(Courtesy Lightspeed Systems)

Complementing the crackdown on Personal Mobile Devices (PMDs)) this year, known as PMDs, another big change within MCPS is the switch from Go Guardian to Lightspeed

GoGuardian and Lightspeed are two softwares that allow teachers to monitor what students are doing on their computers during class. They allow teachers to see what websites students are on, what tabs they have open and block out any distractions. Teachers use these programs for a variety of purposes, including monitoring students during digital tests, keeping students accountable and keeping up with their progress on assignments.

“I like the idea that I could push things out to students. I can see what they’re doing. I could also see long-term what they’re doing and I would share that with students,” social studies teacher Mitchell Joy said.

Before this school year, MCPS used GoGuardian for this purpose, however, GoGuardian was removed from MCPS’s budget in January 2024 due to its lack of practical use in the classroom. According to GoGuardian’s website, in July 2023, the company increased its prices from $100 to $125 per teacher. With that hefty price tag, the amount of teachers using the software doesn’t justify the amount MCPS spends.

“We have about 14 to 15 thousand teachers. In this school year alone, our records show six thousand teachers have used GoGuardian at least once,” MCPS Chief of Strategic Initiatives, Stephanie Sharon, said in an interview with the Walt Whitman Black & White.

Along with the large price tag, GoGuardian also had its issues, making life harder for teachers when using Chromebooks in their classes.

“[GoGuardian] created problems because if a teacher stayed in or kicked someone out [of assignments] then they couldn’t access it in another class so it did create some complications,” history teacher Rainer Kulenkampff said.

Kulenkampff is one of the teachers who doesn’t believe in using these monitoring systems. He says that it is not due to its practical use but because he believes in using more traditional paper and pencil assignments.

“I’m starting to use Chromebooks less in my class so I don’t really have a reason to use it,” Kulenkampff said.

Some teachers use this technology every day and the county did not provide a large amount of training to help teachers adapt to this switch.

“We did have a training during pre-service week when teachers were just here but I think there were maybe 20 teachers who showed up,” Joy said.

Even with some county-led training done before the school year, some teachers still haven’t gotten adjusted to the new Lightspeed software.

“I think I’m not used to Lightspeed enough yet. I guess I know how to see and how to put things out [to students] but I just need some more time I guess with it,” Joy said.