Their award-winning cloud-based classroom instruction, online safety, and IT management solution, classroom.cloud has just received more new features to better support student online safety, reduce school energy costs, and more!

Watch their quick summary video below:

Students reporting concerns

When students report a concern by sending a message in confidence to a trusted member of staff, the member of staff reviewing the concern can assign it to a category. They can use the default keyword categories or add their own to be more specific about the issue. For example, if the concern is about a wellbeing issue (our brand-new keyword category), a new category such as ‘Depression’ or 'Domestic Abuse' could be assigned to it. This is handy when reviewing what type of concerns are being reported.

Reduce energy costs

In these energy-conscious times, switching off unused devices is a no-brainer. So, in addition to being able to power off devices in bulk, and Restart/Log out a selected device on an ad hoc basis, classroom.cloud goes one step further with automated Power Off and Inactivity schedules for the entire school/sites via the Power Management settings.

Schools can simply slide the indicator along to the time when they want devices to switch off or when inactivity schedules can be applied. For example, from Monday to Friday, a school may want all devices to be automatically powered off at 5 pm, whilst during lunchtime, if a device has been inactive for 10 minutes, it would be powered off (the logged-on user would be notified). No wasted energy. No wasted money. It’s that simple!

Audit Log

To better keep track of device activity and how technology is used across the whole school, the BETA Audit Log now includes online safety and power management settings, in addition to changes to your school’s licenses, when users have logged in and out, when additional sites have been added to or removed from the school campus, when a user started and stopped remote controlling a device – and more.

Devices – filters/support

To help IT teams find and filter school devices, a new filter has been added to the devices page. Additionally, extended platform support has been added for Android devices, allowing inventory data from school tablets to be gathered.

User Accounts

When syncing your classroom.cloud account with your Azure AD User Provisioning Service, a new email alert is sent to the admin if an account doesn't provision correctly.

Visit classroom.cloud to learn more and start a free trial

NetSupport has announced that classroom.cloud, its award-winning solution for classroom management, online safety and IT management, now supports Windows 11 SE (Microsoft’s new, cloud-first operating system for education) – making it perfect for a Microsoft 365 Cloud environment.

Technology in education is here to stay and so, to make learning accessible to every student, classroom.cloud has extended its Microsoft integration and is now certified for installation/deployment on Windows 11 SE devices via Microsoft Intune.

Using Microsoft Surface SE devices, classroom.cloud can help teachers lead blended learning in a Microsoft 365 Cloud environment, as well as monitor and protect students from online risks – all while allowing IT technicians to manage and maximise school technology.

NetSupport’s CEO, Al Kingsley, comments, “We’re really excited that classroom.cloud is in one of the first cohorts of apps to be fully certified for Windows 11 SE – and we’re delighted to add this to its already-comprehensive list of supported platforms to help even more schools make digital learning accessible for all and to leverage the full benefits available from Windows 11 SE.

When it comes to integrations, classroom.cloud also links directly to MYCONCERN, CPOMS, Persona, Natterhub and many other education solutions – and, for technology management, it integrates with Google Classroom, ClassLink, Microsoft School Data Sync, Clever and Microsoft Office 365. classroom.cloud also integrates with Microsoft Teams as part of its online safety toolkit to help schools create a safer learning environment.

About classroom.cloud

Already deployed by schools, MATs and Ministries of Education across the world, classroom.cloud provides award-winning teaching, classroom management, online safety and IT management tools. From screen sharing and monitoring (all within one environment) to remote control and assessment tools, classroom.cloud makes it easy to lead learning in classrooms and with remote learners, while keeping students safe.

For more information, press only: Katie Hall, NetSupport, marketing@netsupportsoftware.com. Visit https://classroom.cloud/

To support schools with the ongoing challenge of providing remote and blended learning (a lasting impact from coronavirus), NetSupport has launched its new, easy-to-use, cloud-based teaching and classroom management platform, classroom.cloud.

Whether in a school classroom, at home, or a hybrid of both, classroom.cloud enables teachers to lead learning in any location with ease, and most importantly, deliver a sense of continuity. This not only helps to minimise disruption for students (which can have a negative impact on learning outcomes) but also supports teachers' wellbeing by removing the extra stress in having to switch platforms.

Using a simple dashboard, teachers can select the class they wish to teach and are automatically connected to the relevant student devices. Within minutes, teachers can run ‘live’ lessons that are engaging, interactive and will keep students immersed and on target for success. Combined with its classroom management tools, such as screen monitoring and website and application metering, teachers can also manage student behaviour online and ensure they are safe and on task.

As schools prepare for the new academic term, NetSupport is offering schools the chance to try classroom.cloud free for 30 days, to help schools ensure it’s the right fit for them.

Al Kingsley, Managing Director of NetSupport explains:

“During such unsettled times, maintaining continuity and consistency is so important – for both learners and teachers. Having one platform that can seamlessly switch between in-class and remote learning provides that continuity and helps minimise disruption. We have built the platform specifically to help teachers deliver quality learning experiences no matter where they, or their students are. Having developed classroom.cloud with the help of teachers, I am confident it is the easiest online platform teachers will ever use, with tools that capture feedback, monitor and manage online behaviour and ensure students remain engaged.”

Features of classroom.cloud include:

• Connect to students’ devices quickly and easily by a range of methods
  
• Interact with students in real time via chat, messages and help requests
  
• Assess progress and topic understanding with class surveys
  
• Monitor students’ screens, web and app use to ensure they’re on task
  
• Stay safe with ‘allowed’ and ‘restricted’ website and application lists
  
• Gain attention by locking or blanking students’ screens
  
• Designed for use with Microsoft SDS or Google Classroom platforms for maximum flexibility creating your classes
  
• Multi-platform support for use with a mix of devices
  

Easy to set up, configure, manage and use, classroom.cloud integrates directly with a school’s existing infrastructure, with the ability to easily manage teacher and student devices centrally.

Kingsley concludes, “For IT technicians dealing with the technical challenges of remote learning models, classroom.cloud is extremely easy to integrate and can be deployed in minutes. With clear central configuration and management, it is ideal for school districts and Trusts and, once set up, the IT team’s involvement is minimal – plus, for teachers, using its intuitive interface is a breeze. As schools gear up for a new academic year, we are keen to support teachers and IT teams to embrace technology that enables great teacher-led learning without the burden of onerous admin.”

About NetSupport

NetSupport is an award-winning developer of classroom instruction, IT management and eSafety solutions for schools worldwide. For over 30 years, it has been producing tried and trusted products that have an installation base of more than 18 million users in over 120 countries.

For more information, visit www.netsupportsoftware.com

Mobility Print is now a like-for-like Google Cloud Print alternative

It’s no secret Google Cloud Print is inching closer to deprecation. Many on EduGeek already recommend PaperCut's Mobility Print as a good Google Cloud Print alternative, Well, except it doesn’t enable printing remotely, and outside your network, right?

Not anymore! Mobility Print now has Cloud Print functionality.

Chromebook users can now send their print jobs over the internet with Mobility Print. We’ve just launched with Chromebook users, for now, Mac and Windows are coming soon.

This breakthrough means Mobility Print now works as a like-for-like replacement for Google Cloud Print, giving users a native print experience from any network.

But you probably have a bunch of questions...

Is it fast?

Print jobs stay local when possible, and only get routed via the internet if a user doesn’t have a direct local connection to the Mobility Print server. Print jobs are sent over a direct peer-to-peer connection using the quickest route possible. This ensures lightning-fast maximum send-speed.

Check.

Is it secure?

The peer-to-peer connection between a user’s computer and the Mobility Print server is encrypted. No one on the internet, including PaperCut, has access to any print jobs or metadata.

Check.

Do I need to open my firewall to the internet?

No, you don’t. We designed Cloud Print specifically for environments that are not exposed to the internet. All you need is an outbound internet connection from your Mobility Print server, and it will work.

Check.

All this means that you can now also confidently provide printing to your untrusted guest network.

But how much is it? Free ninety-nine. Sorry, failed attempt at being funny. It’s free. You can use Mobility Print, including Cloud Print, for free, or you can use it as part of PaperCut NG/MF.

In a nutshell. Mobility Print has always allowed you to print from any device, now it’ll allow you to print from anywhere.

Lenovo’s LanSchool, one of the pioneers and innovators in classroom management, is proud to announce the launch of our cloud-based offering, LanSchool Air in the UK.

We empower educators to create meaningful 1:1 learning experiences in both remote and traditional classrooms. LanSchool helps teachers keep students engaged in a safer online environment whether in the classroom or through remote learning.

Designed to meet the complex instructional needs of connected classrooms, LanSchool Air guides learning, promotes collaboration, and helps teachers make the most of class time. The platform offers several features and integrations to improve learning outcomes, including:

• Push Website allows teachers to instantly launch the same web page on every classroom device, saving valuable class time.
  
• Raise Hand and Messaging give students a way to confidentially raise their hand and allows teachers to engage with a single student or a group to ensure understanding.
  
• Thumbnail Monitoring gives teachers thumbnail views of all student screens, making it easily to see what students are working on and identify when additional assistance is required.
  
• Web Limiting keeps students safe and on task by limiting web browsing to approved websites through white listing and by blocking unwanted websites via blacklisting.
  
• Blank Screens empowers teachers to focus attention by blanking all student screens, and locking down keyboards and mice, with one click.
  
• Snapshot lets instructors take screenshots of student screens, whether to showcase great work or share activities during parent-teacher conferences.
  
• Google Classroom Integration makes class rostering easy.
  

If you have questions about LanSchool in the cloud and how it can support your distance learning goals, sign up for a trial here or contact sales@lanschool.com.

Here at Schools Broadband, we have further enhanced our offering so staff and students can have the same level of content filtering and reporting whether at home or at school via our unique 4G filtered Internet solution. As standard our solution provides real time reporting of users that enables you to manage and report on their activity for safeguarding and Prevent compliance.

What is more, until at least the end of June all data bundle packages come with an additional free 10Gigabytes of data per user to further support home learning.

Our 4G Mobile Broadband solutions can be filtered in the same way as our fixed line broadband connections meaning pupils have the same safe learning environment and reporting as if they were sat in school; ensuring schools are fully Prevent compliant.

Our unique solution uses Netsweeper to deliver a robust hosted 4G web filtering solution for your establishment. The proposed solution is in line with the recommendations from KCSIE and complies with the DFE prevent duties. Additionally, Schools Broadband and Netsweeper are active members of the Internet Watch foundation (IWF).

The solution can be further refined by blocking and allowing student access to the internet by using either, URL’s Categories or the calendar feature. This will ensure that your educational establishment always has full control over the student’s internet access .

Our solution can be deployed in a number of ways to support the following:

• Remote staff worker
  
• Disadvantaged student
  
• Rapid site deployment for when no connectivity currently exists
  
• Failover for existing broadband connection; delivering 100% network uptime guarantee
  

Benefits

• Integration into your existing setup if you’re already a Schools Broadband customer
  
• Keep pupils safe
  
• Access to remote resources securely and safely
  
• Prevent Duty compliant reporting
  
• Perfect for remote workers or disadvantaged pupils
  
• Seamless integration with Chromebooks, iPad’s, PC’s, MAC’s and generic tablets
  
• Dongle, Mi-fi and 4G / 5G tablet sim slot compatible
  
• Quick setup of as little as 48 hours.
  
• Contracts for as little as 30 days
  
• Data bundles ranging from 2GB to Unlimited usage per Sim card
  
• No configuration required on end user’s device
  
• Seamless setup, integration, management, and reporting
  

For more information please see https://www.schoolsbroadband.co.uk/mobilebroadband or contact us at info@talk-straight.com / 0 11 33 222 333.

With Covid-19 bringing new restrictions and changes to our lives every day, the only thing to do is to follow advice and be considerate in our interactions with others to prevent the spread of the virus as much as possible – and help to save lives.

Technology is set to play an important role during our social distancing obligations, whether that’s using websites and social media to stay informed, or working from home. Tools like NetSupport Manager can really help in this situation. Working over LAN, WAN or the internet, IT teams can use it to support staff working remotely, while staff can use it to access work on their work PCs securely.

NetSupport are keen to help schools stay operational and be able to remotely support staff working from home with ease – so they’re offering the use of NetSupport Manager for free for the next few months to ensure that productivity is maintained as far as possible, without time being lost to IT issues.

*NetSupport Manager can’t be installed on any devices already using NetSupport School.

Click here to find out more.

The secret to NetSupport’s award-winning solutions is that they don’t assume what makes a great product; they work with local schools and their staff to continuously develop features and functions, ensuring they provide real value-add benefits.

That’s why their award-winning Classroom Management (V14) and IT Asset Management solutions (V4.8) now include new features to further support student wellbeing, cost saving, and teacher edtech confidence.

Boosting wellbeing

NetSupport School’s classroom management tools already help schools monitor, instruct, control and assess, and its latest new feature helps support student wellbeing.

Some students feel comfortable talking about their stress and worries, so teachers are aware of their mental state, but quieter students may often keep things to themselves more and give very little outward indication of any issues they may be having. NetSupport want these students to be able to let someone know how they are feeling in an indirect and non-verbal way, so that’s why they’ve added a Student Feedback mode to NetSupport School. It uses visual indicators for students to choose so that teachers can capture their mood, how confident they feel with lesson topics and whether they need extra support – allowing them to take appropriate actions where needed.

Enhancing teachers’ tech confidence

There are all kinds of barriers to technology use in education: teachers may not have time to learn new solutions, may lack confidence with technology in general or may simply be overwhelmed by the number of applications they’re required to be on board with. To help these teachers, a new ‘Easy’ mode has been added to NetSupport School. This mode pares back the teacher’s console to a limited number of frequently used tools, so that the screen is uncluttered and user-friendly. And following NetSupport School’s rule of accessing tools in the least number of clicks possible, it makes them accessible to even the most technology-shy teachers, so they can begin to experience the benefits of using them in their classroom and gain confidence at the same time.

Getting the most out of your tech

NetSupport DNA’s IT Asset Management tools already help network managers to track, monitor and manage all network and IT devices centrally, but to help drill down further on where savings can be made, NetSupport have added a new Efficiency View. This is a unique dashboard that highlights at a glance the key areas where your school can operate more resourcefully, such as showing which PCs are least effectively used (and therefore can be redeployed) or which applications are the least used (and therefore may not need their licences renewing).

Keeping in step with GDPR

NetSupport DNA already supplies several tools to help schools to be GDPR-compliant – and now they’re bringing you another one! The new Data Retention Policy helps your school to reduce the amount of personal data it stores. It works by using a scheduled policy to automatically delete data over a selected time period. This data can include, for example, internet/application metering dates and times, dates and times of user login sessions, USB device use, software distribution, triggered eSafety keywords – and more. It’s a handy way to ensure that you don’t have personal data hanging around for years and years or for a long period of time after someone has left the school, for instance.

To learn more about these new features, click here.

NetSupport's big new update to their NetSupport DNA software (Network and IT Management with Safeguarding solution) is here and ready for 'Back to School'! Without further ado, let’s take a look at the new features...

Firstly, in addition to being able to restrict websites and applications by their specific names, you can now block or restrict apps and games by their window’s title. How does this help? Well, it means that technicians can add a broader layer of security while keeping users on task. For example, an application with the word ‘multi-player’ included in the title can blocked during working hours – instantly ensuring the focus remains on productivity.

IT support isn’t confined to the school’s WAN any longer; the remote control features can now support other schools that are not part of their main infrastructure. IT technicians can use the NetSupport DNA console to connect to a device at another school they support via the secure in-built Gateway component. This is really useful for multi-site schools where support is needed for remote schools that aren’t part of the same WAN.

There are some instances where users just need to be logged on to more than one device at once. Normally, this is prevented, but now, when needed, NetSupport DNA can authorise a specific user to log on multiple PCs at once. This comes in especially handy for roaming staff or students who may have several devices.

As an extra layer of support for the IT team, they have made it easy for the NetSupport DNA master console password to be reset internally. This allows them to continue their daily tasks without disrupting productivity.

The drive space available for each device is now visible in the Explorer view as a performance indicator, helping technicians to see at a glance which PCs are running out of space and need to be reviewed.

NetSupport DNA’s Safeguarding module is an extremely useful tool for schools to be able to confidently provide a safe learning environment for students. NetSupport have given it a boost by providing new features and enhancements for the Azure-hosted safeguarding view that’s designed to help Safeguarding staff access safeguarding alerts on the go. So, as well as viewing triggered safeguarding keywords, contextual intelligence-based risk alerts, reported concerns by a child (from a school device) and the trending topics word cloud, the cloud now includes:

• A multi-language user interface - available in French, German, Spanish, English and Italian.
  
• Teacher ‘Add a concern’ - for situations where teachers are verbally told of a student’s concern, they can log it in the cloud console.
  
• Re-assign concerns to a colleague to follow up on (e.g. in case of staff holidays or absences) so DSLs can be sure that any concerns are not left unreviewed.
  
• Add the ‘Report a concern’ feature to a school's website. It's now been made easy for schools to add this to their own website to extend the opportunity for students to report any concerns they have to a trusted member of staff via the internet, from any location and device – and at any time of day.
  

And as if that wasn't enough, there are also a mass of enhancements to significantly improve NetSupport DNA’s performance with larger installations!

New features summary:

• Block or restrict apps and games by their Windows name
  
• Support devices on remote networks outside of your WAN
  
• Allow multiple simultaneous PC logons for selected users
  
• Easier DNA master console password reset
  
• Device drive space now can be viewed as a performance indicator allowing for easier detection of low disk space on devices
  
• DNA Safeguarding module new features for Azure hosted Safeguarding view - see article or a full run-down
  
• Improved performance for larger installations
  

To learn more about these new features, click here.

To celebrate NetSupport’s 30th anniversary of providing award-winning school IT management solutions, a bundle of new features has been added to the Network and IT Asset Management, Safeguarding and Classroom Management toolkits, providing extra platform support and safeguarding tools for schools!

These new features not only help IT staff, Teachers and Safeguarding Leads to work more efficiently but also further supports schools safeguarding policies.

Alongside the existing Windows, Mac, iOS and Chrome support, NetSupport DNA now includes the ability to monitor and gather inventories from Android devices and display panels. In addition, there is greater platform support for deployment within MDM devices, plus extra security options.

Extended features in NetSupport DNA v4.7 include:

• Enhanced software distribution
  
• Endpoint security with encrypted drives
  
• User tracking
  
• Custom searches
  
• Enhanced device inventory
  
• Centralised remote management
  
• And much more
  

NetSupport is now also the first vendor to take the concept of keyword filtering and monitoring to the next level by using key components of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to utilise ‘CI’ – Contextual Intelligence – in a new module that delivers a Risk Index for keywords triggered by students. It automatically assesses the context and history of a child’s activities; whether they are vulnerable; what device they’re on; the time of day; library or supervised classroom; which websites they’re visiting; what previous alerts they may have triggered; what earlier activities may have set the scene – and in doing so, creates a numerical risk indicator when a keyword is triggered.

To complement this leap forward, an all-new cloud-based safeguarding console has also been developed to allow staff to access key information and alerts from triggers across the school’s local network while on the go. This fully secure, Azure-hosted console also includes a smartphone-optimised user interface to help them quickly search for a specific child and review any recent alerts or concerns.

Plus, within the classroom, NetSupport School extends its capabilities with a new unified Classroom and eSafety app for iOS which brings together the functionality previously available separately in the NetSupport DNA Browser and NetSupport School Student apps – making app use simpler and more streamlined for users of NetSupport DNA or NetSupport School, or both!

To learn about NetSupport DNA 4.70 or to download a free trial, CLICK HERE

NetSupport has just released the latest update to their award-winning IT Asset Management solution, NetSupport DNA: version 4.5.

The new release includes a whole host of new tools and added support by extended its support to include iOS and Chrome as well as enhancing Mac OS X.

NetSupport DNA can now monitor and support users in a multi-platform environment, from real-time monitoring to internet metering and safeguarding tools including keyword alerting, you can now gain a complete overview of all activity – regardless of platform – and gather data on how technology is being used.

New user management features have been added such as a time-based summary of all activity by a specific user, PC or department (presented in a chronological view), which shows what time the logon session began and ended, as well as what applications were used and when, plus internet usage – over a set time period.

'Profiles' can now be used to apply specific settings to different groups of devices or users (e.g. department level). This means dedicated settings (such as internet access, print metering and much more) can be applied to specific departments e.g. the Marketing team to allow them access to Facebook.

Furthermore, it’s now even easier to navigate to different views using 'bookmarks'; boost security, with multiple log-ins being denied; check network health in real-time with performance data such as CPU and memory usage displayed in Explorer mode - and support communication with ‘locate user’ features, allowing staff members that do not have the NetSupport DNA Console installed to find and contact other users in the organisation.

Safeguarding, a keyword and phrase monitoring feature, has been enhanced so that when a safeguarding keyword is copied, typed or searched for across the network, NetSupport DNA can enable the devices webcam (this feature is turned-off by default) to capture an image of the user – in addition to logging the event and providing a recording and screen shot of the incident.

In addition to students being able to report their concerns from any school PC to a trusted member of staff, teachers can also “Add a Concern” where they are verbally told of a student’s problem. Not only does this help to stop any incidents recorded onto pieces of paper from going missing, but it helps prevent the concern being forgotten about or not being reported/recorded in the correct manner.

NetSupport have also made great efforts to now include other platforms such as iOS and Chrome as well as beefing up its OSX support, which will be a great help in schools where multi-platform networks are in use.

A full rundown of these new features would take up a bit more space than we can use here so we have included some handy bullet points covering these new additions for you to digest:

New and enhanced platform support

NetSupport DNA has extended its support to include iOS, Chrome – as well as enhancing its Mac OS X support– to help schools control, monitor and support users in a multi-platform environment.

- iOS Browser app

· Full hardware inventory

· Real-time monitoring – using icon, details or thumbnail views.

· Detailed summary of all internet activity

· Apply lists of approved and restricted URLs.

· Keyword and phrase monitoring

· online safeguarding resources list

· Student ‘Report a Concern’

[h=3]- Mac Agent – enhanced[/h]

· Full hardware and software inventory

· Real-time monitoring (using icon, details or thumbnail views)

· Detailed summary of all internet activity

· Keyword and phrase monitoring

· Report a Concern option.

· Online safeguarding resources list

[h=3]- Chrome Agent[/h]

· Full hardware inventory

· Real-time monitoring (using icon, details or thumbnail views)

· Hardware and software alerts

· Activity monitoring tool

· Report a Concern option.

· Keyword and phrase monitoring

[h=2]Safeguarding[/h]

- Teacher ‘Add a concern’

- Webcam enabled

- False Alarm

[h=2]User Management[/h]

- Activity Monitoring

- Profiles

- Logon Control

- Locate a User

- Bookmarks

[h=2]Enhancements in v4.5[/h]

- Console security – enhanced

- Explorer – enhanced

You can find out more about NetSupport DNA v4.5, as well as being able to download a free 50-PC trial copy and seeing video tours of the product by visiting www.netsupportdna.com.

If you have any questions you can PM the NetSupport team on EduGeek by clicking on any of the following:

@Al_NetSupport

@Matt_NetSupport

@Emma_NetSupport

@Samantha_NetSupport

@Tom_NetSupport

@Katie_netsupport

Windows Security Center - Firstly, they have created a centralised management and monitoring area called the Windows Security Center which first made an appearance in the Anniversary Update last year.

To quote Microsoft ‘…the Windows Security Center will link to Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection, via the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph, to allow IT administrators to easily follow an attack across endpoints and email in a seamless and integrated way.’

You can find the Security Centre in Settings > Update and Security > Windows Defender > Open Windows Defender Security Centre

*Note that if you are using a third party security solution this may not be available until you uninstall it

From here you can monitor and control all the security options for your Windows 10 computer whereas previously you had to use several separate and disparate facilities but from this one console you can now configure and set:

• Windows Defender scans
  
• Firewall, network and app rules (controlling which apps can use the internet)
  
• App and browser controls
  
• Family options (previously Parental Controls)
  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE-3zbvtdKI

Also introduced in the Creators Edition is the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection. This is a facility for enterprise/education customers which allows Windows Defender to operate on a much higher level and allows for much more centralised control by IT departments.

It utilises a much more in-depth security engine which monitors for not only ‘regular’ viruses and malware but also analyses for potential new and as yet, unrecognised attacks.

You can find out more here:https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsforbusiness/windows-atp

A brief overview can been seen in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CzqJmNBpzc

And a more in-depth look here:

You can also find an interesting whitepaper here dealing with actions you can take once threats have been detected: http://wincom.blob.core.windows.net/documents/Post_Breach_Dealing_with_Advanced_Threats_Whitepaper.pdf

Windows Upgrade Analytics – This new facility which will, via the Windows Analytics Dashboard within the Microsoft Operations Management Suite (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/cloud-platform/operations-management-suite) , allow you to scan your network to ensure that you know which Windows devices are capable of being upgraded to Windows 10 and what steps you need to take to ensure that they are compatible.

You can find out more about this here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windowsforbusiness/upgrade-analytics

UEFI Conversion – This will allow IT departments to take advantage of UEFI features on older hardware where, for example, Windows 7 had been installed using legacy BIOS options and will convert the OS via an automated process when upgrading to Windows 10 with System Centre Configuration Manager (SCCM).

You can find more information and instructions here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sccm/osd/deploy-use/task-sequence-steps-to-manage-bios-to-uefi-conversion

Differential Downloads – This means updates after the Creators Update will only include the changes that have been made since the last update, decreasing the download size by approximately 35%. We’re also working to improve System Center Configuration Manager express updates to help reduce the monthly update size by up to 90%.

these will apply to both Windows desktop operating systems and mobile platforms

You can find out a brief on these and other updates in this Microsoft blog article here: https://blogs.windows.com/business/2016/12/06/windows-10-creators-update-advances-security-best-class-modern-tools/#M2LYpgGCcKuis3Qu.97

Foldr brings together your digital resources, school network, cloud services and mobile devices into one seamless, elegant and fun-to-use learning environment.

Forget using separate apps and standalone web services - Foldr enables file access, student collaboration, homework management and so much more.

Ready for any device they throw at you

- Provide access to 'My Documents' and shared drives from any device, on and off campus.

- Connect could storage (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Sharepoint and more) and provide a unified interface to all your files wherever they are.

- Seamlessly move and copy files between all your storage locations as if they were one.

Be an IT Rock Star!

- Active Directory integration means there's no need to create new accounts.

- All your existing file permissions are respective, drop Foldr into your network and you’re good to go.

- Secure your school’s data with customisable security policies and location based two factor authentication

- SSO. Foldr is an easy to configure alternative to ADFS. Foldr can also be integrated into existing ADFS environments as a service provider.

Teachers love Foldr too!

- Integrated file sharing and homework setting tools mean you can ditch your expensive VLE!

- Teachers can create class groups on the fly - invite specific students or provide a join code for self enrolment.

- Allow teachers to reset forgotten student passwords. Everyone can reset their own password.

- Your iPads will never run out of space again! Shoot photo and video straight to the network with our iOS app.

G Suite or Office 365? Go with both, combined.

- Live Word, Excel and Powerpoint editing in Office (Mac, Windows and iOS), G Suite and Office Online.

- Chromebook users can now edit Office documents stored in Google Drive, the best of both worlds!

- Create shared Google Drive shares and recreate your school’s shared drive structure

Let’s get started!

Sign up for a free 30 day trial at www.foldr.io/trial

Following on from last year’s anniversary update, which many saw as primarily as a roll up of bug fixes and optimisations and, yes, the addition of a few new features, Microsoft are to roll out what can be seen as quite a big expansion to Windows 10’s capabilities in the form of the Creators Update.

You can see a preview the Creators Update overview at the Microsoft October 2016 Event here.

Be warned it’s over 2 hours long, but well worth the viewing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNeVaadNHg8

Due in early 2017 this Windows 10 update will focus squarely at the space currently occupied by Apple and the design community.

They are doing this by introducing several new features and apps which will allow users to work with 3D natively within Windows.

Some of these are obvious, such as Paint 3D and some are based a capabilities to be introduced later in the year such as VR headsets.

One of the features I like best is Microsoft utilising a 3D scanning app which, by all accounts, will be available not just on Windows phones but Android and iOS too. The specifics of how these will tie into Windows and Paint 3D directly remains to be announced.

You can see a demo of this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mik8NQrY41c

What is apparent though, is that with the introduction of the new Surface Book and Surface Studio as well as the existing Surface range, all with the capability of becoming devices used for design with pen input, this is a huge boon for schools who have rolled these out to the classroom.

Enhanced BYOD device support - application management

With the Creators Update Microsoft are introducing mobile application management, a new feature that will protect data on personal devices without requiring the device to be enrolled in a Mobile Device Management solution. This will allow you to have more oversight and apply policies to the applications staff use to be productive. A large part of this is managing data control without requiring you to fully manage staff/pupil devices. This feature has been initially pitched for business but could have uses in schools. You can see a video about it below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5AppC_0bn0

As the only way you can catch a glimpse of the new features is via the Windows Insider Program (https://insider.windows.com/) I have installed the Creators Update (build 14986) to my Surface to try out what is the most visible and immediately accessible feature of the Creators Update, Paint 3D.

A quick look at Paint 3D:

I’ve been playing with Paint 3D as part of the Insiders Program for the past week or so and am quite impressed so far.

A couple of caveats I have to cover first though:

• Firstly, it is still in its preview phase with features possibly not present or as yet incomplete
  
• Details of what the tech specs of systems which can run it fully are not yet released but I am using a Surface (Atom version not Pro) with no issues yet, although I have been informed by Microsoft that it should run on any Windows 10 device
  

As with previous versions of Paint in the past, the layout has been kept simple with all tools readily available via an icon driven menu bar at the top of the screen.

Clicking on one of these will then produce a side menu on the right-hand side with the extra options for each.

The side menu is very clearly laid out and makes for a very uncluttered interface and leaves no uncertainty as to what each option does allowing users to dive straight in.

One particular feature I really like is the timeline option at the top allowing you to roll back through your creative process easily and start back at a particular point when things go awry (however I have noticed in the preview version this does not always work correctly, so please do not rely on this yet!).

The top menu consists of:

• Tools
  
• 3D Tools
  
• Stickers (2D Shapes, cartoon icons such as eyes, mouths and backgrounds)
  
• Text
  
• Canvas
  
• Effects
  

As a (very) quick example of how easy to use 3D Paint is to get working on custom 3D models is to select - 3D Tools – Cube and drag the cube shape to size:

Once inserted you will see that the cube now has 4 navigation sliders added. These sliders will allow you to manipulate the object in all dimensions. Note the left hand slider controls the distance from the background, in this case the white rectangle)

To make your object look better you can add custom stickers or graphics. In this case I have rotated the cube and added an EduGeek case sticker graphic.

Once more to ease of use of this program comes to the fore as it immediately allows you to manipulate the dimensions and location of the graphic very easily indeed.

Paint 3D is also intelligent enough to work out which surface it is being applied to as you can see below:

And within a few minutes I have created this:

Once you have created your model you can then either save it locally in a suitable file format, either as a ‘flat’ image (.jpg, .png etc., 3D format (.fbx, .3mf, .stl, .obj) or publish it to Remix 3D:

Remix 3D (www.remix3d.com) is a free online repository of 3D models created by Microsoft and other contributors which allows you to import these from the large library held there and you can grab these easily simply by going to Remix 3D, selecting the model you want to use and clicking the ‘Remix in Paint 3D’ button:

And it imports this model directly into Paint 3D:

And this is just scratching the surface of what Paint 3D can do!

If you are in a hurry to look at 3D models from the basic file itself Microsoft have also very kindly included a View 3D Preview app which allows you to open and view 3D models in all dimensions without the risk of accidentally editing them!

All in all, I found Paint 3D to be a very powerful, friendly yet easy to use application which has taken the old and basic Paint program we all know and given it a whole new lease of life.

With a new interface which has clearly had a lot of thought gone into it enabling users of almost all ages to dive straight in, this will be a feature of Windows 10 Creators Update heavily used in classroom in the very near future I think.

Other features to look out for in the Creators Update are the inbuilt live game streaming facility (watch from 40:20 on the Microsoft Event video for a demonstration) and the introduction of a range of VR headsets (not to be confused with Microsoft’s own HoloLens) from Microsoft partners such as Dell, Asus, Lenovo and Acer.

These headsets are to be ‘affordable’ with some rumours putting them in the £200-£250+ range with several manufacturers set to launch them at some point this year but will require some quite up to date hardware to run on. This requirements are rumoured (again, no hard for final official specs are currently available) to be:

• DX 12 Compatible graphics chipset
  
• Quad core CPU
  
• An Intel Haswell CPU if using integrated graphics
  
• AMD Users would require a 6000 series APU
  
• USB 3.0
  

By all accounts these headsets will also be more powerful than current devices from the likes of Oculus, with them employing more sensors to actually position you is space (moving around) rather than just detecting your head movements.

Windows 10 Creators Update is coming, and it’s going to introduce a whole raft of features that will be useful not just only in the classroom, but in the home too. A very real Windows update indeed.

In preparation for this article we put a few questions to Microsoft that we thought you may have wanted some answers to:

*Note that these answers may be subject to change

Q. Will Microsoft be demonstrating the Creators update at BETT?

A. No we won’t be actively showing this at BETT as it still at preview build, through Windows Insiders

Q. What file formats will Paint 3D be capable of outputting in regards to 3D printing?

A. We currently support .fbx, .3mf, .stl, and .obj file types. We may add more file types in the future. Windows Insiders can leave feedback on the Feedback Hub for other file types requests

Q. Will the 3D scanning app be available for all phone formats (Windows, Android and iOS) on launch and will it just be phone only or can you use tablets such as the Surface as well?

A. We have not confirmed which platforms, devices or specs required. But as Microsoft Research released Microsoft Fusion (3D Scanning APP for IOS) you could make the assumption it will be cross platform

Q. Will the 3D capabilities work over all Surface devices (even the earlier ones)?

A. We have not confirmed the full requirements yet, but if your device can run Windows 10 you can use 3D, you should expect better performance when using DirectX 10 or greater though

Q. Will Paint 3D be mouse and pen driven or just pen when used in conjunction with the scanning app?

A. Mouse & Pen

Q. Is there any launch date announced for the Creators Update yet or is it still pencilled in for ‘early’ 2017?

A. Early 2017 (possibly April)

The Windows 10 Creators Update will be more than just a new fancy version of Paint, and we hope to bring you more information on its whole capabilities once the additional hardware and features become available.

*UPDATE*

As is typical with any article about to go live, we were suddenly caught out when Microsoft launched an updated preview version last week (build 15007) with quite a few new features and tweaks to be included with the Creators Update.

Thankfully this update does not really add to the 3D features we wanted to focus on in this article but it does containing a significant amount of new things, so, to ensure we don’t leave anything out this new update includes the following tweaks, and if you want to learn more, please visit the Microsoft blog here: https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/01/12/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-15007-pc-mobile/#ZPcYUbOwHuSfy2Mi.97

*Please note I have left out many smaller and developer related updates to focus on the main points.

Edge Browser Enhancements:

• Tab previews. Hovering over a tab will give you a preview of the page content (see below):
  

• Share Tabs improved features
  
• Import data from other browsers
  
• You can now opt to ‘Run’ a downloadable link without having to save it first
  
• Web Notes to now offer the same Windows Ink features that you can use in Maps and Photos
  
• Improved text scaling and zoom on mobile devices (up to 500%)
  
• Web to App linking. If you have an app that utilises the site content this app will can open automatically
  

• Downloadable themes from the Windows Store (not yet fully working but I don’t really need to explain what this is!)
  
• Cortana to follow you around (in a non-creepy way). What this means, for example, is that should you use Cortana at work and logon with the same account at home on a laptop, your previous searches and interactions will be available to you
  
• Windows Hello setup improvements. If you use Windows Hello facial recognition to access devices then these improvements should help you setup Hello easier
  
• New rainbow flag emoji!
  
• Snipping Tool keyboard navigation improvements
  

This must be used at the first-run setup screen (shown below) when you boot a fresh pc for the first time (when using a clean installed PC without preconfigured setup via SCCM etc)

Updated with new video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic988IUTn4I&feature=youtu.be

It allows you to:

• Set up a computer that is tailored to provide students with the tools they need for learning while removing apps and features that they don't need.
  Places tiles for OneNote, Office 365 web apps, Sway, and Microsoft Classroom on the Start menu

  
  

  
  
  Installs OneDrive for cloud-based documents and places it on the Start menu and taskbar

  
  

  
  
  Sets Microsoft Edge as the default browser

  
  

  
  
  Uninstalls apps not specific to education, such as Solitaire and Sports

  
  

  
  
  Turns off Offers and tips

  
  

  
  
  Prevents students from adding personal Microsoft accounts to the computer

  
  

  
   
  
• Significantly improves how fast students sign-in.
  
• The app connects the PCs to your school’s cloud so IT can manage them (optional).
  
• Windows 10 automatically manages accounts no matter how many students use the PC.
  
• Keeps computers up-to-date without interfering with class time using Windows Update and maintenance hours (by default, 12 AM).
  
• Customizes the sign-in screen to support students with IDs and temporary users.
  
• Locks down the computer to prevent mischievous activity:
  Prevents students from installing apps

  
  

  
  
  Prevents students from removing the computer from the school's device management system

  
  

  
  
  Prevents students from removing the Set up School PCs settings

  
  

  
  

To create a USB stick (must be 1GB or larger) you must have build 1607 installed on your PC then you can install the setup app from the Microsoft Store at: https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nblggh4ls40

Once installed you can run the app to start the wizard.

Hit Start and you can begin to configure your quick setup file for fresh PC’s

The first choice is allowing guest accounts access to this PC which is normally not used for a lot of school environments

After that you will be asked to enter your wireless network information:

NOTE: If you do not use wireless, then you can enter some random names into the SSID name and set the security type to open (ensure this is sufficiently random to prevent someone creating a hotspot and your pc’s signing in automatically)

If the pc being setup does not have wifi this should not be used.

Next insert your USB stick and the tool will save the setup file ready for your PC’s. The setup file will be named SetupSchoolPCs.ppkg which is ran by the pc when inserted at the fresh install stage.

What if the PC has already been used or is not at the first run stage

You can revert the pc back to a fresh state by going to Settings > Update & security > Recovery > Reset this PC

NOTE: This will remove all data and reset windows back to a clean state.

Setting up a PC using the usb stick

Insert your USB stick into the pc at the setup screen, Windows will detect the setup package and show the following screen:

It will then ask you to provision the device and select the setup package you want to use followed by some details of the changes as well as the obligatory legal stuff.

After those steps are done you will be asked who owns the pc and if you want to join the pc to a domain.

Enter your domain login credentials and the pc will join the domain. When you see a progress ring you can remove the usb device and the PC should be ready to use.

Useful Links:

• https://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/edu/windows/use-set-up-school-pcs-app
  
• https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9nblggh4ls40
  
• Download as a PDF: Article - Using the schools setup app.pdf
  

New LanSchool v8.0 from Lenovo Software Makes Classrooms More Collaborative with Classroom Management Software

 

Lenovo Software today launched LanSchool v8.0, an expanded version of its award-winning classroom technology that promotes collaborative learning while minimizing distractions. Celebrating over 30 years developing classroom management software and powering 1.5 million education devices, v8.0 keeps students engaged and enhances safety in the digital environment.

Responding to the needs of Teachers and Technology Administrators in Education, LanSchool v8.0 now provides additional support for Chromebooks in Education, major speed enhancements (4 to 8 x faster) than previous versions when sharing screens, and a newly designed Reports Server.

Keeping Students Engaged in a Safe, Digital Learning Environment

LanSchool v8.0 added two additional functions for e-safety in the classroom by allowing teachers and administrators to receive alerts and snapshots of “banned words” and phrases to protect students from online dangers and monitor any problems students are expressing.

Other updates include expanded Chromebook support, faster screen sharing and remote access plus an enhanced report server.

“We recognize the challenges students and teachers face on a daily basis. LanSchool helps to provide a collaborative and interactive environment, free from distractions, where children can learn and schools get the greatest return from their technology investment” says Rick German, CEO Stoneware, a Lenovo Company.

Efficient and Works across all devices

LanSchool works across Operating Systems and all devices including: Windows PCs & Tablets, Chromebooks, Macs, iOS, Android, and Thin Clients.

“LanSchool Classroom Management has made a huge impact on our District and Teachers. The software has enabled Teachers to take back control of the classroom while using technology. It’s easy to use and makes Teachers feel empowered while engaging their students while using technology. “

Geoffrey S. Graboyes, Systems Support Specialist II

Broward County Public Schools

Pricing and Availability

LanSchool v8.0 is free to all existing customers with a current upgrade license. Customers using previous versions of LanSchool without upgrade protection can receive the new version at preferred pricing. To get your copy of LanSchool v8.0 contact your sales representative, email sales@lenovosoftware.com, or call 888-473-9485 [u.S. and Canada] and 860-819-3774 [international]

 

For more information about LanSchool v8.0 visit: http://lanschool.com/v8

Or for a free trial visit: http://lenovosoftware.com/lanschool/trial

Yesterday Microsoft announced at their Build Conference a raft of new features for Windows 10 to be enjoyed by their education customers.

These feature will been introduced into the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition and will address several issue identified by Microsoft. namely that:

• Over 90% of schools in the US use shared devices and it can take too long for students to get to work quickly.
  
• Nearly 50% of teachers serve as their own tech support in their school classrooms, with unique challenges for set-up, updating devices, and overall ease of use.
  
• Nearly 60% of teachers’ purchase and load apps themselves. Today, locating, purchasing and loading apps across shared devices can be very cumbersome.
  
• And, over half of the students in the world still don’t have ready access to technology. Of those that do, many are using older, slower systems without the benefits of modern innovation
  

Admittedly, some of the points they are not directly relevant to UK schools, however the solutions they have developed will help schools globally.

These include:

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• Faster, simpler set up with all new tools to help educators get up and running quickly.
  
• The Anniversary Update simplifies the deployment process so a teacher can set up devices in three easy steps, even with no dedicated IT support, with an all new “Set up School PCs” app for setting up a ‘Shared Cart of Devices’ in schools.
  

• For schools with dedicated IT support, the updated Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer tool enables them to set-up shared devices, in bulk, in a matter of minutes.
  

• And, Windows 10 is faster than ever, with an average first log-in of 26 seconds and subsequent log-ins of 6 seconds*, helping classes with shared devices get productive quickly.
  
• Secure Assessments with ‘Take a Test’ App: Teachers and schools need advanced, secure tools for modern test-taking and new tools can simplify standardized testing for a variety of test taking needs.
  
• An all-new “Take a Test” app offers simplified options for test-taking: For high-stakes tests, the app creates a browser-based, locked-down environment for more secure, online assessments, for tests that shouldn’t have copy/paste privileges, access to files, or other distractions. For simple formative and quizzing needs, the app couples with a teacher’s preferred assessment website to deliver digital assessments.
  
• Windows Update Improvements: New ‘active hour’ policies enable devices to update outside of class times so classrooms can stay productive and efficient without disruptions, while helping to keep devices secure and up-to-date.
  
• Education Ready Windows Store: Teachers can easily find, acquire, and assign free and paid apps in the Windows Store for Business. With more than 5 billion visits to the Windows Store, a vibrant storefront is available for educators, with all new apps for experiences from FluidMath, a handwriting-based educational math app, to Kno, which offers a library of over 200K books and simulations for all grade levels, StaffPad for music composition, BrainPOP and more.
  

You can find out more information here: https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2016/04/14/new-innovations-for-the-classroom-with-the-windows-10-anniversary-update/

There is not firm date for the Anniversary Edition launch yet, but it is suspected this will be at some point in June/July to coincide with the anniversary of Windows 10's launch.

And this video gives you an overview of some of the new features:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApOTrTYfuGE

 

Yet more good news from Microsoft for all of you who have been waiting on the Education Edition of Minecraft.

This announcement lets us know that Minecraft Education Edition is almost ready:

In addition, the existing Minecraft educator community members have been great partners in helping us prioritize the most valuable features of MinecraftEdu, and what else they’d like to see in Minecraft: Education Edition. As we get closer to launch, we are increasing our focus on getting deep insights and feedback from educators.In May, we will host a Beta program with over 100 schools from 30 countries around the world to experience Minecraft: Education Edition, share more detailed feedback on the product with us, and help us fine-tune the experience across a diverse set of learning environments.

 

 

Then in June, we will release Minecraft: Education Edition with an early access program for educators to download, try for free, and give us feedback. Minecraft: Education Edition early access will be available in 11 languages and 41 countries. During the summer months, we are also going to be focused on working with educators on building out lesson plans, sharing learning activity ideas, and creating re-usable projects.

 

 

If you are new to Minecraft, or if you aren’t sure where to start in bringing Minecraft into your classroom and incorporating into your curriculum, the early access program is going to be a great way to familiarize yourself with Minecraft: Education Edition. We also suggest educators check out our many resources on education.minecraft.net, including lesson plans like the Great Pyramids of Giza, or electrical circuits using Redstone. In addition, the Minecraft Mentors program connects you with educators experienced in teaching with Minecraft and demystifies the process.

 

 

At the conclusion of our early access program, Minecraft: Education Edition user licenses will be available for purchase through direct and volume licensing channels. The first release of Minecraft: Education Edition will run on the latest versions of Windows 10 and Mac OS X El Capitan. To prepare for using Minecraft: Education Edition,

 

 

• Upgrade your computers to Windows 10 or OS X El Capitan

• Sign up for a free Office 365 Education account using your school or district email for each educator and student

 

For more information and resources on Minecraft: Education Edition, and to sign up to be notified when the early access program becomes available, please visit education.minecraft.net.

We hope you join us for the early access program in June, and that you continue to dialogue with us as we build Minecraft into an immersive vehicle for learning.

If you do get on either the beta or early access program please let us all know what you think of it

 

It’s been a big day for Microsoft in education today with several announcements which you should all find very interesting and helpful indeed!

Firstly, here is a raft of new features for teachers and students to be included in Office 365 Education:

---

As part of today’s Microsoft’s Education announcement, we are announcing new and unique experiences and updates to Office 365 Education coming summer 2016* that will make it easier for teachers to manage their classroom; students to learn; and IT administrators to set it all up.

Classroom automation with School Data Sync:

We have heard that administrators want the flexibility to set up and manage their online classroom. That’s why today we are announcing School Data Sync (SDS), which will also be included in Office 365 Education, to enable the class creation and updates in Microsoft Classroom. By syncing user profiles and class rosters from a Student Information System (SIS) into Office 365 Education through Azure Active Directory, SDS automates management of classes and class materials for teachers, freeing up time for lesson planning and teaching.

Students logged in to Office 365 Education are automatically logged in to other supported classroom applications—saving instruction and administrative time. Since IT admins can determine what student data to sync and which apps can access the data, it is easy to remain in compliance with your standards and policies.

We have a list of the SIS partners on the School Data Sync website here and will continue to add more throughout the preview. A primary goal of ours is to deliver value to educators by delivering assignments (and grades) created in Office or OneNote in other education applications. Already, for launch, we have over 25 education partners committed to integrating with Office 365 Education.

Here is an example of how Omaha Public Schools is using both Microsoft Classroom Preview (formerly referred to as “Class Dashboard” in private preview) and School Data Sync Preview in Office 365 Education:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID-xCwPfxIg

Office 365 Education - now with Microsoft Classroom

Office 365 Education now includes Microsoft Classroom, a single experience for managing all classes and assignment workflow—with a teacher and student view.

Microsoft Classroom has a OneNote Class Notebook built into every class, allowing teachers to create assignments with due dates, complete with Outlook calendar events and reminders. The assignments can reference materials from the Class Notebook, Office documents and interactive content. You can create assignments for multiple classes at the same time, easily grade them, or give them private feedback and ask them to resubmit.

Students can receive, complete and submit assignments on their favorite devices, including mobile devices via the Microsoft Classroom app. Throughout the workflow, they have the ability collaborate with classmates in real time within Office documents, online or offline, without worrying about losing formatting.

Also launching:

Quick quizzes and surveys with Microsoft Forms - Microsoft Forms is a new part of Office 365 Education that allows teachers or students to easily and quickly create custom surveys, quizzes, questionnaires, registrations and more

Educator and staff collaboration with PLC Groups and Staff Notebooks - Just as teachers have been using Class Notebooks in their classrooms, they have also been using a similar digital notebook with their fellow staff members. OneNote Staff Notebooks help them save time, get organized, collaborate more effectively and capture activities, such as professional development and classroom observations.

OneNote Class Notebook - Now, with the new Class Notebook add-in announced last month, built based on teacher feedback, teachers can share, track and grade assignments across classes wherever is most convenient (OneNote, Microsoft Classroom or their existing LMS)—without having to jump between websites and applications.

To read more about the new products you can see the full blog article at: Office Blogs

The individual product information can be found at:

• Microsoft Classroom - https://classroom.microsoft.com/
  
• OneNote Class Notebook - https://www.onenote.com/classnotebook
  
• Microsoft Forms - https://forms.office.com/
  
• School Data Sync - https://sds.microsoft.com/
  
• OneNote Staff Notebooks - https://www.onenote.com/staffnotebookedu
  
• OneNote Learning Tools - Learning Tools for OneNote
  

To start off you can find out about the different editions of Windows 10 and your upgrade options (ty Arthur):

Our dedicated Windows 10 forum can be found here and we also have these threads which may prove useful when we all learn more:

The Windows 10 thread

Microsoft Windows 10 Quick Guide

Deploying Windows 10

Windows 10 Media Creation Tool

When will Windows 10 show up on EES?

Windows 10 Deployment (MDT)

Windows 10 Group Policy

Microsoft releases tool to block unwanted Windows 10 updates (KB3073930)

Hopefully Microsoft will roll out the hotfixes quickly, nvidia drivers are currently very buggy with a lot of outstanding issues.

.

Version 11 adds to the product’s unrivalled range of PC monitoring, instant assessment and collaboration tools with over 200 new and updated features - all wrapped in a totally refreshed interface that ensures teachers have instant access to all key features.

What’s new?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14801[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14799[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]14803[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]14800[/ATTACH]

Highlights in version 11 include a new and unique student and peer assessment module, a wealth of new features for technicians, a new tablet version for teachers, added platform support for Windows 8 and Google Chrome OS and improved file transfer and video performance.

Built around current teaching practices for the continual assessment of learning, the new Question and Answer module is an exciting addition to NetSupport School’s range of assessment and collaboration tools. With existing features such as the custom Test Designer and instant Student Surveys already giving teachers the ability to electronically assess student attainment, the new module is further proof that NetSupport has taken note of current classroom challenges.

The module allows teachers to verbally ask questions to the whole class, gauge student answers and understanding, introduce new questioning styles to the lesson (such as basketball questioning) and develop peer assessment opportunities, as well as track rewards against both the individual and, where appropriate, teams.

Support for new technologies

Schools are increasingly embracing new PC technologies and in recent years NetSupport has introduced support for environments including thin/zero client computing, terminal server, virtual desktops and shared resource computing.

The Google Chromebook is the latest cost-effective, easy-to-manage computing solution set to put technology into the hands of more students and, from version 11, NetSupport School provides support for the Chrome OS.

NetSupport also hasn’t ignored the impact that hand-held technology is currently having in the modern learning environment.

When paired with an existing NetSupport School Windows desktop Tutor, NetSupport’s new Tutor Assistant app (compatible with both Apple iOS and Android tablets as well as, uniquely, iOS and Android smartphones and available as a free download from the Apple iTunes store and Google Play) increases a teacher’s mobility around the classroom, enabling them to retain key control and monitoring of all student workstations. It also allows teaching assistants to better support the role of the teacher in monitoring student progress.

If you are a current NetSupport School user, or would like to find out more then visit www.netsupportschool.com for more information and a free 40 PC, 30 day trial.

New NetSupport Assist 1.10 - Mac^® and Linux classroom monitoring and instruction software – introduces optimised File Transfer and Power Management capabilities

Leading UK education software supplier NetSupport, developer of the market-leading classroom management solution for Windows, NetSupport School, is pleased to announce the latest update to its Mac^® and Linux-compatible classroom monitoring and instruction tool, NetSupport Assist.

Originally released in Spring 2011 and named Network Computing’s 2012 New Product of the Year, NetSupport Assist responds to the growing use of Mac^® and Linux technology within today’s modern learning environments, providing teachers with a powerful combination of monitoring, presentation and collaboration tools that help with the efficient delivery of computer-led lessons.

The addition of Assist to the company’s education portfolio saw NetSupport become the first classroom management software vendor to offer compatible solutions across Windows, Mac^® and Linux environments, providing complete flexibility for mixed platform classrooms.

Highlights in Version 1.10 include the introduction of NetSupport’s Delta File Transfer and Send/Collect Work technology, helping teachers and trainers automate the movement of coursework and files between teacher and student machines.

Using a simple drag and drop interface to transfer files from the teacher machine to a selected student machine, NetSupport’s intelligent ‘Delta File Transfer’ technology is recognised as being one of the most efficient and powerful on the market, reducing data transfer times when overwriting files that already exist by checking individual blocks of data within a file and only transferring changed data.

Further extending a teacher’s ability to automate and manage the distribution of work files, the Send and Collect Work feature enables a pre-prepared file to be sent to multiple student machines. At the end of the lesson, each file, appended with the individual student’s details, can be automatically retrieved by the teacher.

Another key addition in the new version is Power Management, enabling all classroom computers to be centrally powered on or off with a single click.

Commenting on the release of version 1.10, NetSupport’s Development Director, Rob Hawkins, said: “Our Windows-based classroom management technology is widely acknowledged as the market leader and we are confident that as more and more schools, colleges and universities adopt Mac^® and Linux technology, NetSupport Assist will become the classroom instruction software of choice for these environments.

“This latest update gives us the opportunity to continue the product’s evolution by adding our tried and tested File Transfer and Power Management technology and, in doing so, further enhancing a teacher’s classroom management toolkit.

“The technical landscape within the modern school is continually evolving and we are naturally conscious that our software needs to keep pace. NetSupport Assist has already come a long way since it was launched, as recognised by our recent Network Computing award, and customers can expect further exciting updates in coming months.”

Learn more about NetSupport Assist by visiting www.netsupportassist.com

* NetSupport is a sponsor of EduGeek as well FYI.