GoGuardian is a Chrome extension that enables teachers to monitor students’ activities on their Chromebooks to ensure they remain focused.
“GoGuardian is a monitoring service software for K-12, primarily used for monitoring and filtering websites,” said Alex Blanco, the campus’s IT Technician.
According to Blanco, GoGuardian can view and block the web pages students visit by checking the traffic through the router. This means GoGuardian can see all the websites a device visits, provided it’s connected to the school Wi-Fi. The extension can then redirect the user to a blocked screen.
Teachers can utilize the software in various ways. “One of the ways I use it is to create a blocked sites list,” Amanda Davison, an AVID and US history teacher, said.
Teachers can view, change, close, and open new tabs for students. GoGuardian helps teachers ensure students are on appropriate sites to complete their schoolwork.
Darren Jeong, a freshman, said they thought GoGuardian was overall beneficial.
Although GoGuardian usually works well, it has its limitations. “Kids have found workarounds, so I don’t know how effective that is, and some teachers might not notice when kids are playing games or doing something they shouldn’t be,” Blanco said.
Despite its flaws, GoGuardian continues to evolve, aiming to serve both students and teachers better.
