StevieM

We've used Stack Interconnect in the past and they've been good. Merseyside-based, though, not Midlands.

If you set it up as a shared account in Exchange, I wouldn't have thought that there would be a limit. Couldn't say for sure though.

2048 and Alphajax (Scrabble) on my phone. I also tootle about on Elite Dangerous every now and again when I can be bothered hooking my laptop up to the TV.

@fiza - How was your experience of JTRS? At the moment, it's looking highly likely that we will be purchasing an entire iPad solution from them (including a wireless network infrastructure). I'd like to know who and what I'd be dealing with, and if there are any particular issues of which I should be aware. EDIT: It would be a class set of shared devices, plus 1:1 devices for teachers, in a primary setting.

iPad ahead in the polls, but comments lean towards LearnPad. Anymore success stories? EDIT: LearnPad not LeapPad!

It looks like we will be investing in a class set of 32 tablets in the near future. At the moment, the talk seems to be only about iPads but I think it would be remiss of us to not at least consider the alternatives. I have read numerous horror stories about the problems people have had with mobile device management, but in this thread I want to approach the subject from a positive perspective. If you have a successful shared tablet solution (not 1:1) in your school, please shout out. I'd also be grateful if you could indicate if you would be willing to offer further advice on implementation and management. School background info: We are a 3-form entry KS2 only school, with approximately 360 pupils. Currently, we have no wireless network infrastructure, but would be looking to implement one with the introduction of tablets. Our servers run Windows Server 2012 R2, and our clients Window 7. We have a Microsoft OVS agreement. Our email is hosted via Microsoft O365. NB - Please don't use this thread to argue against a specific platform. Initially, I want to hear about solutions that have worked for the school as a whole. Thanks

Yay, Will! I second that. The design blew me out of the water when I first saw it. Will was also very accommodating (and remarkably prompt) to make minor adjustments at my behest. Cheers, buddy!

I think I've got a couple of old RS232 25-pin serials knocking around, but any port in a storm, eh?

I had that problem with Office 365 a few weeks ago, too.

I gotta get me some of those to add to my collection.

Your information is correct @Andrew_C. I clicked on the OP link and it says just that. Downloaded, installed and all working.

I'll be donating next week as it's payday on Monday. Thought I'd say that just to bump the thread again.

That's the one. Even though I'm the only one using Windows 8 in school, a lot of the course was applicable to Windows in general. Alan was great and adapted the course to fit around our existing knowledge and answer any questions that we had. Another good thing was that he pointed out some of the little inconsistencies that you would never find out about on an official Microsoft course. Really useful stuff.

It's a government initiative that is replacing the eSkills National IT Academy that was around a few years ago from what I can see. I applied for this at the end of last year. Combining the grant and the special discount package for schools and colleges, I managed to arrange 10 days of desktop and server training for the princely sum of £500. I completed the first two days training last month, and I have to say it was excellent. Really looking forward to the Server 2012 Admin course in April - even if it is during school holidays! One thing to note is that the grant is in the form of a refund and is not discounted from the initial cost of the training, i.e. if you apply for the 10-day package, you will have to pay the full £1000 invoice and submit a claim form to the Tech Partnership once the training has been completed. This is fair enough, in my opinion. It goes some way to ensure that the training actually takes place and that money isn't being wasted (or claimed fraudulently!).

Brave man! Defo support you on that one, fella.

Have you considered a Microsoft Subscription? We have a whole suite of >4yo PCs with 2GB RAM and a Vista COA that run W7 just fine (although not as well as on our new machines with SSD and 4GB RAM). Had a few issues with some software/hardware not being compatible but that's the price of progress. Think of your XP machines like a car that runs on leaded petrol; it still works but it's not conducive to a safe environment.

Call 1: Congratulations. Byeee!!! Call 2: Congratulations. Byeee!!! Call 3: Too late. Byeee!!!

It all depends on what I put inside it.

Woo-hoo! Curiously enough, I was actually calling to speak to Emma. Ironically, I defeated the purpose of a phone menu and asked Will to put me through after commandeering the socks.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist it!)

Hahahaha! Brilliant. The small socks are perfect for me. They fit like a glo... oh... wait. Forget the auto-dialler. I've just hired me a crack team of telesales personnel on zero-hour contracts for the sole purpose of bombarding the VeryPC switchboard at 10am on Friday.

Another vote for @VeryPC laptops. I bought a Thinbook last year to replace the head's aging Dell and it certainly earned me some brownie points as he loves it. I also switched from HP to a VeryPC Pocket Rocket for my own upgrade, and for less than £700 I got an i7 Quad-core 2.5GHz processor, 120GB SSD, 8GB RAM and dedicated 2GB Geforce GTX graphics. Am I happy with it? You betcha!

Wow! That's a really useful site. I'll definitely bookmark that one. I really appreciate the PM help from @nicholab and @sonofsanta, too. I ended up just setting up the urgent ones with a basic bulk import from a .csv file, but I know I need to learn PowerShell for future use. The trouble is, there are already more holes in my ICT knowledge than a Swiss cheese, and I could do with filling some of those in before I start making more cheese! This is why Edugeek is such a lifeline for me. You guyz (and galz) is da best! Edit: I found the automatic truncation to ...assword highly amusing!

I could... if I knew how to write PowerShell scripts. There are a lot of basic management tasks in O365 that require knowledge of PowerShell, otherwise they take a LONG time. But, hey, it's free so I can't complain really. Thanks, anyway.

Is there an easy way of setting up Office 365 accounts with preconfigured passwords? When I set up our first cohort a few years ago, I'm almost certain I did a bulk import from a .csv file and included a field for passwords. I don't think it is possible to do it that way any longer. I need to learn PowerShell (and a million and one other things!) as, ideally, I'd like to be able to bulk import users into distribution groups too. For now, though, preconfigured passwords that don't expire would be enough. Any help would be greatly appreciated.