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To create a safe and engaged digital learning environment, you need a solution that is both powerful and easy-to-use: meet Hāpara. Our all-in-one classroom management and safety solution gives schools real-time visibility into what’s happening across student devices. This gives technology directors and educators the insights they need to manage digital distractions, block harmful content online and support responsible digital habits.
This blog post will explore how Hāpara helps your district stay ahead of digital challenges and create a learning environment where students thrive.
How Hāpara’s classroom management solution was created
The Manaiakalani school cluster in New Zealand needed a better way to manage learning in a new digital environment. While using Google Apps for Education (now Google Workspace), they realized they needed more visibility into what students were doing and tools to help keep them on track. By collaborating with Manaiakalani, Hāpara’s first tool, Teacher Dashboard was developed in 2011.
Hāpara comes from the Māori word for “dawn.” What began as a tool to give teachers a clearer picture of student activity has grown into a suite of tools that makes digital learning more productive and secure.
How Hāpara helps schools keep learners engaged and safe
Managing classrooms in a digital environment isn’t just about tracking what students do online. It’s about creating space where students can engage with personalized learning experiences, develop executive functioning skills and collaborate.
Hāpara’s classroom management solution allows teachers to see students’ browsing activity in real time and close distracting tabs or even send a quick note of encouragement. The focus is on guiding online behavior so students can be successful.
Alisha Miller, an educator at Paul Public Charter School, says, “This is an excellent application for monitoring and guiding students as they work using technology.”
Hāpara is also a proud partner with Gaggle, a 20-year veteran in student safety, offering their real-time dynamic web filter alongside our classroom management solution. The partnership between Hāpara and Gaggle means your district can be proactive about student safety, ensuring your students are protected no matter where they’re learning.
Explore Hāpara’s growing products and benefits
Classroom management
Highlights
Primary benefit: Helping teachers manage digital distractions, developing learners’ executive functioning skills and promoting digital citizenship
How it works: This browser monitoring tool works on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, allowing teachers to see what learners are doing in their browser. With this visibility, teachers can redirect off-task behavior, support learners’ by sending direct messages, focus learners on websites and schedule guided browsing sessions ahead of time.
Teacher Dashboard
(Available to schools who use Google Workspace for Education)
Primary benefit: Providing a birds-eye view of learners’ Google Drive progress for quicker formative feedback
How it works: From one dashboard, teachers can see learners’ recent Google Drive files, preview them and open them with one click, making it easy to provide formative feedback.
Student safety and student wellness
Gaggle Web Filter
Primary benefit: Differentiation and personalization
How it works: Teachers can search, create, change and share digital materials, lessons and projects.
Gaggle Safety Management
(available in the Southern Hemisphere)
Primary benefit: Allows you to proactively support learners in need with student wellness alerts
How it works: This award-winning student wellness tool uses advanced machine learning and human review to analyze student content and alert your school team about at-risk situations.
Why do school districts choose Hāpara’s classroom management solution?
Gives teachers visibility into learning
I love Hāpara so much! I just started using the program this year, and it has radically changed the way I teach whenever students are on computers (about 20% of my lessons). Hāpara allows me to sit and work or conference with individual students, while also keeping an eye on what the entire rest of my class is working on. It allows me to focus on individual student needs in a whole new way."
Clayton Winter
educator at School of the Future
Lifesaver in middle school"
Melissa Teagarden
educator at St. Mary’s School
Allows teachers to guide browsing and promote digital citizenship
Most schools are required to have some sort of digital monitoring system, including a web filter. While Hāpara has both of these features to keep learners safe and on-task, it also has many other benefits. For example, using filters and monitoring, teachers can check on learners to ensure they are focused on the task at hand or intervene when a student needs help. Teachers can model good research, and do in-class activities to encourage positive digital citizenship.
Hāpara not only gives teachers an inside look at how learners are progressing, but it also provides learners a way to show their parents what’s happening in their digital learning environment.
I love Hāpara's philosophy — protect, not police. We are able to use this to protect our students and to teach them good digital citizenship, while not feeling like police. I also love using the screen monitoring feature during class. I can instantly message students if necessary or pause or freeze screens if necessary — all privately with the student instead of calling them out in front of their class."
Christy Lex
IT manager and math teacher at Lake County Christian Academy
Promotes efficiency and organization
There is much more to Hāpara than monitoring student devices to keep them on task. The organizational features coupled with digital citizenship opportunities are immense.”
Andrew Ferrone
administrator and tech coach at Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES
Ultimate control, support, scaffolding, organization, planning, monitoring, and guidance, in one place!"
Marc Ross
educator in Knox County Schools
Enables personalization and differentiation
Hāpara solves the problem of monitoring student work and progress, as well as maintaining student focus in the digital world. Hāpara also makes differentiation and personalization easy for educators and discreet for learners."
Steve Darschewski
technology integration specialist in Harvard Community Unit School District 50
One of the things that I love is the function of being able to view different groups of students.”
Jonathan Zabel
educator in Appleton Area School District
Helps teachers build positive classroom relationships
The Announcements feature is an easy way to communicate with our students to set them on the right path of success. It's a great tool for quick tips and redirections."
Jonathan Olar
educator at Maya High School
I really appreciate the message feature so that I can redirect students without having to draw attention to them by going to their desk or calling out."
Jessica Reidenbaugh
educator in Beavercreek City Public Schools
Being able to see, block, or restrict what my students are doing on their computers without sitting next to them is very helpful. Being able to encourage them when they are doing well, and meeting expectations by dropping a friendly note on their screen makes a huge impact. Being able to remind them of the expectations discretely has also proven to be effective. Thank you for giving me the tools."
Shannon Detman
educator at Milne-Kelvin Grove School District 91
User-friendly
It's the most user-friendly and versatile student monitoring program I have ever used!"
Bernard
educator in Knox County Schools
I love it. So much better than other programs. Gives you control of the classroom."
Ruth P.
educator in New York
I love Hāpara so much. It makes my life so much easier."
Alexandria Patinkav
educator
Transforming digital learning with an all-in-one solution
With over 2.2 million users in 40+ countries, Hāpara is trusted by schools and districts across the world to create safe and engaged digital learning experiences. With real-time visibility into learning across devices, your district can also protect students and keep them on track.
Want to see what Hāpara can do for your district? Request a free demo today and take the first step toward a safer, more engaged digital learning environment.
Discover a better way to manage the digital classroom
We’ve created an essential guide for school leaders to help manage digital learning environments.
