Blocking/restricting internet access

NetSupport School allows you to control what websites Students are able to access. This is done by creating Approved or Restricted Websites lists which can then be applied to individual or all connected Students. Students can view the current restrictions in the Student Toolbar. You can also block all web access for all Students if required.

Notes:

  • Web restrictions can be applied at start-up. Click Options in the Tutor Console, select Network Settings from the drop-down menu and choose Start Options - Restrictions.

  • You can set the web access from the Class tab in the ribbon in all view modes.

Apply approved or restricted websites

  1. If you want to apply restrictions to individual Student's, select their icons in the List viewClosed Displays the currently connected Students or groups. You can switch the display mode between large icons and details view from the View tab in the ribbon..

  2. Select the Class tab in the ribbon and click Approved Only or Block Restricted.

  3. To acknowledge which restriction has been activated, an appropriate indicator will appear next to the Student icons. Red for restricted, green for approved.

  4. If a Student is currently viewing a website included in the activated restriction list, they will be redirected to a message stating that the website has been blocked by the Tutor.

Notes:

  • You can amend the URL that restricted websites will be redirected to. Click Options in the Tutor Console, select Network Settings from the drop-down menu, choose Administration - Security and enter the required URL in the URL that restricted websites will be redirected to field.

  • Full internet redirection is supported on Edge, Firefox and Chrome. For other browsers, the browser window will close.

  • You can specify a time limit that certain internet permissions apply for. Select the Class tab in the ribbon and click Time Limited Access.

End approved or restricted websites

  1. To remove the restrictions for individual Student's, select their icons in the List view.

  2. Select the Class tab in the ribbon and click Unrestricted.

  3. The green or red indicator will be removed from the selected Student icons.

Note: Because internet browsers often hold the results of recent web access attempts in cache memory, lifting an internet restriction may not appear to take effect immediately. If this happens, you may have to restart the browser. The same situation may arise if you are using an application which requires internet access to a site that has been blocked. Once the restriction has been lifted, you may need to restart the application for it to recognise the change.

Block all web access

Allows you to block all access to the internet for Students. An indicator will appear next to the Student icons to confirm internet usage is suspended.

  1. If you want to block web access for individual Student's, select their icons in the List view.

  2. Select the Class tab in the ribbon and click Restrict All.

  3. All web access will be blocked for the selected Students.

Notes:

  • You can instantly block all web access for all Students by clicking Internet on the caption bar (this can be done from any window). This changes to Blocked to show web access is now blocked. If this is not displayed, you can add it by clicking the Configure Quick Access List icon and selecting Web access from the list.  

  • You can also block web access for all connected Students from the Tutor Toolbar.

See also:

Setting up an approved or restricted website list

Web Control module