In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, digital literacy has become as fundamental as traditional literacy and numeracy. The use of computers in the classroom, educational software integration, and expanding access to school materials via the internet are part of this.
In 2025, students spent between one to four fours per day using educational technology on tasks directly related to their curriculums.
Furthermore, teachers are helping students build critical thinking skills that teach them how to assess the source, credibility, and quality of online content, learn how to independently spot misinformation or bias, and how to better use sources and citations for copyrighted materials.
Yet as the ABCs turned into the ABCDs, teachers have also begun to notice a number of concerning downsides to the use of tech in the classroom.
On an immediate level, when students are using computers as part of the lesson it can act as a huge distraction. Teaching kids how to research for their papers online and find good quality sources is a core skill for the future, but teachers find it hard to keep their students focused and engaged. In fact, teachers have reported a widespread decline in student engagement rates since 2019.
However, K-12 school districts in the US are set to get a new helping hand following the launch of Classroom Manager by ManagedMethods.
A custom solution for online education
The launch of Classroom Manager means that teachers and administrators now have access to an intuitive suite of features that monitor students’ browser activity and provide granular control.
What’s more, the tool also supports personalized learning, helping teachers to easily adjust the level of instruction given to individual students. The easy-to-use tool means that teachers can track the real-time screen activity of their entire class of students from the control panels.
This allows them to close tabs or block access in instances when students are looking at unrelated materials and even guide them towards helpful resources, helping to keep the class engaged, improve learning outcomes and help students hone digital literacy skills.
According to Charlie Sander, ManagedMethods’ CEO, the launch of Classroom Manager follows on from an extensive period of planning and development to directly map the features of the software products into ones that help educators excel at online instruction.
ManagedMethods is best known as the leading provider of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 cybersecurity, student safety, and compliance for K-12 school districts.
With a focus on affordable, effective software solutions that cater to the specific needs of K-12 educators, the launch of Classroom Manager is a testament to this in action.
Safeguarding students against online harm
Schools today need to comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), designed to protect students from the many safety risks in web searches, chats, social media, gaming, and other online spaces that involve bullying and self-harm.
Although many content filters exist, these are often designed as a parental tool, meaning they aren’t as well suited to the needs of educators.
For example, while some sites may warrant a school-wide, non-negotiable ban, other situations are more nuanced. Teachers may wish to give older students access to wider resources and restrict younger students to age-appropriate materials. Further, the appropriate level of access can even differ within the same class depending on the needs of each student.
Yet teachers often need to liaise with IT administrators to request adjustments meaning that personalized guardrails aren’t feasible.
Classroom Manager promises to address this challenge through its AI-powered Content Filter, which is designed to help schools comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and E-rate requirements. The easy-to-use platform allows district technology teams to block inappropriate and non-educational content.
Software designed for schools
The launch of Classroom Manager sees ManagedMethods continue to deliver for the K-12 school district, with affordable software solutions that deliver big impact by addressing the real needs of teachers today.