Software in NT Schools The Secret Handbook

Are you after ICT Support from the helpdesk for issues with your NT schools software, hardware or network? Call the DE Service Centre, often referred to as the "Help Desk" on

1800 756 657

as your first point of call for IT support Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 5.30pm. The DE Service Centre can assist with a wide range of ICT issues. You can also email them.

After more information about the software solutions available to teachers, education staff and students in our NT Government schools? Read on.

This site is a work in progress. Any suggestions, comments or inclusions can be sent to mark.christie@ntschools.net . There is another site that contains formal listings of applications being used in NT Government Schools and those under assessment. If you have an NTSchools login, I recommend you visit that site first and come back here if you can't find what you are looking for. This is not a software recommendation site, nor does it mandate or promote software. It simply documents what is avaiailble and if there is any internal support available for it apart from just the vendor support.

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Classroom tools - Apps and Websites Including Software Installed on your School Laptop.

Your laptop is setup from an "image". An image is a prepackaged setup of Windows (Windows 10 enterprise in our case) and Microsoft 365 Enterprise which you might know as Microsoft Office. Because Microsoft 365 has apps that are installed on your laptop and are also available in the cloud, it can sometimes be challenging to find them. In many cases you can go to the web link version of the app (needs internet access) and if it is installed locally, you can choose to open it locally if it installed.

Apart from the Microsoft 365 suite of applications, and the apps installed with Windows 10 there are three apps, Google Chrome, Netskope and PrinterLogic installed with the image.

Netskope - provides a Security Service Edge (SSE) solution which is a cybersecurity concept describing a collection of integrated, cloud-centric security capabilities that facilitates safe access to websites, software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and private applications. It is there to keep you and the data you create or share online safer.

PrinterLogic is a serverless print management software that is suitable for businesses of all sizes looking to move their print management into the cloud. The key features of the solution include automatic printer object import, central print driver management, native driver support and centralized update deployment.

Some schools may apply a custom image with more applications than described above. That is not covered here and we recommend you find out more from your local school ICT or leadership team.

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Department Software Apps and Solutions for All Staff

Many of the links to applications and websites detailed in the web document linked to in the button below requires an NTSchools Login hence this explanatory sentence and extra step to display the list. Will need to be logged into your ntschools account to view the content behind the button below.

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Department Software Apps and Solutions for School leadership and Administration

Many of the links to applications and websites detailed in the web document linked to in the button below requires an NTSchools Login hence this explanatory sentence and extra step to display the list. Will need to be logged into your ntschools account to view the content behind the button below.

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Whitelisting Websites

Whitelisting is different to getting an approval to use an app in school. Whitelisting a website will unblock the site from existing security for the specified users or locations. Blacklisting a website will block the site from users or a location. This article provides information on how to request a site be blocked or unblocked in the school environment. Here is the process. You will need an education login to view the content.

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Seeking Approval for Applications to be used in Schools

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Getting Application and Software Training or PD

Twice weekly informatl 30 Minute online PD sessions called SMOOTHIES are conducted every Tuesday @12:30 and repeated Friday @3pm. They are called SMOOTHIES because they are Short Multimodal Online Opportunities To Help Interested Educators Succeed. They almost always have an associated PowerPoint deck with links and are recorded. to find out more, click the button below or email mark.christie@ntschools.net

MS Teams has a team called CLoverTeams which stands for Connecting Learners over Teams. Within that team are channels covering a variety of software solutions covered in this page. Click the button below to register to join. After joining, if you find the team is not for you, you can leave the team at any time.

Additionally many sites offer free online PD, Lesson Plans and Resources for you to use in your classes. I recommend https://learn.microsoft.com https://edex.adobe.com and https://helpx.adobe.com to get started. The Teaching and Learning Teams also have a variety of learning links that you can find through the eLearn Site - I thoroughly recommend that!

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Using your laptop at home - MFA and VPN

Using your school laptop at home when you are connected to your own internet service provider and not the ntschools environment requires that you use Virtual Private Network software thave creates a secure tunnel for data transferred between your computer or phone at home or anywhere that is not on our ntschools network and locations for files, databases and applications that are within our NT schools network environment. Multifactor Authentication is a method that allows you use your password plus an authenticator app or email to receive a challenge in the form of a code that you enter into the login prompt to ensure that it is in fact you logging in.

Your school laptop has this set up and if you are new to the NT Schools environment it is highly recommended that have the authenticator app installed on your work or personal device and have authntication with our NT Schools enabled. This is best done when you arrive at the school to collect your school laptop or conclude any pre or post contract signing administration. Alternatively at orientation there is an oportunity to configure the Authenticaotr app there. You can pre download the Authenticator app before getting someone from ICT support to help configure it for you. More information on MFA and our VPN solution can be found on iCentre where you will need to logged into the ntschools network to view.

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The ICT Coordinator's Handbook

The ICT Coordiantors Handbook is available for teachers and staff to read and provides good background to how the help desk processes requests for support. It is updated on an annual basis to adjust for changes in our software landscape.

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Managing Apple Devices

There is a Mobile Device Management Solution available for Apple devices in schools and it is highly recommended. Speak to your school leadership first as they may have iPad management in place. Some benefits are:

  • School ICT Coordinators can distribute purchased apps, school authored books and school developed apps wirelessly to school managed iPads
  • The Classroom App and Apple TV help teachers transform classrooms into dynamic and interactive learning environments
  • Improved network performance (school caching of Apple content, Quality of Service for critical applications such as NAPLAN browser, managed NT Schools WiFi network)
  • Automatic connection of school iPads to the NTSchools managed network
  • Apple TV integration allows teachers to wirelessly project iPad screens to the classroom TV or whiteboard
  • Automated setup and deployment of devices
  • Centralised configuration and application deployment for iPad devices

For further information contact the Education Service Desk - Details at the top of this website.

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Rules Around Software Usage

  • Acceptable use of hardware and software
  • Cybersecurity matters
  • Using applications not approved
  • Privacy and Security - Duty of Care and more

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