The feature focus is…

The Class Wizard in NetSupport School is where the teacher can create new lessons and select how to connect to the students.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

You have the option to input the teacher’s name, lesson title, lesson objectives and outcomes. When completed, they form part of the Student Register and be displayed in the Student Toolbar.

Teacher view

Enter the time you want the class to finish and a timer will appear while the lesson is in progress. If you do not want the lesson to be timed, enable the Open Lesson option.

Then, select the method to locate and connect to student devices. If you need to create a new connection, click ‘New’ and the Select Startup Mode dialog appears: you can connect by room, a list of PC names, a list of student logon names, browse the local network to locate students or via SIS mode.

Learn more here.

Reflect the layout of the classroom by rearranging the individual student icons on the teacher’s screen to match the layout of the physical classroom.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

Once you have selected a classroom or group, go to the ‘View’ tab, and then right-click to access the ‘rearrange’ option. Make sure to untick the ‘auto-arrange’ option – this enables you to drag the individual student icons to the desired position. You can also arrange the students by name, user name, and so on.

Teacher view

Once you have aligned them to how your class physically looks, click on ‘Lock Layout’ option on the top menu and this will lock the students into position.

Teacher view

If you are connected by ‘Room mode’ the student layout will automatically load for that room, as Room mode is connected by devices, and not student user name for example. Learn more about Room mode here.

A full-screen interactive whiteboard is integrated directly and is supported by a wealth of drawing and annotation tools for improved collaboration within the classroom. It can be shown in real time to all students in the class and, when needed, they can all interact with it. Learn more here.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

Click the icon at the bottom of the side ribbon bar and click ‘Yes’ to the pop-up to enable you to share the whiteboard with your students when you are ready to.

Teacher view

Draw, write, use on touch screen devices, load images and much more.

Teacher view

When students are viewing the whiteboard, they cannot initially annotate the screen themselves. However, the teacher can nominate a student to be the ‘whiteboard leader’. This activates the annotation options at the selected machine. The teacher can switch control to any of the other participants as required by selecting their icon in the student list. By right-clicking on a student in the right-side column, you can give them control of the whiteboard.

Student view

You can save and share the whiteboard and also add it to the student journal.

NetSupport School helps you manage students’ online activity and ensures their focus by letting you control which websites they can visit. At the beginning of class you may want to add restrictions straight away. Head to the ‘Options’ button (top right of the screen), then on the pop-up go to ‘Restrictions’. Here you can choose which controls to activate.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

If you keep the ‘Apply central policy’ ticked, this will pull down the school-wide list created within the Tech console, and automatically apply those extra restrictions.

Teacher view

You can also add websites on the fly by simply adding to the Approved and Restricted boxes at the bottom or adding website lists in bulk. Students can see the current website limitations through the Student Toolbar. If a student is currently viewing a website included in the activated restriction list, they will be redirected to a message stating that the website has been blocked by the teacher.

You can block everyone at once or block specific students.

Teacher view

Learn more here.

NetSupport School enables teachers to record what students see on their screens, along with their keyboard and mouse actions. If your classroom computers are set up for audio, you can even capture your explanations while demonstrating.

These recordings, called ‘replays’ or ‘replay files’, can be played back on the teacher’s computer and shared with other students for review. You can choose to record the entire class or focus on individual students.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

Go to the administrator tab on the ribbon bar, then select the ‘Replay Files’ button. On the pop-up, you can see previous recordings, or click ‘Create Replay’ to start a new one. It will start recording your screen, allowing you to demonstrate a task or project to later share with students.

Teacher view

Teachers can also record presentations delivered in Show sessions, allowing students to revisit the material at their own pace.

Once the recording has ended, you can watch back the recording, show it to students, delete, rename or convert the file.

Teacher view

By default, recordings are saved in a special format (.rpf). These can be converted into regular video files (.avi or .wmv) for easier sharing. The software offers conversion presets for quick conversion, but advanced users can access a conversion tool with more options like video quality, audio settings, and trimming the recording. To find this tool, simply navigate through the Start menu and look for “NetSupport School Replay”.

You can also record the student’s screen, perfect for one-to-one support. The file is automatically saved and available on the student’s desktop.

Learn more here.

The unique Student Journal ensures all relevant information from a lesson is recorded for future review, from lesson content
and teacher/student notes, to assessment results. Used as both a revision aid for students and a record of content covered for
teachers, it helps ensure all information is stored in one place.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

All key actions and events during the lesson can be added to a journal file. These can include:

• Details of the lesson objectives.
• A class attendance register.
• Specific notes, resources and screenshots taken or used during the lesson.
• Survey and test details and results.
• Question and Answer module scores.
• Lists of approved websites for research.
• “On the fly” screenshots during a demonstration (teacher or student).
• Details of any homework set.
• Individual student notes can be added whenever they are required.
• Target words/topics used for any comprehension or research assignments.
• Transcripts of any electronic chat conversations.
• Copies of any NetSupport School inbuilt Whiteboard sessions.

Learn more here.

Example of a student’s journal

Based on well-respected education standards, the Question and Answer module is built around the concept of Pose, Pause, Pounce and Bounce – a strategy for structuring questions in the classroom, ensuring thinking time, selecting students to answer and collaborative sharing of ideas and response.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

Example of question type

Pose – The teacher can simply ask a question verbally and choose a question type (random selection, first student to answer, first team member to answer or auto-mark entered answers). Once a question type is set, a teacher can then decide whether points will be awarded for correct answers, whether they wish to select multiple students to automatically bounce the question, and much more.

Pause – The teacher can specify thinking time before the students are able to respond, as well as specify a time window when answers can be given. Based on a game show-style theme, students see a countdown clock when answering questions.

Pounce– In random selection mode, the selector randomly moves between all student screens for a few seconds, before randomly selecting a student. This feature removes the tendency of some students to stay quietly below the radar of the lesson.

The second question type uses response speed to select the students, allowing the top ‘X’ fastest respondents to be selected. This introduces a level of competition and has been noted to have a positive impact with boys’ engagement in the exercise. When selecting, say, the top 5 fastest responses, it allows the teacher to develop the question between each selected student.

Finally, ‘team mode’ is offered where students can be automatically grouped, randomly grouped, or grouped in pre-set teams such as their schoolhouse. In this mode, points are awarded to the teams and students can see a running total.

Bounce – Once a question has been answered by a student, the teacher can bounce the question to a second student and develop the question or ask them to assess the response of the first student. The question can be bounced any number of times. The beauty of this approach, linking verbal questions with an electronic module, is that the teacher can refine their questions depending on each recipient and their academic ability.

Learn more here.

The Student Survey tool enables the teacher to get instant feedback from students during or at the end of a session, helping to instantly capture students’ understanding of a topic. The teacher can send all or selected students a question, together with a selection of pre-defined responses, so students can ‘vote’ on the correct answer or statement. The students’ responses are gathered for the teacher to see, with the results shown as an overall percentage and by individual student. Results can also be shown to the students in the form of a pie chart, but the students must respond before they can view the results.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

Teacher view

Survey on student device 

Students can also be temporarily ‘grouped’ by response, enabling the teacher to see in an instant who selected the same answer. This could be useful if a quick follow-up question or message to particular students was required.

Learn more here.

Perfect for language classes or supporting EAL students, teachers can listen in to student audio, helping to check if their pronunciation is correct. Via the audio icon on the left-hand ribbon, a thumbnail of each connected student screen is displayed and the microphone or speaker icon indicates if there is audio activity at the student machine.

Watch this short video for a quick overview.

The teacher can then select student the student and listen, record and play the audio back to the students. Learn more here.

Teacher view