. GoGuardian allows administrators to monitor and filter the websites students access from their Chromebooks. It shows the physical location where the devices have been used, as well as when they were used. The software also allows administrators to see if a student has tried to bypass the filters.
"It took it away from always having to have a tech request for something to be blocked or whitelisted - sometimes days to seconds," Medenwaldt said. "That's a big deal."
Ron Olson, the district's business manager, noted the software doesn't just save time for administrators, but also for staff in the tech department.
As far as software goes, GoGuardian "was very affordable," Olson said.
Using GoGuardian, Medenwaldt said he can block websites across all of the high school's Chromebooks, or he can block sites on an individual Chromebook. He said certain students are "super-blocked," where they can't access anything except for approved sites.
If a student logs on to another student's Chromebook, the software still shows the activity under the student accessing it, rather than the one lending the device. Between GoGuardian and administrative software from Google, administrators can identify both the Chromebook's leaser and the student logging on to it, Medenwaldt said.
According to GoGuardian's tracking, the top two sites accessed on the student Chromebooks are Google Docs and Schoology, both of which are used regularly for classes. YouTube is also among the most-used sites, but mostly for educational purposes during the school day, Medenwaldt said. Administrators opted not to block the video-sharing website - some classes need access to it - but Medenwaldt said they do block certain types of videos, such as movie trailers.
To obtain a district-owned Chromebook, students have to sign an agreement form which Medenwaldt said clearly states that the device is monitored any time someone logs in. He noted only a Monroe school district ID can log in to one.