Managing Education Technology at O’Dea High School

O’Dea High School in Seattle, WA, has nearly 500 students and 60 members of staff. When they needed assistance deploying Microsoft Intune for Education and Windows 10, Oxford Computer Group was happy to lend a hand.

As one of Microsoft Showcase Schools, O’Dea students use Microsoft Surface tablets for school work and studying. Microsoft Showcase Schools are part of a global community of schools engaged in digital transformation to improve teaching and learning.

An Intune solution with Windows 10 for managing education technology

Surface tablets are a great learning tool for students, but managing the devices securely and efficiently can be difficult for smaller schools like O’Dea. So, O’Dea’s Director of Technology, Terrence Williams, approached Oxford Computer Group (OCG) for assistance learning about and deploying Microsoft Intune.

While not new to the Intune solution, Terrence wanted to be sure he had a thorough understanding of how new Intune features, specifically those in Azure, could improve O’Dea’s existing environment. It was important to continue to effectively manage the student and faculty Windows 10 Surface tablets. From explaining the ease of delivery available through the Autopilot program to bulk licensing of Office365 users, OCG senior consultant Jeffery Williams took Terrence through the feature set of Intune.

Some of the topics Jeffery explained and demonstrated include:

  • Windows AutoPilot’s deployment methods, as well as how to auto-join devices to Azure AD for simple and secure student device enrolment
  • How to manage the access granted to admin accounts when deploying pre-configured devices to the students
  • Windows10 profile management and version policies
  • Azure AD device registration by the O’Dea faculty using BYOD mobile devices
  • Best method for using Intune for Education to deliver apps to students
  • Configuring a Microsoft Store for Education
  • Azure AD group management
  • Branding their Office 365 portal and landing pages with O’Dea’s logos and colors
  • Other Azure AD solutions for monitoring Microsoft 365 Education
  • Bulk license management via Powershell
  • The typical student’s OOBE when first opening a newly issued device for the schoolyear was tested as were other policies for registration and management

Terrence remarked:

I appreciate all of Oxford Computer Group’s assistance in getting our Microsoft Intune environment running smoothly. At O’Dea High School we rely on community partners to expedite the use of cloud technology, and OCG proved their dedication to our community by stepping in to help us. Because of their help deploying Intune we are now able to easily manage all devices within the environment for a more secure and flexible organization.

Microsoft is steadily bringing new Intune and Azure features to learning institutions to make teaching and learning more efficient. OCG provided information and advice on the Microsoft Education solutions O’Dea already had licenses for but had not yet been able to deploy since migrating to Intune on Azure. Now that the school administration can take advantage of Microsoft 365 Education, they are better equipped for any IT challenges they might face, this year and in the future.

Would you like to know more about secure identity solutions for education institutions?  We have long experience, understanding and great passion for providing solutions to education organizations of all sizes.