Device Management Tools for the 1:1 Classroom

Image by ottogarcia from Pixabay

Has this ever happened to you?  You are working with several students and another group
of learners is collaborating on their devices across the room.  You want to be sure everyone is making progress, but you don't want to continually break away to redirect the rest of the class. 

Whether your students are using chromebooks or iPads it's really helpful to have a tool in your digital toolbox to help manage students and their devices.  In GISD we have access to two applications that will make your life easier...Lightspeed Relay Classroom for Chromebooks and Apple Classroom for iPads. Let's break down the features and how you can leverage these tools for success!

Lightspeed Relay Classroom Manager

Lightspeed Relay Classroom can be found in the software center and installed on your teacher laptop. Once you have created your classes, schedule, and invited or added your students, you are ready to manage student devices and optimize learning! 

Remember that small group? You are now able to glance at the Lightspeed dashboard and make sure the rest of your learners are on task. The insights feature will alert you to unusual browsing behavior, indicating someone might be lost, prompting you to push a link to a student or group.  Have a quick announcement that everyone needs to hear?  Use the lock feature, which will temporary pause student screens, so you can share instructions, updates, or critical next steps. One of my favorites is screen sharing. Let one of your learners share their work or the steps for completing a task, while everyone can comfortably view the process from their own device. In addition, you can use focus mode to keep students on preapproved websites, view history, or turn off browsing completely during assessments. These are some of the basic features available in Lightspeed Relay Classroom Manager. Take a look at this document for a step by step tutorial.

Apple Classroom

Image by Stefan Meller from Pixabay 

Apple Classroom is a game changer for managing the ipad classroom. Apple Classroom helps you guide student learning by launching an app or website, sharing documents between the teacher and students, and viewing student activity at a glance.  One favorite is the ability to easily lock a student into an app to complete a task. Transitioning from using devices for entertainment to learning is an important skill, which involves a scaffolded approach. Give Apple Classroom a try to help learners stay focused and navigate successfully. 

Check out these videos on our Georgetown ISD Digital Learning YouTube channel to learn how to set up your class, add students, and use the basic features.

• Apple Classroom: Create a Class and Invite Students
• Apple Classroom: Student Joins a Class
• Apple Classroom Basic Features

Let us help you get started!  Just email your Digital Learning Coach to set up an appointment to learn more!