always_flying

This is probably one of the best ways to do this. Has anyone connected things up to Fabric yet? I've been doing some work on this, amongst the distractions...

Hi all, I wanted to share some thoughts and experiences from my role, where I’ve been developing dashboards connected via API alongside the day-to-day demands of my job. While some of these dashboards are widely utilised, others see more sporadic use, raising questions about their overall impact and value. Lately, the biggest challenge I’ve encountered has been the performance of iSAMS. This continues to negatively affect its soft perception onsite, compounded by a noticeable decline in the quality of some Helpdesk responses. When it comes to the roadmap and development of tools, I used to advocate for keeping everything under one roof. However, my mindset is shifting as we see tangible benefits from external tools such as alternative parent portals and/or SOCS. For instance, we recently received an iSAMS invoice detailing module costs, prompting me to consider dropping features like the Student Portal and Calendar Manager to offset the cost of external vendor tools. That said, I do share concerns echoed by others: will iSAMS develop internal dependencies on modules, crippling (potentially) the usability of our own data? In exploring alternatives, I’ve been investigating tools from companies like LAC (Learning Analytics Cooperative), also known as Consilience, and how they integrate with platforms like Veracross. These integrations seem promising but raise questions about scalability, support, and adding another SaaS. Another key factor in this conversation is the recent change in Power BI costing. This has implications for how we structure data analytics and reporting moving forward, especially when balancing costs against functionality and frequency of use. I’d love to hear how others are navigating these challenges. Are you exploring external tools as well, or doubling down on existing platforms? How are you mitigating concerns around dependencies?

This is something I have been working on. Although the amount of data is limited compared to what can be pulled via SQL Manager, it does mean you can do stuff without needing to have a static IP address. There was a data analyst at a school in Dubai that had a really useful website, but she changed industry and let the site go.

As @Cw2k says, you may need to ensure that this kind of thing is pushed out in MDM provisioning. Anything set-up in the usual way could make the wifi passwords shareable with other Apple devices signed in on the same account. We experienced massive overload on some APs due to students having an Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad and/or MacBook... times this by a class worth of students and it got messy, fast.

Evening everyone. I am wondering if anyone uses Office 365 Lists/Power Automate/Power Apps tools to try and automate the process of student onboarding? As the very last user in the process to receive data, I need every box ticked, and for consistency... that was the bus the admissions team missed, so I have wildly varying "data packs" for new joiners. This makes timetabling etc, very difficult before the start date. Therefore, I was thinking about having a streamlined process on SharePoint that would trigger the right people, in sequence, to provide data... even better still, automatically emailing new families with options selection forms, which would remove a job from the admin team. The process I am thinking of is: 1. Agree to sign up to school 2. Admissions create entry in List/SharePoint, triggering email to finance. 3. Pay fee, then Finance update that list with the student ID. 4. Student ID triggers IT to create O365 account (I know this can be automated, but one step...), also triggers email to certain staff for certain info e.g. form, academic house 5. Options form emailed to parent(s) with language options and choices e.g. history or geography (probably via a Microsoft Form). 6. When complete, data updated to Microsoft List or SharePoint site to make retrieval easy, and from a single place. Obviously, every schools different, but I wondered if anyone had any joy with this? I was thinking of using the Microsoft Lists 'Employee Onboarding" list as a start?

We've had the joy of opening a new school this summer. Completely from scratch, with rather minimal input from our school group on requirements and/or suggestions on maintaining up-to-date rostering. Currently, O365 accounts are created by the IT guy, everything else by me... Not really what I have been brought in to do, but am keen to look at options available that help keep the rosters updated for most, if not all (but am being realistic), of the software we use around the school. It can be a bit of a minefield to know the pros/cons of various systems, so your 2¢ is appreciated. For context: MIS - iSAMS (SSO from Azure AD) LMS - Toddle (connected to iSAMS via API) Library - Destiny Follett (apparently not updatable via an API in iSAMS CPOMS (connected to iSAMS via API) Office 365 domain with Teams, not currently linked by SDS, but aiming to shortly. Timetables Rock Stars Busy Things (not yet connected to SSO) Brain Pop Explore Learning LanguageNut White Rose To name but a few... I fully hope and expect that we conduct a gap/overlap analysis on these at the end of the year to rationalise them down. Current considerations: Classlink - expensive but extensive support and coverage Clever - more limited support Wonde - unsure how this would help the day-2-day work of ensuring an updated roster

We've had a number of parents request that we effectively disable school issued iPads after a certain time. Whilst I, and many others, feel that this is merky territory, it did leave me wondering if we were able to leverage the Apple ScreenTime functionality to at least try and prevent students from getting around parental locks on personal devices by just using our devices. We use Apple School Manager and Jamf (not sure what version exactly), but was just a stray thought. Being in Dubai, there are some that are looking to delegate all parenting to the school, whilst others fight equally on the other foot. My questions is purely from a technical standpoint on if it's possible to lock these devices after... say, 2200? as a blanket rule? Thanks

The discussion was interesting... that’s for sure.

Hi there! New here, and pretty new to the world of ed-tech too, so apologies for any ridiculous questions. First one for you though is about a company called Pappaya (yes, that is how they spell the company name… with an extra 'p'). Anyway, I had been approached by them, and they claim to have their own MIS deployed to over 40,000 schools globally. Seems funny that a search on this forum brings up zero about them. I have done a bit of digging online about the company. It appears the director was called out on some dodgy dealings with a government entity in Scotland some time back. Registered company HQ is a Regus office in Staines… sorry, Staines-upon-Thames. I am getting a bad vibe about them, hence reaching out to see if anyone else has had dealings with them. Thanks, A_F