Many of you out there are the tech and IT support for your families on a regular basis but are some of you possibly supporting your children's school because your the Dad or Mom with the IT experience?
Well, when the Windows 10 Anniversary Update is released next month a new tool will be available that will could help you, a teacher or IT support staff set up any Windows 10 based computers that are in use at the school.
I came across this documentation the other day and wrote about on our sister site IT Pro: Windows but I wanted to highlight it here as well because it looks like a very valuable and timesaving tool for anyone who might need it in an education setting.
The preview information about the Set up School PCs app is part of the Windows 10 for Education Resource Portal on TechNet.
For our purposes I want to focus on the two segments of that portal that cover the Set up School PCs information.
Use the Set up School PCs app (Preview)
This is a very robust tool and can be used to manage individual machines or for devices that are part of Azure AD, Office 365 and Azure AD Premium.
The configuration for each organization/school can be customized to provide exactly what your students need access to and prevent system changes, rogue installs, etc.
Here is a list of the key features that can be configured/set up with this app:
- A computer set up this way is tailored to provide students with the tools they need for learning while removing apps and features that they don't need.
- Places tiles for OneNote, Office 365 web apps, Sway, and Microsoft Classroom on the Start menu
- Installs OneDrive for cloud-based documents and places it on the Start menu and taskbar
- Sets Microsoft Edge as the default browser
- Uninstalls apps not specific to education, such as Solitaire and Sports
- Turns off Offers and tips
- Prevents students from adding personal Microsoft accounts to the computer
- Significantly improves how fast students sign-in.
- The app connects the PCs to your school’s cloud so IT can manage them (optional).
- Windows 10 automatically manages accounts no matter how many students use the PC.
- Keeps computers up-to-date without interfering with class time using Windows Update and maintenance hours (by default, 12 AM).
- Customizes the sign-in screen to support students with IDs and temporary users.
- Locks down the computer to prevent mischievous activity:
- Prevents students from installing apps
- Prevents students from removing the computer from the school's device management system
- Prevents students from removing the Set up School PCs settings
This section of the Set up School PCs has a step by step walkthrough of using the app to set up your specific configuration and how to prepare a USB drive that can then be used on each device to set them up.
Technical reference for the Set up School PCs app (Preview)
This section of the Windows 10 for Education Portal is for all of you who want to dig deeper into the details about this app, its full capabilities and education customizations that are available in education settings.
As I mentioned earlier, this tool is compatible with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update and that means it can be used with the current Fast Ring builds being tested by Windows Insiders.
I have scoured and searched for the actual app download but it is not linked in the portal on TechNet nor does it appear to be available in the Windows Store. When Microsoft provides me that information I will update this article so you can try this out if it meets your needs.
Update: Here is the Windows Store entry for the Set up School PCs app but it is currently showing as unavailable. Thanks to @teroalhonen for tracking the link down.
But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.
