NetSupport release updated Classroom Instruction Software With New Audio
Monitoring Component

MARKHAM, ON, Sept. 29 /CNW/ - Education software specialists and 2009 BETT ICT Exporter of the Year, NetSupport, have once again responded to the challenges of the modern classroom with the release of NetSupport School v10.5.

In this multimedia age computer-led learning is commonplace and with many subject areas now dependent on the use of PCs, teachers need the appropriate management tools to ensure students are using the technology for the intended purpose. Traditional ICT and, increasingly, language learning are specific areas where students can be easily distracted from the task in hand.

Market leading Classroom Management solution, NetSupport School, arms teachers with an unrivalled range of PC Monitoring and Control tools and in this new version the product has extended its capabilities in this area with the addition of Audio Monitoring. Visual tracking of student activity is one thing but in a computer-led language lesson can you be sure that students are honing their French skills rather than listening to the latest download chart!

Crystal clear student thumbnails enable teachers to see a real-time view of class activity, each thumbnail displaying visual indicators to show which PCs have live audio and/or microphone feeds. The teacher can then choose to discreetly listen to individual students to confirm that they are on task (or otherwise) and, if needed, conduct a two-way chat session with the student without disrupting the rest of the room. An innovative record and playback feature enables key learning points to be saved and replayed to the student or the whole class.

NetSupport School's dedicated Student Toolbar has proved very popular with Students. Rather than seeing the product as a 'spying' tool, it is now much more readily accepted as a collaborative application as much for the students' benefit as the teachers. In version 10.5 the toolbar offers even more functionality to students.

To save teachers time explaining to students where the work files for a particular lesson are stored or to get round instances where school desktops are 'locked-down', teachers can now add short-cut links to the data directly onto the Student Toolbar.

Version 10.5 also adds improved connectivity performance across networks, introduces a new 'connect to room' option and enhances support for Terminal Server and Thin Client environments.

Speaking at the product launch, NetSupport's Head of Education, Matt Jones , confirmed that the company wouldn't be resting on its laurels despite the economic climate; "Our customers can rest assured that we won't be using the current slowdown as an excuse to curtail our development strategy. We are continuing to invest in bringing updates across our product range to market. The introduction of new technology into education shows no signs of slowing down and it is therefore crucial that we continue to evolve our products to meet the day-to-day challenges schools, colleges and universities face in supporting their increasingly sophisticated IT infrastructures."

Visit www.netsupportschool.com for further details or to download a free 40 pc trial copy of NetSupport School 10.50.

For further information: Press Contact: Heather Vaters, Tel: [phone], Email: [email protected]