Compared
Lightspeed Alert and VEN Method
Different tools for different jobs. This page describes Lightspeed Alert only from its public positioning and makes no claim about it we cannot back; for its pricing and details, use its own site.
Lightspeed Alert · Lightspeed Systems
A student safety monitoring product that scans activity on school devices and accounts for indicators of self-harm, violence or bullying, with review and alerts to designated staff.
VEN Method
A teacher-led ritual for the whole class, one round per pair (about three minutes each, for as long as the teacher chooses): a secret colour, three seconds of eye contact, one question both answer while everyone listens. The method itself is published free under CC BY-SA; the software is $1 per student per month.
| VEN Method | Lightspeed Alert | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | A teacher-led ritual for the whole class, one round per pair (about three minutes each, for as long as the teacher chooses): a secret colour, three seconds of eye contact, one question both answer while everyone listens. | Device and account activity monitoring with human review and staff alerts. |
| Where it runs | On the classroom screen from the teacher’s laptop. Students bring nothing and have no accounts. | On school-managed devices and accounts. |
| What students do | Stand up in pairs, look at each other, answer out loud. Everyone else practises listening. | Are monitored; do not interact with the service. |
| What the teacher does | Plans in two minutes, approves every question one by one, runs the rounds, watches the room. | Designated staff receive alerts. |
| Data and monitoring | A first name per student, pairings, timings, the teacher’s private ratings and 1–5 check-out answers. No cameras, microphones, monitoring or alerts. | Student activity from school devices; see their privacy policy. |
| Evidence | One six-week controlled pilot at a single Danish school (800 students, not randomised): cohesion +29% vs +3.1% in control; unexcused absence −18% vs +2%. Under ESSA that supports Tier 4, a research-based rationale — not Tier 1 or 2. Details and limitations. | See their site. |
| Price | The method is published free under CC BY-SA 4.0 and can be run with paper. The software is $1 per student per month. | District contracts; see their site. |
Can you use both?
They can coexist. VEN Method does not monitor anything: no cameras, microphones, scanning or alerts. It works on the cause — children who do not know each other — where monitoring works on the symptom.
Which one?
If your board requires monitoring, that decision is separate from this one. VEN Method is the daily practice that gives children a reason to be seen by their classmates rather than by a scanner.
See it in a room, not a table.
The home page runs a round the way a class sees it, and the whole method is published free.