Infrastructure

N4L is keen to work with schools that may require custom or specialised firewalling and will work to ensure the N4L service meets their needs.

Schools may make requests of N4L to change firewall rules. For example, a school may require an on-site server to be capable of being accessed from the internet. N4L actions these change requests quickly, but also audits them to ensure they achieve their intended purpose securely.

N4L has expertise and experience in working with schools to ensure their internet and firewalling needs are met and that they support teaching and learning. The N4L service, because it is a managed service, has some unique advantages that a custom firewall does not have:

• The firewall rules that N4L implement as standard mean that common applications such as Google Hangouts, video-conferencing, and Skype will not require extra configuration by your school.
• Teachers and students are more likely to be able to use the applications or sites they want without requiring technical support or intervention.
• If a change is made by a service provider (for example, Apple, Google, or Microsoft) that will require a firewall change to be made, the N4L will make those changes on your behalf in order to ensure that teaching and learning can continue.

More information »

• N4L’s Safe and Secure Internet

Responsibilities of schools

Web filtering must be balanced with educational strategies that promote:

• developing skills and knowledge for safe and responsible use of digital technologies
• opportunities for students to be involved in decision-making about how digital technologies are managed
• developing a pro-social culture of digital technology use
• cooperation of the whole community in preventing and responding to incidents.

The New Zealand Curriculum’s Key Competencies are also relevant to how schools approach this topic.

The Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession requires teachers to “Manage the learning setting to … maximise learners’ physical, social, cultural, and emotional safety”.

Internet access on student devices

Schools used to be confident that students’ access to the Internet was always through the school’s connection while they were at school. This connection was often faster than students’ home connections. Typically the school firewalled and filtered the connection. Students were protected while at school and it also gave the school a degree of protection. It was clearly seen as proactive and acting responsibly.

The availability of mobile data connectivity means that this approach is no longer effective, particularly in secondary schools. A device can access the internet at speeds similar to or faster than the speed offered by the school’s network. The connection can be shared with others by creating a wireless hotspot. In almost all cases, the mobile data connection will be unfiltered.

Schools have a responsibility to ensure students are safe while at school and this responsibility extends to student use of mobile data connections. Additionally, unless it is clearly endangering the emotional or physical safety of other students or detrimentally affecting the learning environment, school staff cannot ask to search a student-owned device, nor ask for the password to any device to access the content.

Schools cannot easily monitor the use of mobile internet access, so the only way to ensure the school meets its digital safety obligations is to implement a comprehensive digital citizenship strategy. This is because effective digital citizenship:

• guides people at home and at school
• guides people on mobile data or school Internet connection
• guides people on any device they choose to use.

More information »

• Safe and Responsible use of Digital Technologies in schools  – Ministry of Education’s guidelines 

What role does Internet filtering have in a digital citizenship strategy?

An appropriate level of internet filtering can help students develop Key Competencies and be a useful part of a digital citizenship strategy by:

• providing learners with opportunities to exercise digital citizenship skills in a supportive yet safe environment
• encouraging learners to use the school’s internet connection while at school, rather than using unfiltered, personal mobile data connections
• using the reporting functions of your filtering solution to prompt conversations about online behaviour with users.

Managing self – what does it really look like?

In the context of digital technologies, a student who is able to manage themselves will be able to:

• manage their time so that it is used efficiently and productively
• know the difference between appropriate and inappropriate content, that this varies contextually and make good decisions based upon the context
• actively make decisions to "do the right thing".

Older learners should be able to manage themselves more effectively than younger learners and be more discerning about what self-management means for themselves in different contexts. Using your filtering reporting tools to inform conversations with learners about how they manage themselves can be a useful technique to allow students to increase their ability to be discerning digital citizens.

Digital devices in schools used to be mainly desktop computers and laptops deployed, customised, and managed on a network using a server. This has changed significantly through a number of developments.

• A move towards ongoing, more regular updates – Software and operating systems update every few months rather than on a three to five-year refresh cycle.
• A greater variety of device types and operating systems that schools want to deploy and manage: Microsoft Windows, Apple’s MacOS, iPads, Chromebooks, Android tablets, Linux, and others.
• The expectation that people should be able to have a more configurable, personal user experience on any device and at any location, rather than a generic or technically-determined one.
• The desire for devices to be available for use at all times rather than having to be out of action while being reconfigured.
• People wanting to get the benefit of new functionality, apps, or updates as soon as they are available instead of having to wait for them to be made available through technical support.
• Schools seeking greater cost-effectiveness by moving away from having to procure and manage on-premise servers towards using cloud-based services on monthly subscriptions or no-cost basis.

Once the number of devices exceeds ten it is not generally recommended to carry out deployment and maintenance manually.

There are many cloud-based Mobile Device Managers (MDMs) available. Microsoft, Google, and Apple all support and recommend cloud-based MDM approaches for their operating systems. It is recommended that schools consider one or more MDMs to help with the deployment, customisation, and ongoing management of their devices.

Mobile device managers typically offer similar features and benefits. Each MDM will vary, though, in the features they have available and how they work, so it will be essential to check them out carefully before making a decision about what to use.

Typical features

• An inventory/asset register of attributes such as devices’ serial numbers, names and locations.
• A view of the apps/software, settings and security updates that are running on devices.
• The ability to remotely configure apps/software, scripts and settings in an automated way.
• Scalability from a few devices to a few thousand.

Common benefits

• Users and groups can have their experience customised based on their specific needs.
• Customisations like new apps/software, updates, scripts, and settings can be made readily and on the fly in an agile, automated way whenever changes are needed.
• Analysis of device usage can inform decisions around future device purchases and deployments.
• The location of devices can be determined if devices go missing.
• Administrators can check that the right apps/software, updates, scripts, and settings have been properly installed on devices to ensure their usability and security.
• The hands-off approach made possible by MDMs should save time and means changes can be done more easily and cheaply.
• People’s experience when using devices should be reliable and consistent which will increase their readiness to use them.

Can one MDM system manage all types of devices?

Microsoft and Apple have both opened their operating systems to being managed by third-party MDMs whereas Google’s devices can only be managed by the Google Admin Console using the Chrome Education License.

 Using the same MDM system to manage both your Apple and Microsoft devices should be considered as this will reduce the number of tools that need to be learnt, accessed, and paid for.

Subscription costs

MDMs are typically purchased on a monthly subscription basis, although some are at no cost, including options available in the Ministry’s Microsoft Schools Agreement. The cost of the MDM should be considered alongside the alternative (if it exists) of purchasing and running a server and software to manage the devices at your school. Simplifying the management of devices with MDMs should lead to cost savings through reduced technical support time.

Technical support costs

Configuring and managing an MDM is technically involved. You should work with a technical support company to give you assistance with the initial configuration. Once set up, using the MDM should be easy enough with some training and familiarisation.

Using the capabilities of the MDM to proactively manage devices requires somebody to be responsible for the monitoring of the information that the MDM provides; installing an MDM, and then having nobody responsible to monitor it would be a waste of time and money. The monitoring could be done by a school support staff member or a technical support provider.

School-owned devices

School-owned devices should be enrolled in an MDM given the benefits outlined above.

TELA+ digital devices

There are also advantages to using an MDM for TELA+ digital devices – in particular the ability to confirm whether the devices are running the latest security updates. However, the advantages may not be considered to be worth the cost of the MDM and it’s related support costs.

 TELA+ can support schools in using Apple’s Device Enrolment Programme and Microsoft’s AutoPilot which allow a device to be automatically enrolled in the school’s MDM before it ships to the school. Google’s Chrome Education License is available at no cost through the Google School’s Agreement.

Student or teacher owned devices

Careful consideration is needed to determine whether students’ devices should be enrolled and managed by an MDM. Some factors to explore include:

• Cost/benefit ratio: is the financial outlay of the MDM worth the benefits of having student devices managed?
• Demarcation: by enrolling a device in an MDM, the school has some control over that device. The school may not want to have this increased responsibility.

Making the MDM optional for students and pointing out the advantages of using it may be a suitable approach.

As MDMs are managing settings that have been enabled on the operating system, they tend to be differentiated on price and their user interface rather than on what settings they are capable of configuring. This means there is little risk of a school being locked into a particular MDM solution with a proprietary configuration.

You should expect a similar amount of work to move from one MDM to another as was involved in setting up your original MDM.

Talk to other schools and your technical support provider to ask for recommendations.

There are many MDM options on the market. Our recommendation is to consider a product that is proven to work well in schools in New Zealand, and that offers features and support most relevant for you at the right price.

How to download

• Use Google Takeout to export the posts as an XML file then import into a new account .
• Use Blog Booker to export your blog to a PDF.

How to transfer

• Follow the instructions to Move a blog to a new owner or watch this YouTube clip .

Recommendations

• In general, it makes sense to transfer ownership of the blog to the new Google account.
• Consider how blogs are initially created and managed within your school domain as this will impact transferring data when students or staff leave. Pt England School’s effective blogging site provides many recommendations.

How to download

• Use the Video Manager to download some of your videos or use Google Takeout to download all your videos as MP4 files. Then upload them into the new account.

How to transfer

• It is not possible to transfer ownership of a YouTube clip or channel.

Recommendations

• Download your YouTube clips using Video Manager or Takeout.

How to download

• Use Google Takeout to export your email to an MBOX file. This format can not easily be imported into your new Google account. Instead, use a programme like Mozilla Thunderbird to refer back to your old emails.
• Use a paid service such as VaultMe .

How to transfer

• Use the copy and transfer method.

Recommendations

• Use the copy and transfer method.

How to download

• Use Google Takeout to export your bookmarks as an HTML file then import them into your new account using the Chrome Browser.

How to transfer

• It is not possible to transfer ownership of bookmarks

Recommendations

• Use Takeout to download your bookmarks then import them into your new account.

How to download

• Use Google Takeout to export your calendars as an ICS (iCalendar) file then import the events into your new Google account .
• Use the Calendar export utility in the Calendar Settings.

How to transfer

• Your existing calendars can be shared with your new account but their ownership can not be transferred.
• Use a paid service such as Cloud Gopher

Recommendations

• Use Takeout to keep a record of your calendar entries but use fresh, new calendars in your new account. Make a note of any shared calendars that you subscribe to and re-subscribe to them in your new account.

How to download

• Use Google Takeout to export your contacts as a Vcard, HTML or CSV file then import your contacts into your new Google Account

How to transfer

• While contacts can be delegated (shared) within your school, they can’t be shared outside of your school. Instead, use a paid service such as Cloud Gopher .

Recommendations

• Use Takeout to export contacts as a CSV then import them into your new account.

How to download

• Google does not provide in-built tools to download the data in a Google site. Instead, use a website copier tool such as HTTrack or Site Sucker to take a copy of the pages.

How to transfer

• Either follow the instructions to Share your site with other people so that your new Google account becomes the site owner. The site will remain in place as it is currently with the School having overall administrative control of it.
• Or, you can follow the instructions to Share your site with other people so that your new Google account becomes the site owner and then make a copy of the site . This means the site takes on a new URL and is "budded" from the original one rather than transferred. You might wish to then delete the existing site – Leigh Hynes explained how in this YouTube clip – Transferring sites .

Recommendations

• Use one of the methods to transfer the ownership of your sites to your new account. Unless you want the site to remain under the control of your existing school, it is usually best to transfer ownership and make a copy of it.

How to download

• Use Google Takeout to export and download the Drive files that you are an owner of. This does not export and download files that are shared with you, though. You would have to make a copy of any files that are shared with you in order to download them with Google Takeout. Takeout exports Google Docs, Slides, Sheets as Microsoft Word, Powerpoint or Excel files. Google Forms are not downloaded at all and revision history and some formatting might be lost in the conversion.
• Another option is to move all your files and folders into a new folder which you then download. Downloading a folder means that files and folders that are shared with you are included in the downloaded ZIP file. Depending on the size of all files this could take some time to download so ensure your internet connection is good and the device being used is not going to go to sleep! You may like to download individual folders rather than everything in one hit. Once downloaded, the zipped folders need to be unzipped then the folder can be uploaded to the new account's Drive.

How to transfer

• Use the copy and transfer method which means sharing permissions will be lost.
• Use a paid service such as VaultMe which will maintain the sharing permissions of shared files and folders.

Recommendations

• Use the copy and transfer method.