Dave_O

Superaz300 Unlike you, I am now at the end of my journey, which has been, let's just say, eventful. There are times when you wonder why you even bother. But take solus (no pun intended) in the fact that the knowledge you gain, even the seemingly trivial, will help you to help others to understand and move forward. OK. enough of that bo***cks, the most important thing is to pay as much money into your pension as possible and retire early!! I know I did it. In the words of Abraham Lincoln "Party on dudes."

Indeed it should. Although I'm not sure it will fully address each of those points.. 1. No, but it certainly feels like it's the job of IT to implement it. Once the plan is in place, how often do you get staff blaming IT with things like "who's idea was this anyway" and SLT saying "IT said it had to be this way, don't blame us" hence the reason for 2. 4. Possibly... Who writes the strategy? One of the governors, a member of SLT, a member of the IT development group? The reality is that at some stage, hopefully, IT will be asked for their input. IT then draft out their thoughts and bingo, a distorted version of this is used as the basis for the IT strategic plan. To try and avert this disaster you get the IT development group (made up of teaching departments, admin staff, SLT, students and governors) to try and agree a direction. Bit like herding cats. You feel obliged to try and distil the machinations of all the disparate groups of people into some coherent direction breaking point 4. I think what I am trying to say is that it doesn't matter who writes the bloody thing, underpinned by the SDP or not, everyone has to take ownership and just linking it to the SDP on it's own is not a silver bullet. Only recently I had a head and chair of governors question why we had spent £24K on a new wireless system. I showed them the IT development plan (which they had ratified and endorsed 6 months earlier) and in the first paragraph it said "..to develop and enhance mobile working..." I wouldn't mind, only both of them were in the finance meeting that agreed the purchase where I referenced the strategy. I did ask where this had come from and the head had the grace to say it was a concern of 2 members of staff (out of 200 I might add) who had her ear. The parting shot was "can we have another look at the IT strategy...". "Of course!" I replied, knowing I would be retiring a week later. Why the hell can't they agree a strategy and stick to it at least for a year! Schools have no idea what a long term IT strategy is!! Don't get me wrong all is not doom and gloom. I have worked in schools where the head has a clear vision for the school and IT. I didn't always agree with it, but it does makes life so much easier. It reminds me of when I first started teaching (here we go). An older (late 50s) teacher was in a meeting about training. He piped up "Huh! Did this 5 years ago, didn't work then, won't work now" 37 years later I am that man. But remember the line between cynicism and experience is a fine one. And yes, I am a cynical old b**tard.

Oo! Like that. Disgruntled kid, thwarted for many years embeds deep in the IT support forum ready to strike in years to come?

Interesting point. Either that or the account has been taken over by aliens, hacked, he/she is a time traveller, taken over a retired/disgraced user's account. Which is it? I'm going for aliens

Show empathy, listen and act appropriately.

Will send you a copy using the email given. I was a teacher for 21 years and in schools IT for 17 in the Sheffield area. I am just in the process of retiring from my present post (IT Director of a MAT) so my involvement is gradually reducing over time. IM me the name of the Sheffield school if you wouldn't mind would be interested to see who is using the feature. 1. Do they suddenly feel more observed by parents - There is no one simple answer to this but many factors mitigate against a positive attitude amongst staff eg a) not all subjects are the same in terms of frequency of work submission so this always leads to a distorted expectation from parents eg Johnny gets assignments every week from Maths, why not in English? this can cause issues between staff and parents b) there is a belief that there will be an expectation that teachers respond to parental requests as soon as submitted no matter what time of day or night. 2. Do they get more phone calls from parents or less? - This as I have said above will depend on the organisational ethos. In many schools staff do not contact parents directly ie the call goes via pastoral or the department head so this might be difficult to gauge 3. How was the shift to the digital assignment of homework decided? - From bitter experience unless this is part of a whole school strategy, supported, implemented and promoted by the governing body and SLT it will fail. 4. How were they trained? - This is one area where UK schools are poor. They are reticent to spend money on training. My experience is that department focused targeted training works, whole school training is a waste of time. 5. Digest features - No used across the MAT. Assignments by contrast are used extensively both in secondary and primary 6. How are parents informed of their kids assignments? - depends on the department (secondary) and school. Many of the primaries inform the parents via a weekly text message. Some just post a PDF schedule on the school website for the term. There is no one set way. One of the secondaries uses show my homework to inform parents but point the work to the appropriate Teams site (bit of a waste of money but it works). Many just say to parents to work with the student on a weekly basis to help manage their (the student's) time and to be involved in their education (works with primary, not with secondary)

If you are interested I can send you a copy of my dissertation

Stefan I did my Master thesis on the potential of electronic assignment submission to support T&L. The findings (this was back in 2012) were that adoption rates were low amongst staff and students. Parental engagement was virtually nil. I would guess that this Teams feature is hardly used in most UK schools so it is unlikely you will get much feedback. Over the pandemic the workflow of assignments within Teams has improved but only for certain subject areas where document submission is the main transactional method. For subjects such as Art and Music they are of less value (harder to use). To be honest any new approach or focus will elicit a higher level of response initially due to your (the researcher's) involvement (is your research perspective peripheral, active, complete? What are your ontological and epistemological perspectives?) The true test is 1 -2 years down the line, is there still the same (or higher) level of engagement? There are numerous things that affect adoption, many of these depend not just on the technology but, (and in my view and more importantly) the organisation (and it's mindset) that is using it.

The important things to bear in mind are:- 1. A good strategic plan is not the responsibility of IT alone. 2. Everyone has ownership of the plan once agreed. 3. The plan needs to be simple enough for non-technical people to understand 4. If the plan has been created by ITS alone it is doomed to failure. Most ITS staff know FA about education and teaching. Then the blame game ensues The most productive discussions are when SLT say "we want to be able to do A, B and C" and ITS say yes to A and C but to do B as well you will need to change .... Make sure there is a clear understanding of expectation and what can be delivered. And the most important part of this is...MAKE SURE YOU DOCUMENT THE DELIVERABLES I have had the advantage of 21 years teaching experience and 17 in IT (in schools, LAs and MATs). I can't tell you how many times some new bod comes along says "X technology is what we need, I know it's expensive but it will give us A and B" no discussion, no testing, no feedback from users etc and I'm the bad guy when I say, no it's shit for reasons X, Y and Z (most of which they don't understand because it's technical). I get them to document the rationale and my objections (tried to get them to outline what the success criteria would be but sadly... no) and in 18 months I show them figures of user adoption usually less than 5%. The new bod has moved on and there's still a year and a half to go on the contract (unless it's 5 years in which case they're screwed). I've even has heads ask me why I had suggested we do this in the first place! Hence the need for minutes and documents. Final piece of advice ... make sure it's not your name on the bottom of the "strategic plan".

In the spirit of transparency. Below is an abridged version of a plan for primaries in our MAT. Use it, ignore it however you want. XXX MAT IT strategic guidance for primary schools 1. Schools should move away from locally installed and stored IT resources and use cloud based solutions. Where possible any new software acquisitions should be cloud/web based allowing students & staff to access the software from the largest number of devices. 2. Sufficient curriculum time should be set aside to ensure all students are able to use Office 365 and Google applications effectively. Knowing how to leverage cloud resources effectively will be of great value to them both now and in later life. 3. All XXX MAT primary schools are part of the XXX MAT Microsoft 365 and Google tenancies. These should be used for the creation, management and storage of all teaching and learning and administrative resources. No other fie storage solutions (eg Dropbox) or communications solutions such as Zoom should be used to hold XXX MAT resources. 4. The use of vendor specific software to create T&L resources such as IWB software (Promethian, Smartboard etc) that require files to be saved in proprietary formats should be depreciated in favour of saving in generic Office productivity format (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or equivalent). This way the resources will be available to the widest number of students on the largest number of devices. 5. To help schools move away from storing files and resources locally on the server, it is recommended that the file storage area on the server be made read only on an agreed date so that any file editing that needs to be done will require the files to be moved to OneDrive or Teams first. 6. Schools investment in IT hardware should primarily be focused on:- a. Maintaining an effective wired and wireless infrastructure (cabling, wireless APs and switches). b. Procuring relevant staff and student devices. Devices such as iPads are best used with younger students (KS1). Whilst these devices offer a simplified experience, they are, however, limited in that they can only work with one user identity. Care needs to be taken therefore when saving and creating student work on such devices. They also tend to be expensive when new, so we advise sourcing pre-owned units. The market for pre-owned devices has grown over the past 5 years to the point where most suppliers offer warranties of varying length. Consideration (and money) should also be given to the management of these devices if numbers exceed 20. Please discuss with the MAT IT Director before purchasing. It is recommended that students capable of using their own username and password (KS2+), use devices such as Chromebooks as these are cheap, last a long time on battery and require very little maintenance. Staff devices should remain Windows based to allow for connectivity to IWBs and other peripherals. c. On-site server(s) should be down-sized – they should be used only for local identity, print management and temporary file storage. (MIS is cloud based - ScholarPack) It is unlikely that local identity and printing will move to the cloud in the next 3 years so a server of some description is still needed. As a consequence of these reduced requirements, the technical specifications of the server have, therefore, diminished greatly and investment in replacement equipment should reflect this. It is suggested that pre-owned servers are considered. Please discuss replacements with the IT Director prior to purchase. 7. Schools should avoid the extensive use of a single VLE and/or subscription-based solutions that require work to be created and stored on these platforms. Experience has shown that these solutions last at most 3 years after which they are of limited value. Given the size of Microsoft and Google their solutions will continue to develop and have the advantage of costing nothing. 8. Schools should continue to use the centrally procured photocopying, internet, anti-virus, Microsoft licensing and web-filtering solutions as these represent best value are cloud based (excluding photocopying) and have been checked to ensure their alignment with XXX MAT policies and direction.

Have requested a call on your site

Dear All Looking for some trusted vendor recommendations for Ruckus (Nottinghamshire area 'ish). Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

I wouldn't if I were you unless you have your own cloud based web filtering solution that works off site and you have a load of time on your hands. You'll have to unlock each machine on a one by one basis prior to imaging. Here's an extract from the email detailing how to do this. Enjoy:- Dear Sad, Bitter and Twisted Old Man We’ve received a number of queries around mobile device management (MDM), and how to reset Microsoft devices to install your own software. This email provides information about the options available to you. If you have distributed devices to schools, please make sure that they receive this information. Computacenter will send all Microsoft Windows laptops and tablets to you with pre-installed web filtering, Cisco Umbrella, and settings configured and managed by the Department for Education (DfE) using Microsoft Intune. Who can request passwords and programs to reset devices Local admin passwords are needed to reset devices and install new software. An executable program is required to unlock BIOS settings. For security reasons only the nominated technical contact of the organisation that ordered the devices is able to request this information. That means: • the technical contact at a local authority (LA) or multi-academy trust needs to request these and share them with schools • the technical contact at a single-academy trust can request this information directly Please see the ‘Request your local admin passwords and BIOS program’ section below to find out how to do this. About Cisco Umbrella and Microsoft Intune Cisco Umbrella is a web-filtering solution pre-installed on devices that prevents users from accessing illegal or inappropriate content. Microsoft Intune is a mobile device management solution installed on devices to prevent users from making changes, such as removing security settings and installing software. It‘s not possible to tailor the pre-installed settings to meet local needs. You may find you can make changes, such as installing additional software, but these changes may be overwritten by Intune when it next updates the device. The only way you can add your own long-term settings to the device is by restoring it to its original state, removing Microsoft Intune and Cisco Umbrella. Bitlocker encryption has not been enabled on the devices to make it easier for you to reimage them. We recommend adding these settings when you reset devices to protect the data that users store on devices. If you remove the pre-installed settings provided by DfE, it’s your responsibility to set up alternative safeguarding measures to avoid risks to the children and young people in your care. How to reset Microsoft devices so you can add your own software and settings To install your own software or replace Cisco Umbrella and Microsoft Intune you’ll need to restore factory settings on the device. This will remove all of the security and protection features on the device. You’ll need to do this for each device individually. If schools want to reset the devices you send them, please share this guidance with them. 1. Request your local admin passwords and BIOS program As the technical contact, you must request these from the XMA support desk before you can reset your devices. For security, schools cannot request these themselves unless you’re a single academy trust that ordered devices directly from Computacenter. You need to email [email protected] and provide the serial numbers for any devices you want to reset. Serial numbers were provided with the email Computacenter sent you when they dispatched your devices. 2. Restore your device’s factory settings You must ensure the device is connected to power throughout this process. 1. Boot the device and login to the local admin account a. Device boots into localuser b. Logout of localuser c. Login as the local admin user:.\localadmin d. Enter the local admin password for that device, supplied by the XMA support desk 2. Enable the recovery partition a. Run the cmd application “as administrator” b. Enable the recovery partition using the command: reagentc /enable c. The output should say: “Operation Successful” d. Check the partition status using the command: reagentc /info e. The partition should now be: “Enabled” 3. Unlock the device BIOS a. Follow the instructions provided by XMA which will be correct for your device type. This usually includes running a program “as administrator” which removes password protection from the BIOS and enables network and USB boot options, but please refer to instructions from the XMA support team. 4. Logout with “change user” to get to the login screen a. Hold and click on the power icon and then “restart” b. The device should enter a “Troubleshoot” menu c. Select “reset this PC” d. Select “remove everything” e. If the above sequence doesn’t work then you should be able to enter recovery mode using the relevant key combination for the device manufacturer at boot HP: press F9 key ASUS: press F9 key “continuously” Lenovo: press FN+F11 keys at the same time Dynabook (Toshiba): press and hold 0 (zero) key 5. The device should reboot into “Reset this PC” a. Select “No – remove provisioning packages...” b. Select “Clean the drive fully” c. Select “reset” to confirm 3. Install your own software You can install your own software, settings and MDM once the device has been reset. If you need help setting up your MDM, please contact the XMA service desk by emailing [email protected]. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]. Regards, The Digital Infrastructure Team

My timeline so far:- 1. Told about scheme 2. Waited god know low long for details 3. Got several waste of time emails over the intervening weeks 4. Got log into site last Sunday night 5. Placed order on Monday morning (delivery 5 working days) 6. Told everyone at schools to be ready for Monday next week 7. Laptops and routers delivered to one school Wednesday all strewn around in the back of the van so will likely have a percentage that are DOA 8. LA told schools they need to draw up an agreement with parents about the LA devices. I told LA, they are your devices, you draw up an agreement. 9. LA asked what we were going to do about software on the LA devices. I replied "no idea, what are you doing about the software on your devices?" 10. LA asked what we were going to do about supporting the students with setting up and using the devices. See 9. above for similar response. 12. Drew up an agreement for Y10 laptops and routers explaining that we can't help with hardware (that's the government) and software support will be minimal as we don't have the staffing to support an ill conceived, ridiculous, unsustainable initiative from a government that shows no regard for human life and treats the general populous with utter contempt. FYI - We will not be wasting time re-imaging the devices. If the LA want theirs back from students, then they can get them back themselves. I was involved in a similar scheme years ago of the 94 laptops that went out 5 came back the rest were either sold on (we thought you'd given them to us to keep - despite being shown the signed agreement which clearly stated it was not theirs) lost or destroyed. I have no expectation that any of the laptops will come back and I have no intention of wasting my time trying to get them back. Other than that it's a great idea well done Boris on a job well done

Call me old fashioned, but shouldn't the vision and direction come from the users rather than IT support?