Mr.Ben

We use Kiosk mode, with USB access and limited program access. I've scripted auto sign in with a local account, and we have a dedicated SSID that is turned off during exam times.

I prefer Printix for just printing, but it is still quite limited on copier support for other functions. We have just rolled out hive for staff (which is brilliant), but the experience for Students needs work. Both systems have issues with iPads, but having use both Papercut hive is the easier to manage.

Hello Edugeekers, I'm working with a school that currently uses Mr/Mrs XXXXX in the display name field, which is breaking several systems and making it hard to identify people. Do any others still use this format for accounts - if so, how do you make it work with systems that required a first name?

No, it is pure madness, and not obvious. You either have a choice of: Having a profile per device group (assuming you are happy with using the serial in the name of the device) - this is what I do Or Having a profile that doesn't set the name, which means they are all called iPad on enrollment (and then you rename). Having said that though, you could provision in one profile to ensure a name and joining to the appropriate groups and pick up the appropriate settings, then move it to another profile without the name setting?

If you are talking about iPads, then that is expected behaviour. The enrollment policy enforces the name, so you need to have multiple enrollment policies depending upon your naming convention.

AFAIK it's still not a really useful SSO solution - users have to configure it for themselves, which removes the 'making it easy' benefit.

Happy to show you our set up if you have 30 minutes in the week.

The is really sad news as I confirm he was a lovely man - our local celebrity, but would shop in Tesco's, where I often served in in my youth!

A little. I've bought a GUI conversion tool and put it in the Company portal for them to use: https://forgeclass.co.uk/ It's less than £100, converts to Word and PDF (PDF is more reliable).

I've inherited a challenge with this in my latest post - they had just replaced the 5406zl core with a single, 24 port Aruba 6300M fibre switch (all 10G). That was ok - it's powerful enough, but didn't meet the DfE requirements, so I stacked it with 3 more switches in this year's budget - all 6300s, 1 more fiber and 2 ethernet. All of our fiber runs now have 2 paths to 2 separate switches, which is great! The total cost of the core was £20k, but I am serving the whole building from the additional, unused ethernet interfaces and can meet the WiFi standards for APs in the building.

I also remember a time when everything was on premise. The hours I spent updating and learning about: SIMS Exchange SharePoint LMS Systems (a few) All of which were critical to the school. Now all of these are taken care of by a team of dedicated engineers, allowing me to be better at keeping other systems up to date. Yes, there are outages for all systems, but the reliability of them vastly outweighs what we could achieve 15 years ago as small IT teams, and fact I'm not making these changes at 2am because something's gone wrong continues to amaze me. It's not like the work managing other systems hasn't increased (access control/CCTV/networks/firewalls/MDMs) - we need time do sort these now as well!

We have AV plates in our rooms, so have the long cable plus a shorter one in each - here are the links for everything we use: For the USB 2.0 touch we use: Lindy 8m USB 2.0 Active Extension Cable Pro, Long Distance Repeater, Extends USB devices, PCs, Laptops, Xbox, PS4, PS5, VR Headset, Printer, Scanner, Webcam, Interactive Whiteboards : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories (These are nice as they have an LED to confirm if they are working) LINDY 0.5m Printer Cable USB 2.0 Type A to B Cable, Compatible with Printers and Scanners, Epson HP Canon Envy Lexmark Dell Brother Printer DAC Xerox : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories Lindy USB 2.0 Type A to A 5m Cable, 480Mbps Data Transfer Speed, Robust Dual Shielded Cable, Compatible with PC. Printer, External Hard Drive Enclosure, Docking Station : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories For the HDMI we use the following: Cratree 8K Fiber Optic HDMI Cable 15M,HDMI Cable High Speed 48Gbps,CL2 in Wall,8K 60Hz 4K 120Hz HDCP 2.2 2.3 HDR10,Compatible with HDTV Xbox Blu-ray Monitor Laptop Projector : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo Cratree HDMI Cable 2M 2Pack Certified,8K Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable 4K 120hz 8K 60hz 10K 48Gbps,HDCP 2.3 Dolby Atmos Vision eARC Compatible with HDTV PS5 Xbox Blu-ray Gaming Monitor Laptop PC : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo We then go into Dell Docks, (WD25), which we put a short USB C extension lead on to save damage: Cable Matters 40Gbps USB 4 Extension Cable - 0.5m, Supports [8K@60Hz/4K@240Hz Video, 240W Charging, 40Gbps Data Transfer] USB C Extension Cable, Thunderbolt 4/5, Nintendo Switch 2 Compatible : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

We've recently started putting Dell USB C docks into classrooms. We have Clevertouch screens in our classrooms. In advance, we have had to replace all of the AV cabling as previously the school had an ad hoc approach with a lot of inconsistencies. We have gone for 8k compatible Fibre HDMI cables - not cheap, but only a few pounds more than 4k. We have blanked all of the usb ports as we can't get USB C functioning reliably. We have used USB 2.0 active extenders to support touch, with a short usb a to b cable. For consistency some classes do now have some excess cabling (hidden in trunking), and the cost is about £75 per classroom, plus £100 per dock. Still significantly cheaper than PCs on desks.

Hello there!

Can anyone who is using Exam.net contact me to talk through their experience?

I've been using OSD Cloud for almost 2 years - it does what's needed to get the devices to Autopilot and is easy to extend to admin missing drivers - I thoroughly recommend!

It is an exciting time to become part of King Edward’s IT Team as we embark on the implementation of a new cloud-first strategy throughout the school. This initiative represents a significant step forward in our digital transformation, designed to enhance both teaching and learning environments through technology. About the Service Lead Role The Service Lead is a newly created specialist position within our ICT team. Its primary purpose is to ensure that we provide exceptional support to our users and remain aligned with ongoing technological advancements. The introduction of this role reflects our commitment to delivering outstanding IT services and to staying at the forefront of digital innovation in education. Supportive Environment and Professional Growth At King Edward’s, we pride ourselves on offering a supportive working environment. We provide opportunities for professional development, including training programmes and payment for successful completion of relevant certifications. This role presents a genuine opportunity to make a meaningful impact as we expand our digital learning capabilities and improve the overall technology experience for our community. Key Responsibilities of the Service Desk Lead The Service Desk Lead is responsible for overseeing and delivering technical assistance across the school. This role is crucial in ensuring that staff, students, and parents receive prompt and effective technical support in accordance with agreed service levels. By doing so, the Service Desk Lead enables seamless access to digital learning tools, administrative systems, and other campus technologies, supporting the smooth running of everyday school life. Join Our Forward-Thinking Team If you are passionate about IT service and support and are eager to step into a leadership role at a progressive and forward-thinking school, we would be delighted to hear from you. The postholder will be provided with a full induction, supportive line management and appropriate training. This role will ideally be worked year-round, Monday to Thursday 8am to 4pm and 3.30pm on Friday with a half hour unpaid break daily. We are flexible and happy to discuss a term time plus 2 weeks working pattern at interview. https://www.kesbath.com/it-service-desk-lead

I have taken a 45 school Trust through Cyber essentials successfully. The NCSC have some good MFA guidance, including the point that we should only prompt for authentication or MFA when it makes a difference For MFA internally we successfully argued that the device itself was the token, as long as we prompted for MFA at least once - I referenced this blog as well: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/not-all-types-mfa-created-equal For BYOD we successfully argued that MAM without enrollment met the criteria - we protect the data but do not allow the device to be registered with our systems.

I just pulled some stuff out that was a couple of years old - 5th gen intel so would even have gone to Windows 11.

Connectwise Screen Connect has the features you need I think (the online version allows auto updating). We use it for 3rd party server access - the screen itself is recorded in the audit trail, so 3rd parties can't wriggle out of things when they break them.

We don't have any reason to either, except for ease of use. We have a tech vlan that can be VPN'd to to access printers and network gear without piggybacking off of a remote device.

Fortigates with a Hosted Fortimanager. We looked at lots of options, but price point brought it down to Fortis or Meraki for what we needed. Fortis have more functionality which suited us.

We use AvePoint Fly for this for schools coming in, it would be the same for a school going out (We hold onto their old tenants just in case). Cost is about £13 per account to migrate. Sharegate would be better for secondaries as it's a yearly rather than per item fee, but is out of our reach cost wise.

We have 43 sites on an SD-WAN. Each site has a leased line and an FTTC (with a few FTTP and FTTC). 2 different providers on each site. We utilise both connections with rules so that VOIP and our network management is using the 'secondary' line and all other traffic on the leased line unless failover on either connection We send some traffic direct (avoiding our cloud filter) - MIS, VOIP email etc. If the primary line fails then only this direct traffic is allowed on the backup line - just to protect bandwidth.

I remember buying these in from 2004 - about 2011 They were fab monitors - glass fronted if I remember so tough and perfect for schools. If someone made a 24" wide-screen version for suites that would be fab.