CVCHS has purchased the classroom management software LanSchool Air and connected it directly to school devices.
The rollout of LanSchool Air is the latest effort to minimize student distraction. CVCHS has previously used classroom management software, including services from Vision and GoGuardian, though the expiration of these contracts and other factors steered CVCHS toward LanSchool Air.
“Classroom management software programs became very popular with schools during distance learning,” noted Kris Kallas, an administrative assistant in student services. “CVCHS teachers have been asking for this for some time now.”
Classroom management software like LanSchool Air aims to minimize off-task digital student behavior. LanSchool Air offers features like blocking websites and “screen sharing” wherein teachers can remotely monitor student online activity.
Casey Gardner, a teacher in the English department, explained that “multiple teachers and administrators advocated for the installation of the software, noticing a strong correlation between students using online distractions during class time and low-failing grades and/or poor test scores.”
Anoop Mannan, a teacher in the science department, posited that “this new program will help us use our Chromebooks responsibly. I understand the perspective of students who may feel that they are being excessively monitored. However, I think technology can take advantage of us, all of us, by distracting us from our purpose at school.”
The popularity of the program across departments and with individual teachers, though, remains to be seen. Classes with minimal online coursework and digital activities, such as physical education and ceramics, cannot speak to the benefit of the software. More digitally engaged classes, such as English, will vary in usage of the program by the lesson.
Sunny Shergill, the director of school services, explained that the implementation of LanSchool Air as a means of classroom management was weighed against the renewal of previous software contracts or the installation of another new software. He did not mention the proposal of non-digital methods to approach classroom management.
CVCHS is expanding its digital programs overall. The installation of LanSchool Air on school Chromebooks joins the installation of a testing lockdown browser to encourage student integrity, though the role of these measures in the independent Eaglei program is unclear in these early stages.
“The school itself receives no benefits from the installation of the software. But due to the implementation of LanSchool Air, teachers benefit from the ability to more easily monitor student progress and limit distractions during instructional time,” Gardner said. “Students benefit most from this software by having their distractions limited during class time, which is one of the primary reasons why students are more successful in the classroom, as opposed to learning at home, without teacher supervision.”
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