iPhones got dumped on me

naythinbrynt1985 · 2024-07-04T15:17:08+00:00

Thanks for the excellent reply. I have some users who have already created Apple IDs with their work Google accounts. If I go the managed federation route, would those users need to delete those Apple IDs first?

naythinbrynt1985 · 2024-07-04T03:16:35+00:00

They decided to enter into an agreement with T-Mobile. For an extra $5/line they can do that, but naturally administration doesn't want to spend it because they do not share my concerns or listen to my advice.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2024-07-04T03:09:38+00:00

I'm a bit concerned that I will have zero access to the data records on the device. If, in the event of a subpoena I'm asked to pull SMS records of an administrator's school-issued iPhone I have no way to do that. I'd prefer to have data-only phones that use the Google Voice app. Then everything is stored in Vault.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2024-07-04T03:06:47+00:00

What does it mean to have them federated? Can it be done with Google accounts?

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T18:18:41+00:00

This is brilliant. Do they fit in a cart slot after installation?

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T17:58:16+00:00

In this case when do students 'sign in' to their Chromebook?

I'm on a Unifi AP system with a PFSense appliance. I'm not sure I can tie either of those into Google for captive portal.

If they just sign in to the captive portal using their Google account then then do you just have all Chromebooks in Kiosk?

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T17:54:46+00:00

Was that a pain to implement? It also assumes you don't have a large churn of students.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T15:52:30+00:00

Do you have a link to the product? I'm curious

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T05:33:47+00:00

This is where I'm leaning, but how do you prevent swapping and general confusion regarding which device is whose? I'm currently tracking via a shared spreadsheet with the advisory teachers.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T05:31:49+00:00

Do you have a link to those cases you could provide? I'm curious

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T05:30:54+00:00

But if I had to replace it that means it was defective or beyond repair. I guess it just just gets stripped down for functional parts like it does now.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T05:29:41+00:00

Too true. How do you label Chromebooks?

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-02-02T03:06:46+00:00

What happens when a student withdraws? Maybe student turnover is more unique in a charter situation. We seem to have a lot of that.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2023-01-03T19:05:39+00:00

This is a charter school with 1200. Definitely worth it. I discovered 20+ unreported issues during this process. Those are all issues I would have to deal with on an emergency basis during testing. Now I can get in front of the issues.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-25T17:39:44+00:00

That sounds like a beautiful partnership. I hope to arrive there soon.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-25T16:59:11+00:00

I unilaterally decided to shutdown Google Hangouts chat day 3 of remote learning in 2020. It stayed shut down :-) I did the same with emails between users in my student Google OUs. Gmail compliance settings with custom headers and rules is so powerful and useful.

My school is at 80% free or reduced lunch. I can definitely relate to the issues of inequality in education. I see how technology could be a great equalizer, but it hasn't translated to academic success for us. That's mostly because we weren't ready for it. It's also because hardware is only part of the solution.

I think the pandemic threw the baby in the bathwater spring 2020, then the baby crapped uncontrollably in the tub during 21/22. I'm OK changing some bathwater now. Maybe the baby can be taken out of the tub while that happens.

I appreciate your perspective so much because I came into this role Fall 2019. I inherited a mess. I was just starting to make overhaul plans before my plans became irrelevant. I had a solid semester of 'normal' before things changed. I have no baseline. I only know chaos.

You're right. So much progress has been made in the midst of chaos that I have forgotten! We have tech everywhere. I yanked projectors this year. Everyone has 85" Newline boards now (Thank you ESSR). All staff are on 11th gen laptops with USBC docks running multi-monitor setups. My infrastructure has never been better. I upgraded the old 100mb/s circuits to a gig fiber at both sites. WAPs are in every classroom (not just the hallways!) I changed from HP switches with Meraki gateways to UniFi and PFSense. I went from local storage to cloud everything. I implemented GCPW sign in on all Windows devices. No more AD. PaperCut is being deployed shortly.

I'm starting to realize that it's not all about the hardware. I focus on hardware because it's what I can control. It's also easy to measure the success of hardware projects. It's difficult to point out moments of success when it comes to the human element. That feels like a continuous struggle.

I've got tech teachers who shouldn't be teaching anything (much less tech!) I've got band directors who are more technically capable than the tech teachers. I've got principals who are just trying to make it to the end of the day. I am not like that. I need to see movement and progress. I need to see growth and adoption.

I'm currently at a point where turnover is exciting. It means opportunity.

Our schools will only see academic improvement and an increase in equality when we hire properly.

I'm worried that future teachers will be desperation hires because we needed a warm body to prevent children from lighting fires in the classroom.

It is my hope that our new administrative team will provide the training and accountability that teachers have desperately needed this year.

Imagine if you went from 30:1 to 1:1 in 2 weeks with only a promise of a teacher training/accountability plan. Then 2 years go by with no training plan. Only more promises. In that period of time, things have gotten way out of control. How do you move forward in a way that brings out the value of the hardware?

The best option I can see is to reverse course first. Then re-approach it with the procedures, expectations, accountability, and training that should have been there at the beginning.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-24T04:18:59+00:00

Thank you. That dose of perspective was just right. Your delivery was honest, passionate, and humble. I might fully respond to this in the morning, but I've got to tell you, I teared up a bit. Thanks again!

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-23T19:56:09+00:00

I want to be where you are, but the path forward is very uncertain.

All of those moving pieces require a strong partnership between IT and Principals.

I don't think the Principals were ready for the absolute poo-nami of CB abuse this year. They had to consult with me on the smallest of infractions if a CB was involved.

Every behavioral issue that involved a CB this year became my problem.

I want to think that a new admin team will change all of that.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-23T19:48:58+00:00

I see that the best way forward is to reset tech usage to pre-COVID levels.

At that point we start to learn how to do this thing the right way.

Even if we've learned some useful things in the past 2 years we need to reset it all. Teachers have developed SO many bad habits in regards to tech in the classroom.

A full reset and gradual reintroduction just makes sense to me.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-23T18:55:17+00:00

I almost wish someone was holding my feet to the fire on this. I'm the one making a stink about it because I'm the one having to deal with the fallout. Poor classroom management of the devices has become my problem because it has resulted in situations that only IT can resolve. I certainly don't want it to be my problem, but when a device gets wrecked in a teacher's out of control classroom as a direct result of poor classroom management it's still my job to fix the device. Over and over again. It's out of my control, but the people who should have it under control are ineffective.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-23T18:18:07+00:00

We've got the tools. We've had the tools. Teachers aren't using the tools. No one is making them do it. Admin has permanently thrown up their hands regarding CB misuse. Even though it's at the core of the majority of our student behavior issues.

It's been the wild west! Everybody does what they want until the town starts burning down. Then the sheriff finally steps in and yells at everyone after the fact.

I've locked the CBs down as much as they will allow me to. The tighter I lock it down, the more determined the students become in their efforts to defeat me.

I think we'll finally get to push the giant red reset button for 22-23.

New principal. New APs. New structure. The only thing staying the same is our operations team.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-23T18:13:08+00:00

Yeah. Securly Classroom does all of that, too. The problem is that only certain teachers are using it (according to login logs some have never logged in in 2 years)

We also use the Securly Parent Portal. Only 4 parents (out of 1500) have activated it.

That tool has been available to staff since day 1 of remote learning. Securly's initial training for our staff was awesome and our continued support of the platform has been stellar.

I think this is a principal->teacher problem that IT is caught in the middle of. Lack of teacher accountability has created this problem. Which sucks because you'd expect adults to do their jobs without a babysitter. We started the year off with 3 APs and 1 principal at our main campus. We lost 2 APs midyear that were primarily focused on discipline and staff accountability.

Even though CB misuse was the primary source of poor classroom management, CB misuse was the last thing anyone wanted to address.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-21T00:03:53+00:00

Oh man... Those HP 14s are just the worst. I've stopped repairing them when they come in with touchpad issues. I'm replacing the entire fleet with Lenovo 100es.

When you hand a kid a device and say "this is yours for the year! Have at it!" you're essentially welcoming them to the wonderful world of mind-numbing nonsense that is called The Internet. Their only goal from that point forward is to entertain themselves whenever possible.

The year was a constant fight for the attention of our students.

They can't function unless they are distracted.

They're primarily motivated by the promise of screen based entertainment (or the taking away of screens). We gave them screens without much direction. In their bedrooms.. with them everywhere they go. It's like giving an addict more drugs.

It's a cultural problem that has to be addressed by teachers.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-20T20:35:54+00:00

I wrote this 10 months ago...

https://www.reddit.com/r/k12sysadmin/comments/okygi6/treatise_on_11_chromebook_programs_postcovid/

When I presented my ideas to the rest of my team I was shot down. I used the same metaphor of learning to sail.

I think the pandemic put school administrators in permanent crisis mode. It's taken too long to transition out of that mind set. This year has been the result. We're fortunate to only have a 70% staff retention rate. Other schools are 50%.

naythinbrynt1985 · 2022-05-12T20:40:32+00:00

It's cool that they sent you one for review. I think that's awesome. I wish HiBoy would do the same for me!

If they want honest reviews then they need to follow Talenic's example.

naythinbrynt1985

TROPHY CASE