Classroom Setup and Control
Details on Using
Links: Home
Contacting Computers
When the program is started all the computers are contacted and asked to send information to Classroom Setup when someone logs on or off. Computers that are turned off or not working will remain the "no answer" color and won't have a userid listed or "(free)". If these are turned on or rebooted manually, you can click on that computer's label and then click the [Contact] button to initialize the connection to it.
Controlling all Computers
To send a command to all the student computers, select one of the commands (e.g.,
Lock Screens, Unlock Screens, Send Message), and click the [Send Cmd]
button. This is at the top of the program window, and looks something
like:
A computer (perhaps one being used by a TA), can be excluded from commands sent to all by clicking on that computer and checking the "Exclude computer from commands sent to all" check box.
Controlling Individual Computers
Click on a computer "label" to open a window that sends commands to just that computer. It will look something like this:
except the IP address will be filled in, and the userid and name of the person currently logged in will be displayed if someone is logged in. Also, some buttons may not be visible if that function is not allowed. Like the main window, if you mouse-over a button or text box a tool tip will pop up with a little more information.
Locking and Unlocking
What It Is
"Locking" causes a window to be opened on the student computer that prevents other programs from being used. A message is displayed in the middle of the screen; the default message is "Your Attention is Requested by the Instructor", but you may change this. A timer will automatically remove the locking screen (in case something goes wrong with the system). The default timeout is 5 minutes, but you may change that.
How to Lock All Computers
Click the "Lock Screens" radio button, change the text message and time out if you wish, and click the [Send Cmd] button.
How to Unlock All Computers
Click the "Unlock Screens" radio button and then the [Send Cmd] button to unlock all screens before the automatic timeout.
How to Lock One Computer
Click on the computer's label, and click the [Lock] button in the pop-up window.
How to Unlock One Computer
This advanced exercise is left to the reader to figure out.
Notes
- You should unlock all before the students need to log off. While ctrl-atl-del still works, and a user can log off while the "lock screen" is up, if an application is open and it prompts the user to save data, the logoff process won't complete.
- When the lock command is sent a timer is started on the Classroom Setup program, and a count down will appear on the window just below the frame with the command options. This will be an approximate time the lock will time out on the student computers. You might keep an eye on that in case you want to renew the lock.
- A second lock command can be sent to extend the lock timeout before the screens automatically unlock.
Sending A Message
You can send text to all computers or a single computer that pops up in a window. Students have to press a [Close] button to get rid of it.
This window will not be seen when the computer is in "eTesting" mode.
Forced Logoff
A user can be forced off by clicking on the computer label and then clicking the [Logoff] button. They will get a warning message that stays up for the number of seconds (the default is 60, but you can change that), giving them time to save documents.
This might be useful for a hung system or for expelling an intruder.
There is no facility to logoff everyone.
The logoff works for computers in "eTesting" mode, but the warning window will not be seen.
Reboot
A individual computer can be rebooted by clicking on the computer label and then clicking the [Reboot] button. If someone is logged on the computer will wait until they log off before rebooting.
There is no facility to reboot every computer.
This site maintained by the Classroom and Lab Computing group of Information Technology Services.
Suggestions and comments about this web site: CLC Webmasters; Other contacts here.
This page was last modified: 3/27/2006 3:39:45 PM.