In this follow up to my previous blog with Tom the teacher (he is a real teacher in case you’re unsure), this second education-focused IT blog has again been created in conjunction with Tom, a Design and Technology teacher in the UK. This time he outlines a number of things that he wished his school’s IT support staff would do. They aren’t complaints – Tom values all the help he gets from his IT colleagues. Instead, they’re opportunities for IT to do an even better job in helping him and his students to get their learning done.

In this blog a teacher (yes a real one) outlines a number of things that he wished his school’s #ITsupport staff would do. Click To Tweet

1. Let teachers reset student passwords (or let students reset their own)

Passwords are the bane of Tom’s trips to his school’s computer room. His students set their passwords and write them down in their planners (so they won’t forget, it’s not a great security practice I know) in the first lesson of the school year.

Then, they not only forget their passwords but also where they wrote it down (as they try to be secretive). Tom then needs to spend the first 20 minutes of the next lesson getting everyone logged in. Then there are the streetwise students who suddenly “forget” their password so they can get a trip to the IT support office to get it reset (and thus get a break from the lesson). Which can, unfortunately, turn into a wave of “needed” password resets.

Please give teachers the ability to reset students passwords, says one teacher struggling with a number of IT Support challenges. #ITSupport Click To Tweet

Tom states that being able to reset the passwords himself, or for students to self-reset, would eliminate this problem.

2. Let teachers access their files from a home computer

Tom is fortunate to have a school laptop, which he can take home, whereas, many staff have a desktop. This poses an issue for these teachers when they want to work from home.

If staff could securely access their files from their home computer, then they could work out of hours when needed (yes, it happens). It would also help laptop users like Tom too when they leave their laptop at school.

3. Let students access files and programs from a home computer too

Tom finds that students usually have access to a computer at home. But it’s often the case that they have no printer. It seems “I don’t have a printer” is in the top 10 most common excuses for not handing in homework. And USB sticks can’t be used to bring homework in, given the threat of viruses. Security fears also prevent teachers from using school email to receive homework from students too.

“I don't have a printer” is in the top 10 most common excuses for not handing in homework. So how can #ITsupport help with this issue? Click To Tweet

However, if students could remotely access their school home drives, this would alleviate the issue. They could save their homework directly to their school home drive. Then once in school, print it.

4. Regularly check computers for broken keyboards and mice

Unfortunately, Tom finds that some of his students take out their frustrations with their education on the computer keyboards and mice. Rendering many a machine useless until replaced. This is most prevalent in communal computer rooms and while prevention would be the best solution, regular checks and repairs/replacements would certainly help computer-based lessons to run more smoothly and effectively.

5. Or provide teachers with spare mice and keyboards

Tom isn’t saying that the answer is to just keep replacing mice and keyboards, with no consequence for vandalism. However, when he books a computer room for 30 students to use the 30 computers, it’s an issue when five mice are broken, and seven keyboards are missing keys or have had their keys rearranged.

It disrupts the lesson, and learning, for everyone. Plus, it doesn’t then help when students take it upon themselves to start unplugging working mice and keyboards, to get a computer working next to their friends. Sometimes, these computers haven’t been used for weeks because they haven’t had a working mouse or keyboard. So, when they’re finally turned on, there are 17 timely updates to do.

6. Get the computers to update at night

Of course, updates need to happen. New software versions and virus and malware protection. But can’t they happen at night-time? Not during the first 30 minutes of the first computer-based lesson of the day.

It really hampers Tom’s ability to teach when, after finally getting his students into the in-demand computer room, the first part of the lesson is lost to the computers auto-running the available updates.

7. Give teachers access to student back up files to restore work

Tom finds that some students have trouble with opening and saving their work – with a common issue being the saving of a blank document over the previous lesson’s work. This means a trip to the IT support office, where they can restore a previous version for the student. If a teacher could simply do this, it would save no end of time.

8. Provide afterschool training on basic programs for staff

Tom finds that not all teachers have the necessary computing knowledge to effectively help students with their computer-based learning. Therefore, it would be beneficial to everyone if IT support staff could offer some basic computing training, after hours, to help the teachers who struggle with technology to better support their students.

There’s nothing overly complicated here

As a provider of an IT service management (ITSM) tool that’s commonly employed by educational institutions, I can see quick solutions to many of Tom’s requests. But first I want to make a couple of points:

1. While these are the views of a single teacher, Tom, I’d be surprised if his is the only school dealing with these issues
2. There’s already technology available to help and, importantly, the technology not only helps teachers such as Tom to do their job better, it also makes the lives of IT support personnel better too.

How can we better help teachers and students to learn more effectively but also free up time-pressured #ITsupport staff to do potentially more pressing work? #Education #ITSM Click To Tweet

Examples of where ITSM tools such as SysAid will help (everyone)

While ITSM tools are often marketed and sold on their ITIL-aligned capabilities such as incident management and change management, some ITSM tools offer more than this core ITIL enablement. For example, SysAid also provides:

• Automated password reset capabilities – which allow end users to securely reset their domain passwords, and unlock suspended accounts, by themselves without the need for IT support’s assistance.
• Remote access capabilities – which provide teachers and students, not just IT, with secure remote access to their PCs from any device with an Internet connection.
• IT asset management capabilities – which can also be used to track and influence the use (and cost) of peripherals, as well as the more traditionally tracked IT assets, such that issues can be identified and addressed.
• Patch management capabilities – which automatically keep Windows-based servers and PCs up to date with the latest security patches and updates; and can be scheduled for night-time.

These capabilities not only help teachers and students to learn more effectively but also free up time-pressured IT support staff to do potentially more pressing work. Including, maybe, to offer teacher training that would, in turn, make their lives easier in the future.

If you would like to find out more about how ITSM and SysAid can help your educational institution, then please contact us or you can find out more on SysAid’s “How to improve service and support in education” webpage.