Windows 10 v1909 status

• Microsoft has ended support for v1909 - this means no more security updates will be released, leaving these devices vulnerable

• Out of 450.000 Windows devices on the department's network, less than 19,000 (4%) are still running v1909

• While no decision has been made to disable these remaining v1909s yet, schools that have them do need to keep rebuilding them to 21H2.

e-Waste options for schools

• As reported in last term's update, the T4L team gathered information from each of our contracted vendors about their included e-waste offerings, to clarify confusion and enable schools to use the services. We included this handy two-page PDF document in the Week 9 issue of news.T4L

Quick updates:

• An issue happening right now (since Friday) is affecting Chromebooks running versions below v100 being unable to sign in via DoE SSO. Not every device is affected, but very significant numbers are. Multiple teams are working on identifying the cause of the issue and finding a solution.

• The old Connected Classrooms and other in-school dedicated VC equipment is end-of-life and will stop working from 27 August.

• Issue 10 of T4L Kids Magazine contains a great real-world challenge for students in stages 3-5 in particular to come up with suggestions and solutions for NSW Transport.

• Issue 86 of news.T4L contained a concise article which is a wrap-up of all the "free" software and services that teachers and students can access at home. The article titled: "What can you use at home" provides information and links to assist users

In-place upgrades for Windows 10 v1909 PCs

• Microsoft has ended support for v1909 - this means no more security updates will be released, leaving these devices vulnerable

• The NSW Government has mandated that NO out-of-support device can be on state government department networks

• On April 8, we made v21H2 available via F12-rebuild (wipe and load)

• We recommend all student-use devices that are running 1909 be F12-rebuilt ASAP

• For staff devices still on 1909, we will enable 1909 to 21H2 in-place upgrades from May 31 to update these devices without the need to wipe all content from them.

• Affected users will see a message saying that the upgrade is ready to install and will need a restart. The actual install can take up to 60 minutes to complete.

• Some in-place upgrades are expected to fail usually due to insufficient disk space. These will require an F12-rebuild.

Quick updates:

• Support resources for new MLDs in schools have been launched

• Google Chrome is now set as the default browser. Right now, no student can add extensions from the Chrome extensions store to their Chrome or Edge browser on a managed Windows device. Staff can add ANY extension currently. But from Wednesday 8 June, as a security measure, adding extensions will be locked down and ONLY whitelisted extensions can be added - by either staff OR students. A further feature to request new extensions be whitelisted will be launched. More details will be in news.T4L in week 6.

• There has been confusion around the e-waste service offerings from our contracted hardware suppliers - Acer, Dell, HP and Apple. The T4L team has been liaising directly with each vendor to clarify exactly how each service works and we'll be publishing this information for schools to take advantage of free e-waste pickups.

Windows 10 v1909 devices reach end-of-support in May 2022

• As of today, around 67,000 devices on the department's Windows domain are Windows 10 v1909. Over 320,000 are v20H2

• In late May, Microsoft will end support for v1909 - this means no more security updates will be released, leaving these devices vulnerable

• The NSW Government has mandated that NO out-of-support device can be on state government department networks

• Upgrading your remaining fleet of Windows 10 v1909 devices before the end of May will be a challenge for some schools

  • Over 100 schools have more than 100 devices with this older Windows. 30 schools have more than 200 and 10 have more than 300

  • The best way to upgrade student device is the F12-rebuild them and this should be a priority for schools over the next three months

  • We will shortly be enabling 1909 to 20H2 in-place upgrades to update these devices without the need to wipe all content from them. This will be particularly useful for staff PCs.

  • While this will automatically update many v1909 devices, but based on the v1809-20H2 IPU process run in 2021, many are expected to fail and require an F12-rebuild.

Quick updates:

• Online learning tools marketplace has been launched

• Internet Explorer 11 will be retired on 15 June and Google Chrome will be automatically set as the default browser in early April - more details in week 6 news.T4L

• Adobe has released Creative Cloud Express as part of the department's Adobe Enterprise Agreement

• Abobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements are NOT included in the latest Adobe Enterprise Agreement and MUST be removed from all devices in schools that have them.

Schools Cloud Migration strategy

• As part of the Rural Access Gap program, a Cloud Migration strategy, with an aim of moving eT4L server based fileshares to the cloud, is commencing

• Initially, each individual user will be asked to consider their U: drive contents, culling what's not needed and moving the remainder to their own personal Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive account. At some point early next year, it's expected that U: drives will be removed from the server.

• In addition, a strategy will be developed to help schools to determine where and how the school's Faculty share contents can be moved to an appropriate shared cloud service. RAG schools will be in the first tranche to undertake this process, with the RAG team supporting schools along the way.

Getting a 2022 School Weeks calendar for Outlook and Google Calendar

• 2022 calendar for Microsoft Outlook

• 2022 calendar for Google Calendar

Quick updates:

• DELL Latitude 7420 needs a BIOS update if experiencing specific issues

• A significant wireless connection outage affected most schools on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

• Adobe Captivate and Presenter licences for staff

• T4L Device Rollout - ordering late in term 4 and delivery in Term 1/2 of 2022

Getting started with Yammer

• As a result of the current lockdowns, may staff have been flocking to Yammer to get answers to questions

• The COVID-19 Updates group is where DoE executive have been sharing advice and answering questions

• The Secretary, Georgina Harisson has been quite active, not only making announcements, but answering questions from staff!

• To assist staff joining into Yammer for the first time, I created Getting Started and Liking, Replying and Posting videos

Dealing with inappropriate content posted by students

• Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams provide students with opportunities to post their own content. But what happens if a student says their account was used by someone else to post something inappropriate?

• This discussion on Yammer provides advice

Quick updates:

• The full Outlook desktop client can now be used by all school staff. If the Teams desktop client is also installed, then the ability to schedule Teams meetings is included in the Calendar function in Outlook desktop.

• LinkedIn Learning was renewed from June 30 and will continue until June 30 2022. HR directorate funded the renewal.

• The new Adobe Enterprise agreement that was signed by NSW DoE recently will see some changes affecting the availability of the "Elements" products and access to Creative Cloud applications on BYODs and work-at-home for K-6 students. More on this coming. soon.

Old Versions of Windows to be disabled on DETNSW domain

• The State Government has advised that to maintain information security, all Departments must remove unsupported and vulnerable operating systems from their networks. Unsupported means the manufacturer no longer provides security updates for the version(s). In NSW DoE, the following Windows versions are affected:

  • Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

  • Windows 10 v1607 (2016)

  • Windows 10 v1709 (2017)

  • Windows 10 v 1809 (2018)

• At this stage, the plan is to remove all of these old devices from the DETNSW domain after June 30, 2021. There are concerns however about the numbers of devices involved with each version.

• Old devices need to be F12 rebuilt to Windows 10 v20H2. This requires being connected to ethernet cable and cannot be done wirelessly.

Windows 10 v20H2 - known issues and workarounds

The new Windows 10 20H2 build is strongly recommended for all devices. However, there are some known issues:

• Brand new model HP Probook x360 G5 and Dell 2-in-1 base notebooks appear to be affected by a WiFi driver issue causing them to randomly drop-off the network. This has been particularly noticed during NAPLAN testing.

  • ITD's DDAC team are investigating and hope to push out a fix to all affected devices remotely, once troubleshooting and resolution is completed.

• Internet Explorer 11 is still part of the build, but it is no longer visible on the desktop.

  • Google Chrome and MS Edge are the main browsers offered

  • Aspects of SAP Finance still require IE11 and will not work in Chrome or Edge

  • Staff that need to use SAP should manually re-add IE11 as a desktop icon and rename it to "USE FOR SAP!!" or similar.

• MS Office 365 is now part of the standard build.

  • Like Adobe Creative Cloud, MS Office 365 is licenced on a PER USER basis, rather than per device.

  • This is fine for the vast majority of students and staff however NSW DoE GUEST accounts are not provisioned with an Office 365 licence

  • NSW DoE GUEST accounts are often used by school canteen and OOSH staff, among others.

  • Any GUEST user will NOT be able to use Word/Excel/PPT on 20H2 PCs that have the Office 365 product installed

  • They should either use an older device, or they may need to request an older version of Office be deployed.

• Adobe Acrobat Reader is deployed by default to speed up the build process and not overburden devices.

  • For those users that need to be able to edit PDF files, the full Acrobat DC package must be deployed via UDM.

  • People open a PDF in the Reader and chose the option to edit and it tries to get them to BUY Acrobat DC

  • Staff need to know the difference between Reader and DC, and how they can get DC if they don't have it.

  • Students typically do not need Acrobat DC

• Windows 10 20H2 is brand new!

  • With any new operating system, some devices and some software may have issues

  • If any staff are having a problem with a device after it was rebuilt with 20H2, please get them to log a call so it can be investigated.

You must now sign into Adobe titles

Since around May 13 2021, users running 2018 or older versions of Adobe Acrobat DC or other Creative Cloud programs, reported messages like one of these on startup:

• Acrobat trial - you can try this product for 7 days

• The Serial number you have entered has been revoked

• Sign In Required - Please sign in with your Adobe ID

Windows and Mac devices with these older versions of Adobe programs used a serial number activation supplied by Adobe to NSW DoE as part of the Enterprise agreement. However in early term 4 last year, Adobe moved their newer products to single sign-on (SSO) for licencing. The prior serial number has now expired, so users must now sign in using their department email address to continue using older versions. Please follow these steps to correctly licence your Adobe product.

1. If you are seeing the [Serial Number] message, select Quit on the bottom right, close Adobe Acrobat and re-open (do not click on the download button!) then continue to step 2

2. If you are seeing the [Acrobat trial] message, click the Licence this Software button then go to step 3 (do not click the Start Trial button)

3. If you see the [Sign In Required] window:

   • Sign-in to Adobe using your email address as the username: Firstname.Lastname@det.nsw.edu.au – DO NOT sign in with Google or your @education.nsw.gov.au account.

   • If prompted, ensure you select [Enterprise ID - School or Company account] and not the personal account option.

   • SSO should Sign you in without any need of re-entering DoE credentials (streamlined logon), but if prompted (eg on a BYOD or at home), sign-in manually

   • Once signed in, the account will remain signed in for all Adobe apps on that device, until you manually sign out of any of the Adobe apps.

Adobe Acrobat Reader or Acrobat DC?

Adobe Acrobat DC was removed from the initial eT4L Windows build almost two years ago. Only Acrobat Reader is pre-installed. This was done because the majority of devices in schools are used by students and if they never need to edit PDFs, there is little point deploying a big, resource-hungry program like Acrobat DC to all devices. If there is a need for certain users to edit PDF files, the Acrobat DC package must be deployed separately from the list of Enterprise software in UDM to their devices. Once installed, it is necessary to sign onto your DoE Adobe account to activate all installed programs that are part of Adobe Creative Cloud. Staff and students have no ability or need to sign into Acrobat Reader. It will run without authentication. Please explain these differences to staff and students at school to avoid this confusion.

The NSW DoE LinkedIn Learning service is closing

• All staff and students will lose access via SSO from June 30, 2021

• Several local council libraries offer free access to LinkedIn Learning to their library members. And you do not have to reside locally to request library membership. It can all be done online.

• Full details, including a video explaining it are in this Yammer discussion

Skype for Business is closing down

• Many school principals in particular started using Skype for Business for instant messaging with other DoE staff as well as for online calls and meetings. Microsoft are closing the service down and ITD is in the process of decommissioning our on-premises installation.

• All Skype users need to migrate to MS Teams as soon as possible. Alternative online meeting services are available via Zoom and Google Meet, however Teams is the platform that corporate staff are migrating to.

• The closing date is set as May 27, 2021

Rural Access Gap - Devices are "Ready for T4L"

• The RAG device delivery has provided an opportunity to try out the new "Ready for T4L" first time setup of devices. Rather than the regular manual F12 setup process that has been required for new Windows devices since eT4L Services was launched, new RAG Windows devices are pre-built by the vendors. This will save schools a significant amount of time for each device setup.

• A series of videos covering all devices have been produced to help schools with the new first-time setup procedures at https://T4L.link/ready

Staff Mobile Phone Numbers in MS Teams

• Microsoft Teams is part of Office 365 - a cloud platform. As part of the move to Office 365, all staff and students have a synchronised account in the cloud.

• Part of that synchronisation includes the transfer of the mobile phone number from each staff member's user profile to Office 365

• The mobile phone number is taken from the mobile phone number field in each staff member's profile in their Staff Portal

• Certain personal details of each user are displayed automatically in MS Teams - an Office 365 product

• Some staff have included their PERSONAL mobile phone number in their Staff Portal

• As a result, there personal mobile phone number appears to ANYBODY in MS Teams that either hovers over their name, or searches for them in the directory.

• Please alert all of your staff to this issue and advise them to remove their personal mobile phone number from their Staff Portal profile if they do not wish for others (including students) to see it.

Stu Hasic: NSW DoE YouTube Channel

Did you know that I started a YouTube channel in April 2020? Since then, I've put together over 90 quick videos and they are pretty much all about technology in schools. If you want to keep informed about new videos as they are posted, why not subscribe and click the bell icon to get alerts?

• Solving common tech problems /Tips and Tricks / New product demos