Birkerød (DK), February 2008 - The Danish IT company Danware is launching version 5.5 of NetOp School, one of the world's leading programmes for managing and running computer-based classrooms. NetOp School 5.5 supports all Windows platforms, including Vista. At the same time, Danware is introducing a new technology that makes it much easier for teachers to oversee students' use of the Internet.
Previously, it was only possible to block Internet traffic through Microsoft Internet Explorer, but with NetOp School 5.5, teachers are now able to block Internet traffic on all browsers. Danware has developed a special software component that prevents web browsers from accessing selected Internet pages, regardless of which browser is installed on the computer.
"With NetOp School 5.5, teachers will have more and better opportunities to monitor students' use of the Internet. Today's students are experienced users of the Internet and it's tempting to explore cyberspace, which means that teachers need to be even more aware. NetOp School 5.5 provides teachers with increased flexibility and an overview with regards to teaching", says Ole Haag, Product Manager, Danware.
Increased flexibility with NetOp School 5.5 NetOp School 5.5 enables the transfer of sound, images, and video between the teacher's and the students' computer screens, increasing the teacher's degree of flexibility. By using a USB memory stick, teachers are able to bring their work home and prepare assignments and student tests, store them, and then easily manage their computer-aided teaching at school the following day directly from the USB stick.
NetOp School 5.5 also features a new import module, making it more straightforward for teachers to import prepared assignments if they want to make use of the teacher module that is installed on the computer. The only thing the teacher needs to do is to choose the categories to be imported, and the files are then automatically placed in the correct indexes, ready for use through the teacher module.
"NetOp School is a tool that has really made use of the investments made over the years on computers and especially on teaching programmes for various courses. With NetOp School, teachers are able to involve each student directly in connection with computer work and, in combination with an interactive whiteboard, students can actively work together on each other's assignments, controlled via NetOp School", says Ole Haag, Product Manager, Danware.
The increasing use of wireless networks places severe demands on programmes such as NetOp School. Even though wireless technology is still very inferior to cable networks, a large number of wireless access points are currently installed at schools. The bandwidth per user is often less than two megabytes, which is only about five percent of the bandwidth on a cable network.
"This poses some challenges for us, which we are continuously trying to overcome with technology renewals. For instance, we have found that our capacity becomes five times better if the wireless access point uses multicast. Therefore, you can now select this method when you choose your wireless communication profile", says Ole Haag, Product Manager, Danware.
NetOp(r) School 5.5 can be upgraded for existing customers who use NetOp School 5.0 or previous versions of NetOp School.
