I'm looking at software more and more these days. Currently I'm on a project looking for software that will provide a secure testing environment. There are a ton of products out there but so far only two have really stood out as very competent. NetOP School and Net Support School.
Both of these products provide control over classroom machines including white and black lists for programs and websites. There are tons and TONS of other options that both offer and on Friday I'll be sitting down and doing a comparative analysis of the two.
Several things have led to us seeking out this type of software. We have an instructor who feels it necessary for us to spend thousands of dollars per computer lab to be able to insure that his students don't cheat ... at a University level, The ability for an instructor to better manage a classroom by limiting what students may be distracted by on their computers, and by offering teaching tools such as impromptu polls to gauge the classes comprehension, ability to offer a bluebook type testing environment by only allowing certain applications to run, allow monitoring from the instructor station during testing, as well as a digital whiteboard.
Since technology is becoming more deeply integrated into the teaching environment at the University several of these issues need to be addressed. Products such as these could assist distance learning students when combined with live streaming audio allowing the University to expand enrolment by allowing distance only slots for certain classes which may overflow each semester, and help the distance learning department enhance their offerings through more interactive classes for non-traditional students. Both of these scenarios should appeal to any University which has space concerns.
After I have analyzed these two products and spoken with their companies I'll review the actual products rather than the ideas supporting the need for such software.