How Classroom Management Software can Aid in Minimizing Digital Distractions

Description: Technologically empowered classrooms, despite providing extensive benefits, can also create nearly innumerable digital distractions for the students. A classroom management software has features that serve to minimize such distractions and help in maintaining a focused and engaged learning environment.

Modern education technology allows teachers to create more interesting lessons, include audio-visual elements on a regular basis, and provide access to a much wider range of necessary resources for research and study. It helps in engaging the minds of today’s generation of digital natives and enable them to easily grasp the lessons.

However, introducing technology into classrooms also brings with it a myriad of potential distractions for students. This includes nearly endless social media portals, apps, games, chat services, photo-sharing sites, and other avenues of non-educational activity.

A Class management software can offer a number of measures that enable the minimization of such distracting elements in the classroom. They are as follows:

• Web and application restriction:
  
  Students are bound to use the Internet to engage in multiple non-educational activities. This may include posting on social media sites, chatting with peers, playing games and the like. Given that new games and applications are being released every single day, students tend to access these endless distractions on the Internet. This causes serious interference with their learning during class hours.
  
  Classroom management software comes with the ability to restrict or completely disable access to the Internet and irrelevant applications on students’ computers. It allows teachers to set a list of necessary websites and applications, and restrict the rest. Conversely, a list of unwanted websites and applications can also be enumerated, while access is allowed to the rest. This kind of flexibility enables teachers to set the right parameters to prevent students from finding opportunities for distraction with their devices.
  
  
• Remote Monitoring and Control:
  
  Most students are proficient enough with technology to mask their tabs and websites when they see their teachers approaching. Students switch between tabs with ease and go back to pursuing distracting activities when the teacher is not nearby. In addition, it is difficult for any teacher to check each student’s system physically in large classrooms.
  
  Classroom management software allows teachers to view each student’s screen from their consoles in real time. Each screen appears like a thumbnail on the teacher’s device that can be used to keep track of students’ activities. Such software also allows teachers to disable the keyboard, the mouse and even the monitor on a particular student’s device. This is especially useful if students keep reverting to inappropriate activities on their devices.
  
  
• Secure assessment:
  
  During examinations, students may end up accessing unauthorized apps and websites on their devices. Whether it be searching for information through online sources or trying to contact a peer using the internet, pupils can use their classroom devices to access various distracting elements during tests and assessments.
  
  Classroom management software usually offers a secure assessment mode. When it is activated, the assessment mode restricts students’ devices to perform only a limited set of activities. The internet access can be disabled entirely. Students can also be prohibited from switching to any screen except the one on which the test is being conducted. This keeps them from being distracted by anything that is not necessary for their immediate task.
  
  
• Quizzing:
  
  Despite all the technological restrictions, students cannot be stopped from being carried away by distracting thoughts or engaging in peer to peer conversations. This cannot be prevented even by placing boundaries on their online activity.
  
  However, this can be remedied using classroom management software that offers the option to quickly create quizzes and tests. This can comprise short multiple-choice questions, essay type questions, and other formats of quizzing students. This feature does away with the need for printing question papers and making extensive announcements before taking these motivational interest-inducing tests. When students know that they can be tested any time, they are more likely to keep their attention on the lesson rather than on whatever activity has the potential to distract them.
  
  
• One-on-one assistance:
  
  Students might face problems in navigating through the study material from their devices. If they are not well-acquainted with what is stored where and how to perform specific actions, they may find it difficult to locate the information they need. The difficulty may also affect their ability to follow lessons, and keep pace with teachers’ progression.
  
  In this case, classroom management software allows teachers to offer personal assistance to any student experiencing the aforementioned difficulties. They can detect students facing such problems by seeing their screen from the teacher’s console. The software also allows the teacher to take control of a particular student’s device. By doing this, the teacher can assist the pupil to the necessary page or application for the lesson. Teachers can also interact with students on personal chat to answer their queries if they are hesitant to ask amid the whole class. This allows students to focus on the lesson and prevents them from getting distracted.

Classroom management software is an important element for establishing a functional and effective digital classroom that meets contemporary educational requirements. Incorporating technology has become inevitable at this age since its benefits are too impactful to be ignored. Teachers must actively harness the advantages of modern education technology to offer a more relevant and interesting mode of learning.

Some hiccups and distractions that may occur due to digitizing classrooms can be effectively addressed by installing classroom management software like Faronics’ Insight. In particular, teachers can leverage the various features of such software in order to engage, maintain, and direct students’ attention to education. The potential for distracting activities can be significantly minimized, allowing teachers to create innovative and engaging lessons for imparting knowledge more effectively.