PRICE Up to 100 users, lb22 per user (exc VAT)
Internet www.netsupportschool.com supplier NetSupport 0 177 838 2281
Look no further if you want the perfect network training and teaching tool, as NetSupport School 7 is in a league of its own.
Take a sophisticated remote-control and network-support product, add a suite of training and examination tools, mix it together and you have NetSupport School (NSS). Its foundation is NetSupport Manager (NSM), which needs little in the way of introduction, as this won a well-deserved Labs Winner award in the last remote-access software Labs (see issue 104, p183) thanks to an unbeatable range of features. NSS builds on these features by delivering a fine range of tools ideally suited to classroom and training environments.
This latest version of NSS brings together a host of new features, but the jewel in its crown is undoubtedly the Testing module, which provides the tools to create tests and exams and deploy them over the network simultaneously to multiple systems. A Test Designer provides plenty of Wizards and allows you to create multiple-choice questions from five types. For example, students can be required to select the correct answer from a list, use drag-and-drop to complete a statement or correctly label highlighted areas of graphics. There are plenty of options, as each question can have text, pictures, video and sound files linked to it. After creating your questions, you move over to the Exam Editor where you link the question with a category, description and time limit and the whole project is then stored in a password-protected database.
Once you`ve created the perfect Mastermind test, you can publish it easily to selected students using the Testing Console utility. This shows when all systems are ready to go, so you can start the test simultaneously and keep track of each system as the test progresses. Students are kept informed of the remaining time during the test and, once completed or the time has run out, NSS gathers the results into a simple table that may be printed out. The new Instant Survey allows you to send a question to all participants that requires a Yes or No answer and NSS provides a real-time read-out of the tally.
The new Application Control module keeps your students in order, allowing you to decide what programs may be run on each system.
You can view all those loaded along with active applications and place each one in approved or restricted lists. Web browsing gets the same treatment, as the Web Control module provides the same levels of control, but extends this to specific websites so you can easily decide which URLs each student is allowed to access. If you see any you don`t recognise, it`s possible to select them from the Tutor interface and browse to them on the control system and also remotely change the current URL on individual systems. Access to applications may be customised for various classes by assigning privileges at the group level.
With NSM in the background, you get plenty of useful support tools and a deployment utility for Windows NT 4, 2000, XP and 2003 systems. The only main feature missing is the workstation software and hardware inventory. The control system runs the Tutor component, while the classroom runs a Student utility. NSS initiates a discovery routine that allows you to create multiple groups - it`s even possible to create groups where the student icons can be arranged to represent their physical location in the classroom.
REQUIREMENTS 486 or higher, 4MB of RAM, 6MB of hard disk space, Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP or 2003.
RATINGS
Control which applications and websites students can access and easily deploy tests over the network.
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