Classroom by Lightspeed

Monitor student Chromebooks while students are in your classroom

Created by Scott Aten, August 29, 2023

You will see an older post in this Blog where I introduced Lightspeed Classroom. The website has been updated since that post, so I wanted to update my Blog with this new information.

One of the biggest issues staff have faced since going 1-1, is keeping students on task when in the classroom. The lure of games, internet searches, and videos is too much for some of our students. As a classroom teacher it is challenging to keep these tech savvy students focused on the learning at hand while still making use of the great tool the Chromebooks have become. We now have a tool available to you that should help tip the advantage back into your favor. Lightspeed Classroom is a tool to monitor your students while using their Chromebooks in your classroom during your class period.

Getting started using Lightspeed Classroom
You will want to bookmark this site: https://classroom.relay.school/
Login with Google to access your account and classes. Your classes have been added for you already. If you have any students that are missing or misplaced, please put in a help desk ticket to have this resolved for you.

Helpful Instructions

I have broken down all the parts of this application to make it easy for you to get this up and running in your classroom.

Getting Started (5:41 minutes)
Class Controls (6:34 minutes)
Web Rules Option (7:03 minutes)
Using Groups (3:22 minutes)
Monitoring Students (3:07 minutes)

Recommendations for staff who have been using it

Make sure you unlock the class before they leave your room. You don’t want them to be blocked from cites they may need to access in their next period’s class. (GIS, GPS, GWD)

If something is not working the way you want, don't panic. Just set web rules to none and have students refresh.

Allow Lists
As you will see, you restrict students to an "allowed" list of sites. The teachers that helped pilot this application have started a list of URLs to include in allow lists based on content area as well as by building. You can access this list here and add URLs that are helpful for everyone. Please only add URLs to your building and sites that are beneficial to everyone. Also remember this is a document for the whole district and any changes you make are visible to everyone - not just you.

If you would like me to come and assist you during a TBT or department meeting or even one on one please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you. I am always ready to come help.

[Green Technology Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Monday, August 22, 2022

Chromebook Tips and Tricks for Teachers

Chromebook Tips and Tricks

So you have a new Chromebook, NOW WHAT?!

Created by Scott Aten, August 22, 2022

So by now you have had a chance to try out your new Chromebook. For some of you this may be your first experience using a Chromebook, so I thought it would be helpful to give you a few tips and tricks when using a Chromebook. Some of these are good for you to know since your students all have chromebooks too.

The “Everything” Key (a.k.a. The Search key or Launcher key)

This key will launch the Chrome OS launcher and provides quick access to apps and recently accessed Google docs. There is also a search box you can type in to perform google searches and type website URLs.

Note - you can also launch this by clicking on the circle icon in the lower-left corner of the screen.

Create Multiple Working “Desks”

Click this button and you will be shown the active desks in which you are working. At first you will likely only have one. But if you click the “+” sign at the top, you will be able to add another “desk”. This can be helpful if you want to create a desk for different activities you are working on and want to keep the open tabs separated.

Trackpad Tips

Two Finger Tap on the trackpad = a mouse right click
Three Fingers and swipe up = same as clicking the button. Three fingers swipe down returns to most recently used.