iTalc classroom management software
Computers are just as much a part of a school's equipment today as chalk and blackboards, but teachers often face a lack of software to help them keep track of what's going on in the classroom. Software with a range of features for controlling the student machines, such as the ability to control computers remotely, lock screens, or display the teacher's screen in realtime on all the student machines for demonstration purposes, would be helpful. Plenty of companies are developing classroom management software, but licenses can be costly. In addition, the software often requires the use of Windows while stipulating restrictive licensing terms.
The world of open source long lacked a usable alternative, which prompted me, a former student at a school in Chemnitz, Germany, to launch the iTalc [1] project. Originally designed to be Linux-only software, iTalc now also runs on Windows, and the roadmap for this year includes support for OS X. In the meantime, iTalc has been integrated by Edubuntu as part of the standard software distribution, thus increasing its user community. After you finish the installation, some configuration work is necessary to make sure that iTalc works properly and securely. For help with installation, see the "Setting up iTalc" box.
Remember that students have the ability to download the software and interrupt the proceedings, or even view other people's screens without them noticing. To prevent this from happening, iTalc has a public key-based authentication mechanism. The teacher's machine has a private key from which the software calculates a public key, which is then distributed to the student machines.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.