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Issue 25 - 2017 │T2 │W6

 

Link - access past issues in the archive

Chromebook enrolment pilot News item

As a follow up to the article on Chromebook management licences in our previous issue, we are planning to release an enrolment solution to all schools toward the end of this term. In preparation for the general release, this week we are completing a pilot with four schools. The purpose of the pilot is to verify:

  • The schools can complete a set of documented steps to enrol all, or a test subset of their Chromebooks into the Department’s Google Domain (education.nsw.gov.au)
  • After enrolment, the Chromebooks automatically join the school’s Aruba Wi-Fi using a common WiFi service account
  • That student and staff members are able to logon to the Chromebooks using their department account and access Chromebook apps and internet without issues
  • That users can logoff and the Chromebook can be passed on to another user to be added so they can logon as well
  • That a previously logged on user can log back on and carry on working with the Chromebook

The duration of the pilot will be for week 6 only. Following its successful conclusion, we hope to announce the general release of the enrolment solution in our next newsletter.

Google Chromebook

EduTECH free expo News item

EduTECH (8-9 June) is the largest technology in education expo in the Southern Hemisphere. You don't need to travel overseas to see the latest advancements. Walking around the exhibition is a hugely valuable part of the overall EduTECH experience. It's where the testing, networking and product interaction happens. With technology changing so rapidly, and some concepts difficult to visualise, take this opportunity to see and touch what's new. Register for your free entry to the exhibition at the new venue in Darling Harbour. And make sure you visit the NSW Public Schools Futures Learning exhibition space to see what we have in store!

DoE Futures Learning at EduTech

Google Summit Sydney 2017 News item

It's fantastic news that one of our newest schools, Anzac Park Public School in northern Sydney has been chosen as the venue for the EdTechTeam Sydney Summit featuring Google for Education in July. The NSW Department of Education, EdTechTeam and Google Australia have partnered to present this summit. With Google's G Suite available to all NSW Public School students and teachers, the summit is a great opportunity for all educators to learn more about the power of these tools in supporting future-focused learning and teaching. Anzac Park is a brand new, state of the art public school, designed with learning spaces that will meet the needs of students and teachers into the future. A perfect location for this two-day hands-on, high-quality, conference-style event. For NSW DoE staff there is a special registration cost of only $200.00 (less than half-price!) when you apply the promo code NSWDET and register using your department email address. Visit the Summit registration site. for further details. If you've ever thought of sharing your Google expertise with the world, why not become a summit presenter?

Student DoE mail and GMail app Information item

Up until April this year, students were able to install and use the GMail app on their BYO mobile device and configure it to work with their department-supplied email address. While it continued to work from home, once connected to school Wi-Fi, it stopped receiving and sending email. A recent update to the GMail app caused the issue which was subsequently reported by several schools. Following investigation by ITD, we have identified the cause of the problem and implemented a solution which has again made the GMail app work for students at school.

MS Office free for staff & students Information item

REMINDER: The latest version of MS Office is available for free to all staff and students as a download from your Office 365 service, which is linked under My Learning Tools in your DoE Portal.  When you launch Office 365 on a personally-owned computer, click the Install Office link at the top to download and install Windows or Mac versions as required.  Our licence covers you for installation on up to five Windows or Mac computers that you own.  Use of the software requires you to be logged onto the DoE staff portal to confirm the licence.  Please NOTE that downloading the free MS Office products from Office 365 is blocked at school during school hours (9am-3pm) to ensure internet bandwidth is available for educational use.  Please complete the download outside school hours, or at home.

Office 2016 free for students and staff

Apple Caching Server monitoring News item

ITD has commenced an automated monitoring service for Apple Caching Servers (ACS) deployed via eT4L Services. As well as the regular emails sent to ICT Coordinators who have built an ACS, advising of how well their server is performing, separate alert emails will be sent out at 8am each day in the case of an ACS outage at your school. The ACS performs an important function in schools that have a fleet of iPads and/or Macs, in preventing internet bandwidth congestion caused by app updates. If your school's ACS is down for any reason, the impact on your school's bandwidth should immediately become apparent, but identifying the reason may not be so simple. If you receive an alert email at 8am on any given school day that advises of an outage at your site, it's important to take the necessary action to ensure power and/or network connectivity are restored to the ACS. In addition, it's also important that the school's ACS be located central to the school's network, preferably near the eT4L server and connected to the same network switch to ensure optimal performance.

Free eSafety registered PL Link item

The Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner is offering a free online Teacher Essentials professional learning program in June. There are three 50 minute modules available, delivered by webinar, followed by a 30 minute quiz.

  • Building Digital Intelligence - Tues 6 June at 8:30pm
  • Teachers, Technology and the Law - Wed 14 June at 8:00pm
  • Navigating the eSafety website - Thurs 22 June at 8:00pm

NSW teachers will receive three hours of accreditation through NESA. Book in quickly as the sessions are in high demand.

Digital intelligence professional learning

ICT Thought of the day Fun item

Image: Email sender's remorse

New FUTUREtech guides! News item

Are you keen to learn more about Robotics, 3D Printing and Arduino? The T4L team has just released the first three issues in a new series called FUTUREtech dedicated to demystifying new technologies for learning. With tips, tricks, curriculum links and stories straight from schools, they are a great snapshot of information to get you and your school on a Future Focused Edutech journey! We'd love to hear what you think of the first three issues of this new resource:

Keep your eyes peeled for the next editions and make sure you contact the T4L team with any suggestions for upcoming issues!

Thumbnail issue of FUTUREtech

School Servers (RDS) from home News item

For many years, some schools have allowed access to school servers from home computers for their staff. They achieved this by installing a Windows Terminal Server or Remote Desktop Services (RDS) server and requesting a link to be added to the DoE staff portal for their users. This worked effectively on older versions of Windows at home, but as Windows 8 and 10 were released, connection was no longer seamless. Staff who had Apple Macintosh computers at home were also unable to easily connect. ITD has scheduled the launch of an upgrade to the RDS service via the staff portal which will support a wider range of home computers. The new service is built on Java and will work on all Windows and OSX versions as long as a browser that does not block Java is used. Staff with Windows devices at home will need to use Internet Explorer, while those with OSX will need to use Safari. Students are unable to access school RDS servers from home. Schools with existing portal links to a terminal server will see the new RDS service commence from Friday 2 June.

Working from home

Alternatives to MyFiles Information item

As first mentioned in our last issue, the MyFiles service in the DoE staff portal will be decommissioned as it reaches end-of-life during 2017. Some of your staff may still be using MyFiles as a method to access data files on the school's server from home. For those staff, an alternate solution may be required. As part of the MyFiles decommissioning, a direct replacement, offering the same functionality will not be offered. MyFiles was never offered as a productivity tool and was never expected to be used regularly. Users should take advantage of their provided Cloud storage services (Google Drive/Office 365 OneDrive) for home access to files they need. Just upload copies of the files to work on to your preferred cloud service, then access from home via the DoE portal. Alternatively, schools could consider the options for providing Remote Desktop Services to directly access eT4L shares from home. Your local schools ICT support team can provide advice as to any additional hardware requirements.

Apple Mobile Device Management Information item

Many schools with iPads have already discovered the ease of device administration that comes with the use of a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution. While most schools are still using Apple Configurator to manage their iPads, they are also experiencing the ongoing challenges that come with that product and are looking for better options. Instead of collecting all iPads and bringing them back to a synching station and plugging them in and waiting, an MDM allows schools to manage their fleet of iPads wirelessly. There are multiple MDM solution vendors that schools can choose from, and as locally-supported devices, schools will need to work directly with MDM vendors to evaluate and procure their desired solution. The iPad group on Yammer is a great place to go to find out which MDMs are in use in our schools and to ask for advice. The following MDMs are the most common with each offering a range of benefits:

A fleet of iPads is an investment and managing them effectively requires further investment. Schools need to do their homework in this regard and consider future iPad purchases carefully to ensure positive educational returns on these investments.

Apple Mobile Device Management solution

Apple School Manager update Information item

A further advantage of moving to an MDM to manage the school's iPads, is Apple School Manager (ASM). With this recently updated free tool, your school can automatically create Managed Apple IDs for all students and staff to give them access to iCloud, iTunes U and Shared iPad. Since your MDM and ASM work together seamlessly, you can automate setup and enrolment with the right settings and restrictions, then assign devices and apps according to the class groups you’ve defined. Apple has support resources for ASM to help schools with understanding the minimum hardware requirements and how to get started:

MS Visual Studio changes News item

Under the department's new enterprise agreement with Microsoft, Visual Studio is no longer included due to licencing changes with the product. All prior Visual Studio packages have been removed from the eT4L Software Catalogue and UDM and Microsoft have provided a grace period of 12 months for existing installations used by schools on Windows PCs and laptops. By the end of this term, a set of new MS packages called VS Community will be available through the Software Catalogue. It includes four separate modules:

  • Windows Workloads
  • Web & Cloud Workloads
  • Mobile & Gaming Workloads
  • Other Toolsets Workloads

The new licence agreement states that these tools can only be used for educational learning and research purposes. Developing apps for any practical purpose requires a commercial licence. More details on this will be in the product descriptions included against the titles in the eT4L Software Catalogue.

eT4L ConfigMgr client update Information item

Progressively rolling out to all eT4L Windows devices from Tuesday 13 June will be an update to the Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) client and Software Center. This update requires no user action and will occur silently. For most users, there will be no visible change. For ICT Coordinators and support staff who deploy software or troubleshoot installations, Software Center will appear slightly different.

More news.T4L in Week 9

Information Technology Directorate publishes news.T4L three times each term. Remember to share each issue with your staff!

 

NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTORATE