LanSchool review

LanSchool is classroom management software that lets a teacher see, guide and lock student computers during a lesson. It has been around for over 30 years, mostly in computer labs. Stoneware bought LanSchool in 2011, and Lenovo completed its purchase of Stoneware in 2012, so LanSchool is now part of Lenovo’s education software business. The legal pages are still published under Stoneware, Inc., “a Lenovo company”. There are two versions. LanSchool Air is hosted in the cloud and works with Windows, Mac and Chromebooks. LanSchool Classic is installed on the school’s own servers and supports Windows and Mac.

Who it’s for

LanSchool suits schools with Windows or Mac computer labs, or 1:1 laptop programs, where students spend lessons in desktop software as well as the browser. A design and technology teacher running CAD software, or a business studies teacher running spreadsheets, needs to see the whole screen, not only a Chrome tab. LanSchool does that.

It also suits schools buying Lenovo hardware. Lenovo says every Lenovo education device comes with a year of LanSchool free, which lets a school try it at scale before paying.

Schools that are all Chromebooks and Google Workspace have other good options. See Hāpara and our classroom management rankings.

What it does well

The core controls are simple. Teachers see thumbnails of every student screen and can zoom in on one. They can blank all screens to get attention, limit students to approved websites, lock devices, push a website to everyone and broadcast their own screen. Messaging works teacher to student, student to teacher and teacher to class, and students can raise a hand digitally. Air shows each device’s battery level, which saves a lesson where half the class runs out of charge during a quiz.

Classic goes further for labs. It can broadcast one student’s screen to the rest of the class, which works well for showing a good piece of work. It includes a basic test tool with up to 100 multiple-choice, true or false and essay questions that marks itself, plus single-question voting with a CSV export. It can switch student machines on or off remotely and has a tech console for IT support.

Hosting choice is a real advantage. A school with strict data rules, or poor internet, can keep Classic on its own servers. A school that wants no servers can use Air. Lenovo sells both under one licence, so a school that moves from one to the other doesn’t pay twice. Air syncs classes from Google Classroom, ClassLink and Clever.

LanSchool has an AI On-Task Monitoring feature, which Lenovo describes as optional. It tries to tell teachers which students are off task.

Where it falls short

The two versions differ, and that confuses buyers. Classic has testing, student screen broadcast and remote power control. Air has Chromebook support and co-teaching for paraeducators and co-teachers. Check which version the features you saw in a demo belong to before you commit.

Classic needs local servers, client installs and network configuration. A small school without IT staff will struggle. Air is easier, but you still need to deploy clients to every device.

LanSchool’s site doesn’t list iPad support, so schools with iPads need another tool for those devices, such as Apple Classroom.

Pricing

Lenovo doesn’t publish LanSchool prices. Pricing is quoted per school or district, and you can buy directly or through resellers. A free trial is available, and the free year with eligible Lenovo devices is worth asking about if you are replacing hardware. Budget for renewals after that first year, as our guide to the total cost of school software explains.

Privacy and data

Stoneware publishes a LanSchool privacy statement and a LanSchool Air data processing agreement, both updated in May 2026. The DPA FAQ says Lenovo and Stoneware do not sell customer data and do not use it for their own commercial purposes. It says customer data may be processed in the EU, UK, US, Asia Pacific and elsewhere, and that Lenovo tries to store data in a region the customer prefers, with Australia, the US and the UK named as standard locations. It says the DPA was written with GDPR, Brazil’s LGPD and California’s CCPA in mind.

On AI, the FAQ says On-Task Monitoring is the only AI feature, that it should not be used for decisions with lasting consequences for students, and that the anonymised data it uses is kept for 45 days.

Verdict

LanSchool is a solid pick for Windows and Mac labs and laptop programs where teachers need to see the whole desktop, and the option to host it yourself is rare. Schools buying Lenovo devices can try it for a year at no extra cost. Chromebook-only schools should compare it with Google-focused tools, and iPad schools should use something else.

See the best LanSchool alternatives