School I.T Technicians

[Clairvoyant]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advise. I'm starting a new job next week as a I.T Technican but dont really know what software i will be using. If there is someone out there that already does this role could you tell me what software i should be reading up on and common problems that you face on a daily basis so I can go in knowing what to expect. I've never had to deal with severs before so i'm a little worried!


Thanks

How the heck did you get the job then, if you dont know anything.

 

[A[L]C]

Whats the general salary like? I need to go somewhere from a 24k helpdesk job... would a school be a good place?

 

[Deleted member 64478]

How the heck did you get the job then, if you dont know anything.

I thought that, alough when he first starts he will be shown what he needs to do and what software he will be using. Doubt there was such a need for this thread as there is too much software that any company could be using.

To the OP, your best asking when you arrive the first day. How old are you btw?

 

[Pottsey]

Salary 16k ish in midlands perhaps more near London. Unless your a network manager which is 20k but there wont be any network mangers at some point. All of them are being goten rid of in all schools.

 

[greeny_fastcar]

Whats the general salary like? I need to go somewhere from a 24k helpdesk job... would a school be a good place?

No mate. Schools would probably be a step down for you.

 

[swinnie]

Coins, mini cheddars, pens, rulers, misc stationery, chewing gum and many more. They're getting inventive these days

Burnsy

At our school the trays aren't even there...been ripped clean off!

I am still at school and our main network is Thin clients but down in Technology we have Fat clients that log onto a domain and we use Citrix but can also log on locally as 'student' and 'administrator' for working with CAD/CAM Programs as we have ProDesktop, Crocodile Clips, 2d Design, PCB Design and Make. A laser cutter and a rapid prototyper.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Fat clients

That made me giggle, the term is 'thick client'

Although saying that, most of my clients are both fat and thick

Burnsy

 

[swinnie]

That made me giggle, the term is 'thick client'

Although saying that, most of my clients are both fat and thick

Burnsy

Very good Burnsy!

Might have to erm, use that one!

 

[omne]

I'd read up mainly on active directory and group policies, basically unless the school is full of angels you'll need to lock everything down giving them the bare minimum of functionality. The problem then comes with exam boards, some say they must have right click etc.

The other things you'll probally want are a corporate antivirus solution managed from a server, that makes managing exceptions and virus alerts so much easier than stand alone clients.

Netsupport school is a good one too, remote control any pcs you put the client on, remote power on etc, execute files at client (brilliant for mass installs) and watching suspicious behaviour/gathering evidence. Just don't put it on your servers (especially when you can use terminal services) or any staff machines incase the kids work out what they're up against and put the demo on pendrives Poorly implemented its a massive security risk, done properly its an invaluable tool, all it takes is changing the ports from default and suddenly downloaded versions can't see your clients.

Web blocking's probally the other main thing, we use Policy Central Enterprise (the councils banning is useless to say the least), it sits in the background monitoring everything, each time a flagged word appears anywhere on the screen it takes a screenshot and dumps it on the server which you can then view from the web-interface, it also logs all internet activity and allows you to globally ban sites in a few clicks, its got the Bebo'rs running scared, they can't fathom whats going on every proxy they find find is blocked in minutes. For repeat offenders it can disable their net access and their internet explorer for pre-defined ban periods, it's a very powerfull tool.

Capitas SIMS program might also be worth a look, but that'd depend on whether you're LEA uses it. Powerout maybe too, turns you're machines off at a preset time so you don't have to think about it at the end of the day, you could get a site license for £99, you'll save that a term in leccy bills.

You'll probally be asked to look after everything technical in the school from remote control batteries to data projecters to security cameras because "you're IT" and you'll find some of the main problems come from technophobe teachers.

But above all be prepared to walk into a disaster zone, chances are it'll be a mish mash of systems made worse by laziness/incompetance/lack of investment. You'll also probally be the most hated person in the school for blocking internet sites

 

[omne]

one thing I forgot is licensing, make sure you check you have licenses for all the software installed on the systems once you start, legally you're responsible for it

 

[waso_dude]

Netsupport school is a good one too, remote control any pcs you put the client on, remote power on etc, execute files at client (brilliant for mass installs) and watching suspicious behaviour/gathering evidence. Just don't put it on your servers (especially when you can use terminal services) or any staff machines incase the kids work out what they're up against and put the demo on pendrives Poorly implemented its a massive security risk, done properly its an invaluable tool, all it takes is changing the ports from default and suddenly downloaded versions can't see your clients.

Shame its crap tbh. One of the worst working pieces of software, its sooo flakey.

Budgets of a school are a lot more than you think they are

We spent close to £150,000 on comps this year, not including 8 new quad core /dual quad core servers - and a £20,000 graphic suite.

Schools arn't poor, they just make out they are.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

You'll probally be asked to look after everything technical in the school from remote control batteries to data projecters to security cameras because "you're IT" and you'll find some of the main problems come from technophobe teachers.

But above all be prepared to walk into a disaster zone, chances are it'll be a mish mash of systems made worse by laziness/incompetance/lack of investment. You'll also probally be the most hated person in the school for blocking internet sites

Quoted for truth!

I also find a lot of people take advantage and dump a lot of non-work related issues on me. I've been around peoples houses countless times to sort things. With nothing more than a thankyou from all of them.

 

[swinnie]

Quoted for truth!

I also find a lot of people take advantage and dump a lot of non-work related issues on me. I've been around peoples houses countless times to sort things. With nothing more than a thankyou from all of them.

I work very closely with the IT department at school and they are not that hated for blocking the sites as they just do it under teachers instruction so its the teachers that are hated.

Don't tolerate pupils being rude to you because they have been blocked off the network for their own actions, just get them to leave and report it!

If the system is in a mess don't try to sort it during school hours, do an hour or two after hours to get the system running better, that's what our technicians did and the system is improving slowly but sureley, sure it has it's dodgy moments but it is a lot more reliable as upgrades and tweaks are being performed when the network is quite.

 

[rickyt]

I'm a part time techy at our local school .Wages are poor , I get all the holidays and get paid for them , so that makes up for things but the job is really good .Quite a variety of jobs to do , everything from creating DVd's ,photo-editing ,printing etc .I have allways built the PC's for the school and network them , were running Server 2004 .
But I just wish I got a Teacher's salary .

 

[this_is_gav]

Budgets of a school are a lot more than you think they are

We spent close to £150,000 on comps this year, not including 8 new quad core /dual quad core servers - and a £20,000 graphic suite.

Schools arn't poor, they just make out they are.

Sorry, but that's down solely to the LEA you're in. We're a school of 140 kids and our ICT budget is £5,000 PA... our printer consumables are around £2,500 PA alone (paper doesn't come out of our budget thankfully). We can penny pinch out of other budgets, but only around this time of the year when the school knows where it stands in other areas. That eLearning Credits are being discontinued is going to have a massive impact on schools.

Our LEA sucks. We're still on 3-tier up here (Northumberland), and have recently started moving to 2-tier, but the County Council haven't got any of the grants they're requested, so the entire county is going to be suffering further cost cutting, schools included.

Your LEA may well be in a great shape, but don't assume the rest of them are.

 

[Raumarik]

i'd never work in a school, can't stand teenagers

be prepared to replace cd/dvd drives because they'll constantly get jammed with coins

Rarely need to use the drives anyway, it's all done over the network - even most software installations.

Pay isn't that bad, people whinge about having to work "the holidays" but in my high school that means there's 3 people in the building, it's very relaxed.

Having said that I hope to be resigning soon, need more cash for a bigger house

 

[2StepSteve]

I'm abit late to the thread, hows the job going?

I work as a ICT Technician in a school and have been there for over 3 years now.

Whats been said here I can pretty much agree with, you will get asked to do all sorts anything that is IT or remotely electronic related you will get a note/message for help, all part of the job.

As for muliple computer control check out ABtutor, it is much cheaper than netschool and works great.

As for the internet being locked down depends what service your school is using. Here in South East London most schools are using Synetrix, as is ours. URL blocking is handled also by them.. but talk to the relevant Borough IT Leader and you will get access to the Allow/deny system for your school. Also need any ports opened? Again, talk to the relevant person theres nothing stopping you from requesting an opening up of ports and being given a static IP for any number of boxes... remember your school is paying £1,000s for this leased line so make good use out of it. I've just started running our own webserver and now have remote access for the staff sorted out.

 

[Deleted member 64478]

were running Server 2004 .

I laughed so hard.

 

[James07]

My old school ran win serv 2000 on the main and file servers and used a KVM switch to cross between..

The clients ran Win XP coded by RM.

Hope this clears it up a little, they use all kinds of software.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

I'm starting a new job next week as an airplane pilot but I've never flown one before.
Can somebody tell me what plane I might be flying and what books I can read so I'll be ready for my first flight to Tenerife?