Personal Research project - to inform IT Decisions, happy to share the results.

[karldonteljames]

Hi everyone,

I’m Karl Woods, the Network Manager at Kings Hill School in Kent. I’ve been in education IT for almost 20 years, and over the last few years we’ve all seen huge changes in how schools manage their technology. I’m currently conducting a personal research project to understand how schools are using their IT infrastructure, both on-prem and in the cloud, and how this affects teaching, learning, support, and leadership. Although this is personal, it will help me make recommendations to SLT about the direction we go for our school

I’ve put together a detailed survey that takes about 15–20 minutes to complete (there are around 103 questions ranging from concent to take part in the survey, AI, backup, VM's, and comments on experiance.). The survey gathers anonymised school-level technical data to benchmark practices, identify challenges, and help inform better ICT planning. Personal details are optional and only used if you want the results shared with you.

If you’re responsible for IT in your school, I would be incredibly grateful if you could take part. I’d also really appreciate it if you could share this survey with other schools in your area; the more responses I get, the more useful the insights will be for everyone. At the end, you can request a copy of the final report to see how your school compares.

Here’s the link to the survey: School ICT Infrastructure Research – Fill in form

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and taking the time to take part; your experience and knowledge are invaluable!

Karl Woods

[karldonteljames]

Thank you to those of you who have taken part so far. There have been a handful so, but i noticed there was an issue in the branching so some questions on AI and lessons learned may have been missed. I'm sorry if this was you.

 

Thank you again. If you wouldn't mind sharing this with as many schools and leaders as possible, I would be so grateful.

[dhicks]

The "Do you have any kind of remote access for staff (not IT) so they can work remotely?" question: the only "yes" answers are  "Microsoft DirectAccess" and "a VPN", an "Other options" item would be handy there.

[karldonteljames]

Fair comment. Option added. Thanks

[browolf]

one thing i noticed in a question about encrypted devices.  With TPM, bitlocker doesn't ask for a password on boot. 

[karldonteljames]

Thanks, I should have put an option for both, really. We made the decision that even with TPM, a pin should still be required, as the TPM only protects the data if the drive is removed. If the laptop is stolen and the laptop boots up, the TPM unlocks the disk automatically. - At least that was my understanding of it.

 

[BKGarry]

Oh wow, a name I recognise from the SEGfL Email list days 🙂

[karldonteljames]

Lol. I miss the old EIS/KPSN email list!

[BKGarry]

I miss it most of the time, used to be good for local things and that sense of community.

 

Filled out the form the best I could.

 

[aydee]

for the questions including counts eg. the device counts, is this for the one school i am based in or MAT wide?

[karldonteljames]

I originally designed it on a per school basis, but i guess if you and your team support multiple schools, the MAT wide would make sense. This would be seperated by the number of primary / seconday schools in your trust, I will probably work on an average.

[karldonteljames]

Seriously, Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to do this. I know that you're all busy.

If you could share the survey with as many other schools/trusts as you could, that would be amazing. Thank you. I still have zero responses from primaries.

 

[mthomas08]

On 08/12/2025 at 13:38, BKGarry said:

Oh wow, a name I recognise from the SEGfL Email list days 🙂

 

Ah yes.. the list..   EIS.... brings back memories.

 

Perhaps we should get an email list back....... EduGeek is good and all but I'm always an email over a forum kind of guy.

 

OP: I'll fill that out today hopefully! 

Edited December 11, 2025 by mthomas08

[karldonteljames]

I agree with this. There is the ANME group, but i still find it easier seeing the information in an email rather than a forum.

[karldonteljames]

I've had a few responses, thank you to those who have completed the very long form, but had very little response from primary schools, if you could forward or share the form with other schools, that would be really helpful. 

Hope you all had a restful (as much as it can be) christmas.