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Reddit’s r_k12sysadmin Credits: @r_channels @reddit2telegram
Enrolling ChromeOS Devices
We have students in our HS bring their own Chrome devices to school and then IT enrolls the devices in our domain. We have an open SSID during orientation that allows students to get connected, and then once they are in right OU, they get forced onto the password-locked Student SSID and we disable the open SSID at the end of day.
I'm wondering if anybody gives their students the ability to enroll their own devices, in order to speed up the enrollment process and to reduce the amount of work on the IT department.
https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/1360534?hl=en&ref\_topic=9028498&sjid=2380176104163902993-NA
https://redd.it/1maa79n
@r_k12sysadmin
DVD player for interactive flat panels?
Does anyone have any recommendations for playing DVDs on IFPs? We are moving to these and will need a solution. I thought any trying out USB DVD players and using an app or slot loading stand alone DVD players.
https://redd.it/1ma425t
@r_k12sysadmin
Switching to JitBit as my help desk ticketing system
I researched 34 different help desk tools over several months and in the end, JitBit (https://www.jitbit.com/) was the best option for me. There's not a lot of content on YouTube about JitBit so I decided to make my own review and demo of it. I hope this is helpful to someone as they make their own decisions about choosing a help desk system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wLlkSXKsgw
Here's my rough notes I used for the video.
What I like:
1. Help Desk Software built for email and IT people
2. Impressive list of companies that they claim use their product.
3. Straight forward website, trial setup was easy.
4. A help desk that seems focused on the basics and not distracted by adding unnecessary and complicated features.
5. Clean and easy to use user interface.
6. We can create different categories for tickets. For example, Technology and Facilities can have their own categories to keep things separate.
7. JitBit works really well with email. The email parser is very good at adding the reply to the thread of comments in the portal. It is also very good at sending a list of previous comments included in each new email. So users can look in their email to see the context.
8. Has a Knowledge Base feature.
9. Has an asset feature.
10. Has a customer portal so users can see all their tickets.
11. Easy to use for agents. They can quickly reply to users and easily change ticket settings.
12. Agents can leave private notes on tickets.
13. The way it handles forwarded emails is really good.
14. We can have separate support emails for separate ticket categories.
15. There is an interesting option to allow users to see all other tickets within a department.
16. Microsoft Integration - SSO Login, User creation
17. MFA support
18. Live Chat option for our website
19. In product tutorial is excellent. Simple and to the point.
20. ChatGPT support.
21. Pricing is good. $1300 per year for7 agents.
22. Cool option to take screenshot or even record video right from help desk.
23. Integration options.
Things that could be better.
1. Website is a little sparse. Could use some more tabs at the top.
2. Could use more video demos, such as on YouTube.
3. Could have more social media presence to show they are actually working on the product.
4. Could have a contact sales or ask for a demo option on their website.
5. I hope they continue to develop the product, specifically AI related features.
6. There doesn't appear to be any SMS support.
7. The mobile apps don't work very well.
Alternative
The second-place tool was BoldDesk (https://www.bolddesk.com/), which has non-profit, 10 agent plan for free.
https://redd.it/1m9s4cp
@r_k12sysadmin
Vendor Support in Small Districts
https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/exploring-ai-and-vendor-support-in-small-districts/ and all major podcast platforms
Join us this week as we welcome our new AI co-host and delve into the unique challenges and opportunities of vendor support in small districts. From the highlights of the MidwestTechTalk conference to the intricacies of tech support for small schools, we cover it all. Hear about the latest AI updates in education with Canvas integrating ChatGPT and the DOE's new AI guidelines. We also discuss the importance of vendor relationships, pricing transparency, and the impact of federal funding freezes.
https://redd.it/1m9dioc
@r_k12sysadmin
How are you handling students lacking Parental Consent for Google Workspace for Edu accounts?
I realize this is to some extent of a school administration policy, but from a technical point of view how are you dealing with Google's Parental Consent requirements, which have now become a requirement rather than a suggestion? Mostly I've hearing "we always get 100% compliance" - but knowing our parent population this is not going to happen for us. End of last year we were at about 75% compliance.
The specific clause in Google's template for distribution to parents is:
"Please read it carefully, let us know of any questions, and then sign below to indicate that you’ve read the notice and give your consent. If you don’t provide your consent, we will not create a Google Workspace for Education account for your child."
In our case (Apple equipment), our ASM account is federated to Google, and 6th - 8th grades use Google Classroom (on Apple laptops). So everything is tied together into a big mess that it is going to be difficult to disentangle. We can hand students a laptop with a local-only account, but they will be unable to collaborate with either Google Classroom -or- with Apple's Collaborative technologies, as Apple does not let me directly enter student email address (due to the federation with Google). With most schools being on Chromebooks I expect the situation is even more complex. I'm interested in hearing how this is being handled.
https://redd.it/1m8au2j
@r_k12sysadmin
Compromised 2-Step Google Account?
Recently had a user whose account was compromised. Bad actor enabled and set vacation responder in Gmail. Bad actor also appears to have sent a visual phishing email with link to click. Email was sent to many end users via BCC.
Owner of compromised account did NOT send this email. Owner has work email setup only on personal iPhone and work computer. Biggest question we have currently is HOW this was possible with 2-step on? No emails were sent to user that appear nefarious in nature that could have triggered this.
How did someone gain access to do this? Or was it a nefarious script/file? User is on a windows device.
Only theories we have are a phished 2-step code, physical access (unlikely) or a third party authorized google sso app/google extension. Perhaps something on her personal email spilled over to work on personal iOS device?
Any other suggestions or ideas? Users account was immediately suspended, password changed and computer confiscated until further investigation.
https://redd.it/1m804q6
@r_k12sysadmin
Canon vs Sharp printers?
Any input? We are looking at a new service.
https://redd.it/1m7jtnf
@r_k12sysadmin
Replacing Phones with Teams Phones
Good morning, everyone!
We are going to be replacing our Mitel phone system with Teams phones. I was looking to see if anyone else has moved to Teams phones and can give me any tips or give some advice on your current setups.
Currently, the plan is to 1:1 assign the phones to teachers who do not move around. For classrooms that are shared, conference rooms, etc. we will make room resource accounts. My only fear with the 1:1 is setting up the phones. Our accounts have MFA so to have the teachers have to manually sign into the phones will be a struggle and I'm assuming I'll have to go to every room and help the teachers with this. Then obviously they will sign out at times and require reauthentication. Everything will be masked behind our resource accounts which will hold the building numbers. It will all be setup with Share Calling for the respective buildings.
Our staff will still want to keep extensions, so I have found a way with dial to append the resource phone number with the extension and transfer to the user. My issue with this is I also wanted to prevent external numbers from dialing teachers directly during school hours. I'm not sure if it'll work if I still want the extension dialing to work.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks!
https://redd.it/1m78x8f
@r_k12sysadmin
Type C Headphone
Can anyone recommend an extremely cheap type c ear bud/ headphone or an 3.5mm adapter? My director wants me to find something closer to $5 a pair and I told him that was very unlikely.
https://redd.it/1m6u9dt
@r_k12sysadmin
Rewording a previous post. Joinin Intune via Windows Accounts vs Thumb drive clean install
https://redd.it/1m6cjsh
@r_k12sysadmin
Windows Laptop onboarding
Follow up to my previous post about Chromebook stuff. We just got brand new windows teacher laptops. Wondering what everyone’s onboarding procedure is for teacher devices? We are a google school so teachers don’t really have windows accounts and their previous devices have been mixed and matched through donations over the years. I’d like to have an organized system of the login info and being able to help keep track and reset passwords for each device. There’s 16 altogether. Again for background I’m the math teacher by trade but tasked with this and gym classes because I’m younger and good at figuring things out. Any advice is appreciated.
https://redd.it/1m5ughc
@r_k12sysadmin
1:1 Computer name labels
Hello everyone,
What label printers and labels are you all using to put student names on 1:1 issued computers?
We are currently using 1.75" x 1" DuraReady 1007D labels with our Dymo LabelWriter 450 Turbo and it works great. The stickers stick, but don't leave a super nasty residue. The printer doesn't need a resin roll / ink to work. Software to print is free. We find that a clear protector over the top makes them last for years and years if handled reasonably. The only thing is that this printer is now 13 years old, and I should look at making it the backup printer.
It looks like a lot of companies provide printers that are direct thermal, but on paper labels. Paper worries me because cleanup can be a real hassle and they tend to fade over time.
https://redd.it/1m5i4v6
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Workspace Support needs to route somewhere other than just India
Let me start by emphasizing this is not a racial issue, this is a language barrier issue. We are trying to change our primary domain and being a workspace for Education customer for whatever reason you are forced to contact Google support for their assistance in doing so.
It's already hard to understand the extremely thick accent, but combined with the excessive background noise of the call center, it's almost impossible to communicate effectively.
Eventually I was able to work out the lady was telling me me we would essentially have to deprovision thousands of Chromebooks, which is insane. She then tells me it's another specialized department that handles this and they will call me back. She's going to open a ticket for me and proceeds to end the call.
This is the subject of the ticket I receive, I kid you not:
"Google Workspace Support #xxxxxxxxxxx: The USER initially asked for their support PIN. The AGENT repeatedly informed the USER that their account is managed by a reseller (Amplified IT) and directed them to contact the reseller for specific issues like bil..."
It blows my mind. NONE of this happened....like NONE OF IT
When I need support for an extremely technicaly issue, I both ends need to be able to communicate effectively and this ain't it.
This is one of the main reasons I refuse to upgrade and pay for the Education Plus licensing. You'd essentially be paying for a product that you can't get support for.
https://redd.it/1m3xys7
@r_k12sysadmin
Block former employee from emailing district?
Can Google Workspace do this? We've been urging the Supers to take legal/police action, but they're still in the "fix it, nerd!" stage. Can Google Admin block an IP address that's outside the org?
https://redd.it/1m30cvv
@r_k12sysadmin
I need to chose a Chrome cart
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https://redd.it/1m2ie42
@r_k12sysadmin
Blocksi Confusion
Is anybody familiar with Blocksi? I'm concentrating on the OOS. the url is included as a blocked url in the default home exception list. the url falls in the Business => Web-based Applications Category.. because of google docs which is an allowed category for obvious reasons.
https://preview.redd.it/iym1y7umfbff1.png?width=1946&format=png&auto=webp&s=5dc14404cb0b7f5377266dcfe02a491977983444
https://redd.it/1ma9d9h
@r_k12sysadmin
Pre-terminated bulk fiber
Our maintenance department is trenching and laying conduit between two buildings and we’re thinking of burning pre-terminated bulk fiber to do the work ourselves, saving thousands. The fiber will be outdoor, gel filled, with flying leads.
Any issues I should be aware of before making the purchase?
https://redd.it/1m9w7b6
@r_k12sysadmin
HMH Rostering
HMH Rostering service has been having an outage for days now. Cyber incident?
https://status.hmhco.com/
https://redd.it/1m9fwb6
@r_k12sysadmin
Google Classroom in a Microsoft world
Our teachers and admin are all on Microsoft. Our students are all on Chromebooks and the teachers use Google Classroom. The teachers really don't want to use the Microsoft equivalent to Google Classroom. Anyone in this same predicament? The issues I have is I am trying to keep the Google Docs for Google Classroom thoroughly isolated from Microsoft. An example being, a teacher creates a document for general consumption in Google, shares it, pandemonium erupts in the rest of the staff as the sharing is different, it doesn't open in Word, etc etc etc. Ideally I could shut off Google drive and Google Classroom pulls docs from Sharepoint/Onedrive but that seems not possible - or at least not convenient without a download/upload step?
Admittedly, I am by no means a Google Classroom SME, so any insight greatly appreciated.
https://redd.it/1m8zhak
@r_k12sysadmin
Losing mind w/ Chromebook Powerwash...
Hey all, can someone that has & uses a Go-Box confirm for me that I'm not crazy? We just got our Go-Box back from the factory as it had a steady red light. It fired up fine as could be and all seemed well...until we started a script to Powerwash.
It did what it was supposed to do initially, when it rebooted to the "Welcome to your Chromebook" screen, it instantly pulled up the "Powerwash" prompt again. We've added WAIT times to each of the steps with the same outcome. So, I then made a brand new script in the Go-Box that all it does is get through the Powerwash confirmation, restart the machine, and then just sit at the "Welcome to your Chromebook" screen....same issue. I'm more than a bit flustered/frazzled. Below is the "simple" test script. Any help would be greatly appreciated, this Reddit community is awsome.
VAR WFSSID,WVAR,WFSSID,WFPW,ADVWFUSR,ADVWFPW,WFXA,WFXB,ENREMAIL,ENRPW,USREMAIL,USRPW
BEGIN
# NOTE DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE FIRST LINE (Variables)
WAIT 4000
# These first two commands set the starting position for the automation
# If developer console is enabled this will result in a failed enrollment
# initiate Refresh sequence
HIT ctrl alt shift r
HIT enter
WAIT 1000
HIT tab
WAIT 1000
HIT enter
END
https://redd.it/1m86amz
@r_k12sysadmin
Toner
Hi
We decided to drop the company we were using for toner and print repairs for various reasons. Cost being one of them. We will now be sticking our toner centrally. Our toner is oem but still interested in getting refilled cartridges if the quality is good. Anyone know a company? I am in NY.
https://redd.it/1m7vql3
@r_k12sysadmin
Presentation on Best Practices in IT
Hi everyone, I’ve been involved in my local & state level union for years now. I’ve been my local’s delegate to the state level union’s annual business meeting for several years. While there, they have various PD sessions delegates can go to. Some are education based (eg How to use AI in the classroom), some are more union based (how to be a good building rep). The state union often puts out an RFP for these sessions, and I would like to possibly do an “IT Best Practices” thing. Keep it fairly simple as most delegates are teachers, paraprofessionals, etc., so not IT people. Just want to show the hows and whys of what IT does so they can better understand what we do, as well as get pointers from them on how to serve them better.
I was thinking of going over stuff like ticketing systems and why we use them, proper communication between IT and end users, and tools of the trade (multitools, cable management, etc.).
I would like any suggestions you may have. I don’t know if I’d even be picked to present, and even then, it would be my first time really presenting. Thanks in advance!
https://redd.it/1m7bkf9
@r_k12sysadmin
Any Raptor and PowerSchool Districts Here?
Hi all - Raptor won our most recent visitor management/safety bid in our district. We had been using Ident-a-kid up to this point. In the bid process Raptor indicated they had PowerSchool writeback for attendance during student check in/check out, which is what was asked for in the bid.
However, we've since discovered that they only support daily attendance writeback, not period. This is fine for our elementary schools, but our middle and high schools use period attendance.
Anyone else in this situation and have figured out a workaround? Or are we boned?
https://redd.it/1m77wf1
@r_k12sysadmin
Apple School Manager / Powerschool SIS
Has anyone tied their SIS into ASM to import classes and students into apple classroom while using microsoft as the ldp?
I think I have everything setup right, but I connected powerschool to ASM as the directory sync, and it's past 6 hours with no real movement. We have 26-27,000 kids, so it's a lot of data, plus all their schedules etc, Does anyone know how long it takes for something like.this? I have a 9AM call tomorrow with apple because they so graciously offered us an hour of support a week for the huge rollout of iPads we are going to do. I have just about everything done I just need to pull in the SIS data.
https://redd.it/1m6ucbx
@r_k12sysadmin
ASM sync from Infinite campus
Has anyone had an issue with missing person id and person number for new staff members? We migrated to IC and only new staff are missing this information.
https://redd.it/1m5xwjy
@r_k12sysadmin
Changing Name scheme from LastName, First Name to FirstName LastName in AAD
We use the Azure AD sync tool. I want to change the displayName so that it is FirstName LastName in AAD but still LastName, FirstName in AD. I see conflicting ways to do this by generating a custom transformation rule. Has anyone done this successfuly and are there any issues with doing it?
https://redd.it/1m5ly9d
@r_k12sysadmin
Episode 223 - Everything You Need To Know About Google's Summer Updates!
https://k12techtalkpodcast.com/e/unlocking-google-classroom-whats-changing-in-edtech/ and all major podcast platforms
Josh, Chris, and Mark dive deep into the latest product and licensing changes announced by Google this summer. The trio discusses how Google's updates could impact schools, highlighting essential decisions IT Directors and educators need to make regarding AI tools like Gemini and NotebookLM. Special emphasis is placed on Google's move to enhance the classroom experience, with standalone products like Google Vids and other classroom management tools.
https://redd.it/1m4ffnv
@r_k12sysadmin
Windows 11 installation has failed Issues
Kinda at a loss here. I have tried Windows 11 Installation Assistant, same error. I have downloaded the Win 11 ISO from MS, same error. Always when it starts the install, I get the Win 11 install has failed. 4 different machines. These machines seem to be stuck on 23H2. Will not get any further updates from MS either. Don't see the 24H2 update.
Short of wiping them, any other suggestions?
https://redd.it/1m38yie
@r_k12sysadmin
Student email filters and parents needs
This coming school year, our students won't be allowed to have their phones with them. They'll have to leave them in their lockers during the school day. We're expecting some parents to demand a way to contact their children without having to call the school office and wait. So I was asked to look into letting parents email their children.
We're currently using Google Workspace for student email accounts. We're also using it's email compliance rules to limit access to the students from random email addresses on the Internet. They can only email others within our district and a few approved donations, like schools where we have distance learning classes. So I looked at the possibility of using GAM to script adding and removing parent email addresses from that list of allowed addresses. This doesn't appear to be an option in GAM. There doesn't even appear to be an API to access the lists that compliance rules use.
Does anyone have a good solution to this? Perhaps we'll need a third party service to route email through? Perhaps we just need to allow students to have access to personal email accounts from their school issued chromebooks? I'm wondering what ideas the group has encountered in the past.
Sidenote: Points about social norms and expectations are not useful right now. Those conversations are also happening, but the higher-ups still need to know what options exist. I know we grew up without this, but it's been common enough for long enough that we're going to get requests and we need to have the ability to answer them, even if that answer is that we're not able to do it or that it will cost an extra $20,000/year.
https://redd.it/1m2x3kh
@r_k12sysadmin
Stickers on teacher laptops. What's your stance?
Does your district allow teachers to place stickers on their work laptops? Are they responsible for removing them if they leave their job?
I'm just sitting here peeling stickers for the last 20 minutes and am getting tired of dealing with all this sticky paper!
https://redd.it/1m2dygc
@r_k12sysadmin
