How to restrict the functions a teacher can use and the computers they see in Version 8

This article applies to:
- AB Tutor v8

AB Tutor offers all those logged on with administrative rights some very powerful features. 

We recommend that network administrators do not allow all users administrative access, but that they carefully control who has access to which computers and the functions that these users can access. 

To do this, you need to:

- Set Start-up Passwords
- Create Classroom Groups 
- Set restrictions on teachers connecting to these groups

Setting Start-up Passwords

There are two levels of access to the Tutor program:

Administrator and User.  Access to both of these are controlled by start-up passwords.

The Administrator access level allows a network manager to control how the Tutor program connects to other workstations through its settings, group management and policy management tools. It also allows an administrator to restrict User level access to pre-set groups and to limit the functions that are available to tutors connecting to those groups. The Administrator has access to some very powerful features (such as controlling windows policies) and should therefore be limited to users with sufficient technical and networking expertise.

User access rights are simply to prevent unauthorised users from using the program. The administrator controls whether to enable this security level or not. Someone at user access level cannot get to any of the configuration options within the system and cannot connect to workstations outside the classroom groups created by the administrator.


The following table gives an overview of the restrictions available:



Restriction

Description

Disable Remote Watch

Prevents the tutor from Watching remote screens

Disable Remote Control

Prevents the tutor from being able to control remote screens

Disable Demo

Prevents the tutor from demoing their screen to remote machines

Disable Exhibit

Prevents the tutor from exhibiting a student’s screen to other remote machines

Disable Chat

Prevents the tutor from using the Chat feature

Disable Audio Chat

Prevents the tutor from being able to use the Audio chat feature

Disable sending messages

Prevents the tutor from being able to send simple messages

Disable Request Student Name

Prevents the tutor from being able to request remote student to enter their actual name

Disable Lock

Prevents the tutor from being able to Lock remote screens

Disable Launch

Prevents the tutor from being able to Launch remote applications

Disable Remote Application Closing

Prevents the tutor from being able to close remote applications

Disable Remote Screen Capture

Prevents the tutor from being able to use the remote screen capture

Disable File Transfer

Prevents the tutor from being able to transfer files back and forth to remote machines

Disable Sending Files

Prevents the tutor from being able to send files to remote machines

Disable Collecting Files

Prevents the tutor from being able to collect remote files

Disable Reboot

Prevents the tutor from being able to reboot remote machines

Disable Shutdown

Prevents the tutor from being able to shutdown remote machines

Disable Login

Prevents the tutor from being able to logon remote users

Disable Logoff

Prevents the tutor from being able to logoff remote users

Disable Sending Ctrl+Alt+Del

Prevents the tutor from being able to issue a Ctrl+Alt+Del command

Disable Sending Custom Key Command

Prevents the tutor from being able to send custom key sequences

Disable Policy Manager

Prevents the tutor from being able to add, edit or delete policies

Disable Sending Policies

Prevents the tutor from being able to apply policies to remote machines

Disable Clearing Policies

Prevents the tutor from being able to remove policies from remote machines

Disable Audio Chat

Prevents the tutor from being able to use the Audio chat feature

Disable Power On Computers

Prevents the tutor from being able to issue the ‘Power On’ command

Disable Log File Viewer

Prevents the tutor from being able to view remote log files

Hide Question Poll tab

Prevents the tutor from being able to access the Question polling functions

Hide Events Tab

Prevents the tutor from being able to access the event view tab

Don’t show keyword events/violations

Prevents keyword violations from showing up in the status window

Disable exam module

Prevents the tutor from using the exam module

 

By default, no start-up passwords are set in AB Tutor. 

To set start-up passwords, select the Tools menu followed by Settings and click on the Password tab.  

Both passwords can be left blank, in which case no password validation will take place on start-up and full administrator access will be granted to whoever launches the program. To secure your network, it is strongly recommended that you create passwords for both tutor- and administrator-level access as soon as possible, carefully control who has access to these passwords and change them on a regular basis in case they have been inadvertently disclosed.  

An administrator is able to control the functions of AB Tutor to which he wants his teachers to have access by setting restrictions on classroom groups - see below.  

Creating Classroom Groups

Since AB Tutor will scan and connect to all computers on the school’s network (with the client program installed and running), it will find computers located in other classrooms. In a large network, this could run into hundreds of computers. To limit the computers or users to which a teacher has access, you must create a separate classroom group consisting of the computers or users (identified by their names). 

To control the functions that a tutor is able to use with that group, you can set restrictions for that group.  

To set up a classroom group, you can simply highlight the client machines and drag them to All Groups which will create a new group.  Alternatively, click right on All Groups and select New Group.

For full details on setting up classroom groups please see ….xxxx….

 


You can use a command line parameter when starting the Tutor program which will automatically select a group.

Syntax  -g 

e.g. ABTutor.exe -g "My Classroom" 
(Enclose a group name in double quotes if it contains a space)