dhicks

We've got a Logitech PTZ Pro with motorised pan / tilt and zoom, all operable from a simple remote control. Plugs in to a PC / Chromebook as a standard USB camera, no extra drivers needed. I know it's being used at another school, ceiling mounted, to film science practical lessons - you can pre-set fixed x,y,zoom positions for it to point at (the teacher's desk, the science fume cupboard, etc) and have them as shortcuts on the remote. They were about £750 on Amazon a little while ago - that's cheaper than the one mentioned above (£5,400!), but still quite pricy. For a cheaper option, just a webcam, as suggested, might well be all you need. I quite like these ones (£25): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08DJYNSC8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00 They give a nice wide-angle field of view, and the built-in mic is reasonable. I have one of those at home on a bracket along with a couple of USB-chargeable LED lights (£23): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YSF3X8K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title The camera and lights all sit with USB cables plugged in on a bracket that can be swivelled around - you could get maybe an angle-poise style bracket to stick the camera on, letting the teacher bring the camera in closer to whatever was being viewed.

Is that one section hosted on a different server somewhere, maybe with a different sub-domain - somethingelse.accessacloud.com? It might at least help to try and track the issue down. In Chrome you can open the developer tools section and see network traffic, which might tell you if there's errors occuring for a particular subdomain or URL. I see their API documentation is hosted at thankqrestapi.accessacloud.com, I don't know if that's the subdomain used for actual API calls.

So you actually have two air conditioning units, I'm guessing one as a failover? I can see that costing a little more to look after - I think our standard single unit costs £180-ish a time for servicing, so times that by two and add a bit if there's a failover bit in the middle to deal with. The capacity of an air conditioning unit, if I remember correctly, is measured in British Thermal Units, BTUs. You need to match the capability of your air conditioning unit to the heat output of the hardware in your server cupboard - I think we just added up the likely power usage for each server and got a rough number to convert to BTUs. We have a similar cupboard-rather-than-a-room for our servers, and found we needed to add a circulating fan at the bottom rear of the rack to help move air back up to the top to go back through the air conditioning unit - nothing fancy, we just got a wall-mount fan from Argos and stuck it to the wall. Simialrly, our backup air conditioning unit consists of a portable floor-standing Argos unit (£400) we can stick in the doorway to the cupboard if the main unit fails, plus a temperature monitor that sends me an alert if the temperature starts to rise to unusual levels so I can get in to work and set the portable unit up. While it's important to specify a air conditioning unit with enough capability, plus a bit to be on the safe side, I think the unit we originally had in there was too over-specified and cooled the volume too quickly. This resulted in the air conditioner's thermostat switching the unit off, at which point the volume heated up quite rapidly again (because we have servers putting out a fair bit of heat), so the unit kicked in again and so on, so the air conditioning unit was constantly switching on, running at full blast, then turning off, which resulted in in getting quite worn rather quickly. It would be a good idea to check any new unit was suitible to be used in a server cupboard, or at least that the c ompany installing it understands it's being used for server colling rather than cooling a room and get it set up appropriatly.

I have a lovely home setup in the front room with a genuine, original IBM Model M keyboard, classic Microsoft mouse and a 32" TV / monitor, all connected up to a NUC with enough CPU and RAM to be able to handle whatever is needed. Of course, as soon as everyone started working from home my girlfriend nabbed that setup, so I'm in the bedroom on a laptop balanced on an old Ikea console table. To be fair, as with most of Ikea furniture, the table is really well designed and manages to be compact and stable while still having enough space to use a laptop on, with a 4-gang power strip, the laptop power supply, a powered USB hub and a USB sound interface strapped to the bottom so there's just the one power cable to connect when I get it all out in the morning. A handy added feature of this setup is that I can wander in to the front room for a hug at any point during the day, which is a feature not generally available in the modern workplace.

We use Google Classroom - nice simple user interface, integrates well with Meet, has an API and various tools available to sync user data with your MIS. We export user data from iSAMS to GSuite using SalamanderSoft's tools, they also support Office 365 / Teams - I'd have thought for most schools a choice of one or the other of Google / Microsoft's systems would be a pretty good choice. There might still be government funding still available to help you set one or the other up. Google seem to have slightly wider support from what I've seen for third-party applications that support login-with-Google authentication for your users, making it easier to link directly from Classroom to an external resource. We're looking at Kami, which can integrate with Classroom, to support stylus / typed / audio / video annotations to static documents set as exercises in Classroom - we're finding some of our teachers are trying to exactly replicate how they would work in a physical classroom, providing a "printed" worksheet for puipils to fill in, which is fiddly to handle if you don't have a printer handy.

Sorry, I missed your oroginal post, otherwise I'd have replied sooner. I have a chunk of Python code that, similar to what you're doing, takes some data from the MIS (in our case, iSAMS) and does various stuff with it - we use Salamander to do Active Directory provision, so my code is doing other stuff such as preparing CSV exports for various external systems and doing various school-specific things. I've split that code up into a selection of scripts to try and be as modular as possible, but some of those scripts could do with re-factoring and being better organised for modularity. I might get to spend some more time soon on those scripts, possibly including more functionality to process extracted data ready for presentation as statistical data in other tools (SSRS / Power BI / etc). If it's any help, one part I've split off into its own stand-alone functionality is a utility to allow end-users to trigger a script to run on the server with a simple web-based interface (literally a large, green button with "Run" written on it in the middle of the screen - can't get simpler UI design than that!). That part is written in Go, and works as its own stand-alone web server, with binaries available for most platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux and Raspberry Pi). Do say if you think that would be handy, I could do with having it tested on a vfew more systems!

Not quite sure what you mean, if you mean does the Mac automatically mount user network file areas then I can't actually remember - I think, as 3s-gtech points out, MacOS will be able to get a user's home folder, and I seem to remember it mounting that in a "home" link on the desktop. Using Jamf (or that might have just been a native MacOS feature, actually) you can redirect the user's local user area to the network, but that redirects their whole user area - not just the Desktop and Documents folders but folders used for things like iMovie to write working files in, which can result in a lot of traffic to your network file server. Ideally, I'd want the Desktop and Home folders to be on the network (so any application writing to a default save location would be writing to the network, so users could move devices from one session to the next without having to worry about remembering to save in a specific location) and for everything else to be local (for performance). I've tried to accomplish that with a logon script that redirects the appropriate folders at login time but never seemed to get anything reliable.

Good point - the wheeled stands we have have enough room inside the structure to hold a 4-way power strip, with a 5-metre cable for plugging in, you just need to make sure there's a wall socket at each point you might want to plug the display in. We haven't had any problems (so far...) with our home-style LG displays, a couple of which have been in use for 2 years now. A nice feature of commercial displays, though, is an OPS slot for mounting a suitable PC, which makes for a nice all-in-one setup (turn the screen on and the PC turns on too) and saves confusion in a classroom setting with having to remember a separate PC is switched on. Saying that, we actually have one of the LG displays powering a Raspberry Pi from its built-in USB sockets, so the whole thing starts up when the power to the display comes on.

MacOS should be able to join a Windows domain and access shared folders just fine. We manage ours with Jamf, which handles the domain join for you and allows you to control various settings for a bunch of machines at once, much like Active Directory does for Windows. I'm pretty sure someone's mentioned now being able to log on to a Mac via a GSuite account, but I can't remember / find any details.

We have a couple of wheeled screen stands - something capable of holding a 75" display and with motorised height adjustment is (I think) about £800. A 75" non-touch display (i.e. a TV screen) is also about £800, just for rough pricing. You get a 4k display for that with much better brightness and contrast than your average projected display, and installation / setup is fairly minimal, you just need a couple of pairs of hand to help get the screen bolted to the stand.

Okay, good to know, thanks. I think the Workspace app is going to better fit the likely workflow of our teachers anyway - use the "open with Kami" option from a Google Drive folder with a bunch of resources in, then set a Classroom exercise from Kami's interface, none of that should need the Chrome extension.

Per user, a "user" being a teacher or a pupil. Has a nice "Google OU Sync" and login via Google account, so should be easy enough to manage in a school context.

Ah - is this the Chrome extension that installs in the user's browser, not the Google Workspace Marketplace app than gives you an "Open with Kami" option from Google Drive? We're just looking at whether to push out the Kami Chrome extension (we've already rolled out the Workspace Marketplace app for staff over our domain), we could do with knowing what the problem was and if it's likely to cause us similar issues.

I'd second that, especially Soundtrap. You might also want to look at Flat.io and, while you're at it, WeVideo. We've used all three on our standard classroom Chromebooks with no problems - the days of needing a large desktop machine with a dedicated graphics card and large amounts of storage are on the way out, at least for the kind of audio and video editing the average school pupil is likely to be doing. If you want to set up some fixed workstations, a USB sound interface that can take XLR input from a mic or instrument would be useful. I have both a Behringer U-PHORIA UM2 (£30): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EK1OTZC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00 and a Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen (£120): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Focusrite-Scarlett-Solo-Audio-Interface/dp/B07QR6Z1JB/ref=sr_1_2 The Focusrite is a bit fancier (they also do rackmount versions), but I have a couple of the Behringers strapped to various bits of equipment where we need a mic input and for it to just turn-on-and-work. Both devices are USB bus powered, including providing phantom power for condenser mics, and don't need a separate power supply. I think you can use a USB keyboard straight from a web browser / ChromeOS these days, so pretty much just plug-and-play - again, no power or battery needed, just a £30 keyboard and a USB cable. If you want to spend money on equipment, spend it on audio hardware - get a couple of nice condenser microphones for voice work / singing (I have an Audio Technica 2035, it's a good entry-level-ish voice mic) and some instrument mics for getting audio from instruments, combined with something like Soundtrap that shouild be about all you'll need. If this is in a dedicated music space you could consider adding some sound treatment to the walls to cut down on echos.

Hello All, We (Knightsbridge School, a private prep / senior school) are looking for an IT technician to work in our central London school - we're actually now split accross a couple of different buildings, but our main site is on Pont Street, easy to get to from the tube or Victoria station. The text of the official job advert is below. I would add that although you'll be working closely with me you report directly to the bursar as your line manager. We're probably looking for someone with good communication skills and an ability / enthusiasm to further their knowledge and experience rather than someone with a set of qualifications and a set way of doing things. A large part of your job will be dealing with our helpdesk and general in person / phone queries from staff, pupils and parents. Anything you can't deal with can be passed up the support chain, but you'll be the first point of contact for general users. Any questions, do please ask them here or by direct message, or directly to the school as detailed below. The official advert should be up on our website soon: https://www.knightsbridgeschool.com/current-school-vacancies I'm really not sure what the plan is for handling interviews, I'm guessing we might do an initial phone / video conference before we have people on site, although I guess that's up to the HR department. Official job advert: Knightsbridge School - ICT Helpdesk Technican Job Description Feb 2021.pdf Knightsbridge School - ICT Helpdesk Technician Advert 2021.pdf Knightsbridge School currently educates 420 boys and girls from ages 3 – 16. The school, which is set in the heart of London, combines a warm and nurturing environment with excellent resources and a commitment to teamwork and the professional development of staff. For more information about the school, please look at our website www.knightsbridgeschool.com. This role is ideal for an IT professional with at least 3 year’s IT support experience who is looking to further their career in IT. As the first point of contact for all IT support issues, you will gain experience of a wide range of desktop, mobile and classroom audio-visual technologies, troubleshooting issues with hardware and software and running the IT support helpdesk. Working alongside the Network Manager you will have the opportunity to be involved in network and system maintenance, upgrades and new IT projects and initiatives. You will have excellent customer service skills and be able to communicate confidently and clearly to colleagues, parents and pupils. In addition to being a good problem-solver, you will need to be proactive, well organised and a quick learner For an application pack and further details please see the school website or contact Rosie Binns at [email protected] or 020 7590 9000. Knightsbridge School is committed to safeguarding children and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service checks and other relevant employment checks. Closing date for Applications: Friday 26th February 2021 – But please don’t wait until the deadline!

Vauge guess: are they logged in (with their school / other) Google account to the browser itself, not just a site / page inside the browser? If so, are there any proxy / filtering settings that take effect?

We've tended to use VeryPC desktops, specifying devices that were capable of handling 4K external screens 5 to 7 years ago, and most of those devices are still running today. Their Flex PC, basically a desktop PC you can stick a monitor on the front of, makes for a pretty good all-in-one like setup that you can use with your choice of monitor - we have a couple with 27" 4K monitors on the front. I think the Intel NUC has models that will drive 2 (or 3) external 4K monitors, which might be worth a check, too.

If this is your own personal-for-fun website, it depends whether you like / want to have a go at setting up your own server or if you just what to concentrate on designing a snazzy Wordpress-based site. Personanally, I prefer to use a statc site generator (Hugo, Jekyll, Gatsby, etc) so I pay for a basic Debian host with OVH, around £3.80 a month.

I've used my Google domain on a home-edition CloudReady device with no problem before - I don't know if the latest version imposes different limitations, though (they did just get bought by Google, some licensing might have changed). Check your Google domain settings (if you're the admin), see if there's a setting to disallow domain accounts from logging on to non-domain devices. Actually, thinking about it, I think the first logon to a home-licensed device actually assignes the device to that user, which might be a subtly different limitation - you could try doing the initial logon with a non-domain account and then seeing if it'l let you log on with a domain account after that.

If you look at the API for Google's OAuth implementation, a site can request various different levels of access. At the most basic level it doesn't even need to request to know your user's email address or name, just the domain and a Google-generated unique ID for that user. You think more sites would make use of that - license your whole domain for use with whatever it is, no need to worry about any personal data.

I've got one user reporting issues using Powerpoint in full-screen mode when using breakout rooms - when he starts a breakout room, visits it, then goes back to the main session Powerpoint stops presenting full-screen and doesn't let him restart. It sounds like Powerpoint is loosing track of which window it should be mirroring, then having problems rec onnecting - maybe it thinks it's still connected?

One review I read said that when the reviewer tried the Sony WH-1000XM3s on in a crowded, noisy exhibition hall he thought there'd been a power cut, the noise cancelling was that good!

They aren't Windows laptops, no, and if you're planning to stick with Windows-based software then they wouldn't make much sense. They do work quite nicely as managed devices if you set up a GSuite domain (free) and pay the one-off management license fee per device (think it's about £15 at the moment, due to go up). We use Papercut to manage printing (they have a ChromeOS app available now) and a filtering solution which distributes on a per-user basis, even for home-owned Chromebooks if pupils log in with their school account. Everything is available for a nice managed system, and generally a reasonable cost in terms on one off or annual fees, but it's still a set of infrastructure that needs looking after and managing, and if you're already managing Windows and iOS it might make sense to stick with those.

I have a pair of Cowin E7 headphones (bluetooth, cordless, noise cancelling, rechargable via USB): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cancelling-Bluetooth-Headphones-Microphone-Comfortable-Black/dp/B01JLIY9LM/ref=sr_1_3 According to Amazon I purchased them on 3rd of January 2017, so they've lasted the last 4 years of use pretty well - the battery still holds a couple of days worth of charge, the headband is looking a little worn. The noise cancelling is pretty good, at least muffling most external sounds, and you can use them as a microphone for calls. They have a 3.5mm input so you can use them as corded headphones, too.

Have you check the Meet Quality Tool, that might tell you something. We've had something similar-ish sounding, where one pupil can't get video working - they can see their own video profile at their end, it just doesn't appear at the teacher end. The Meet Quality Tool reckons there's no video stream being sent, which leads us to guess there's something blocking the video stream client-side at the network level (firewall / parental filter application maybe?). Are you seeing something similar?