Windows in education

Windows 11 Pro Education

Microsoft Windows 11 Pro Education is tailored specifically for educational institutions, providing features that enhance learning environments and streamline administrative tasks. Here are some key aspects:

• Subscription Activation: Windows Pro Education can be upgraded to Windows Education through subscription activation, eliminating the need to manually deploy images on each device. This feature is useful for schools that have active subscriptions to Microsoft 365 with Windows Enterprise licenses.
• Education Themes: Windows 11 Pro Education includes education themes designed for students using devices in a school setting. These themes help create a more engaging and tailored learning experience.
• Multi-App Kiosk: Schools can configure a multi-app kiosk that displays a customized start menu of allowed apps, enhancing classroom management and student focus.
• Copilot in Windows: Windows 11 Pro Education integrates Copilot, providing centralized generative AI assistance directly from the Windows desktop. This feature can help students and educators with various tasks, boosting productivity and creativity.
• Windows Hello for Business: Enhanced authentication methods using peripheral face and fingerprint sensors are supported, improving security for educational institutions.

Windows 11 Pro Education is designed to help students reach their potential with powerful tools to learn, collaborate, and create in a secure and intuitive environment. Some notable features include:

• Enhanced Learning Tools: Windows 11 Pro Education offers streamlined features, productivity tools, and faster performance to boost student engagement and learning outcomes.
• Cybersecurity: It includes industry-leading tools to protect devices and data, ensuring privacy and compliance for students, teachers, and school districts.
• Integration with Microsoft 365: Windows 11 Pro Education works seamlessly with Microsoft 365 Education, providing a suite of student-centered solutions that promote teamwork and creativity.
• AI Capabilities: AI resources and free tools for education expand learning opportunities for both students and educators.

Windows 11 Pro versus Education/Enterprise

Azure Virtual Desktop

Microsoft Virtual Desktop Access for education organizations is a solution that leverages Azure Virtual Desktop to provide secure, scalable, and easy-to-manage virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) for educational institutions. This service allows educators and students to access virtual desktops and applications from anywhere, enhancing remote learning and collaboration.

Key features include:

• Azure Virtual Desktop: This platform offers a flexible cloud VDI solution that supports remote and hybrid work scenarios. It provides a secure, high-performance experience for users, enabling them to access Windows 10 desktops and applications from the cloud.
• Enhanced Security: Azure Virtual Desktop incorporates security best practices, including reverse connect technology and Azure Firewall, to ensure secure access to virtual desktops and applications.
• Cost Management: Educational institutions can manage costs effectively by tracking student engagement and usage hours on virtual machines (VMs) through Azure Lab Services.
• Integration with Educational Tools: Azure Lab Services can be integrated with tools like Canvas and Teams, allowing educators to set up and manage classroom labs in the cloud without technical expertise.

Use cases:

Microsoft Virtual Desktop Access for education organizations provides a range of benefits and use cases:

• Azure Lab Services: This service enables institutions to quickly set up and manage classroom labs in the cloud. Educators can create learning environments with Windows or Linux VMs, assign lab VMs to students, and control VM usage to track engagement and manage costs.
• Licensing: Azure Virtual Desktop offers flexible licensing options for educational institutions, allowing them to use virtual desktops for both internal and external purposes.
• Common Use Cases: Educational scenarios include computer programming classes, data science courses, and cybersecurity training, where students need access to specific software and hardware configurations.

Windows 365 Enterprise

Microsoft Windows 365 Enterprise is a comprehensive software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution designed to stream a personalized, secure, and scalable Windows experience to any device. It's beneficial for educational institutions, offering several features and benefits:

Key features:

• Cloud PC Management: Windows 365 Enterprise allows organizations to manage their Cloud PCs with Microsoft Intune, integrating with other Microsoft services for advanced threat protection and device management.
• Subscription Activation: Educational tenants must have an active subscription to Microsoft 365 with a Windows Enterprise license or a Windows Enterprise or Education subscription.
• Device Management: Supports Microsoft Entra joined or hybrid joined devices, ensuring seamless integration and management.
• Advanced Security: Includes features like Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, Credential Guard, and more to protect against cyber threats.

Benefits for education:

• Scalability: Easily scale the number of Cloud PCs to meet the needs of students and faculty.
• Security: Advanced security features ensure the protection of sensitive educational data.
• Flexibility: Stream Windows experiences to any device, allowing for remote learning and collaboration.

Universal Print

Microsoft Universal Print is a cloud-based print infrastructure that simplifies the management and operation of printing within educational institutions.

Key features:

• Entitlement: Universal Print access has two components: entitlement (whether a user has access to print or manage printing) and print volume (each license provides a certain amount of print volume for the tenant).
• Print Volume: Each Universal Print tenant has a shared pool of print jobs available to all users with a license. The volume of available print jobs refreshes at the beginning of each month.
• Licensing: Universal Print is included with Microsoft 365 A3, A5, Windows 10/11 Enterprise A3, A5, and can also be purchased as a standalone subscription.

Benefits for education:

• Simplified Management: Universal Print reduces administrative and management effort for IT by moving print management to the cloud.
• Cost Efficiency: Helps lower costs and allows print to run seamlessly while focusing on supporting education technology and enhancing the learning experience for teachers and students.
• Security: Provides a secure print experience for users, ensuring that sensitive educational data is protected.

Universal Print Volume Add-On (500 Print Jobs)

Microsoft Universal Print Volume Add-On is designed to help educational institutions manage their printing needs more effectively by providing additional print job capacity.

Key features:

• Print Volume: Each Universal Print tenant has a shared pool of print jobs available to all users with a license. The volume of available print jobs refreshes at the beginning of each month.
• Additional Print Volume: If your print usage exceeds the included capacity, you can purchase additional job volume with volume add-ons.

Benefits for education:

• Cost Efficiency: Helps lower costs and allows print to run seamlessly while focusing on supporting education technology and enhancing the learning experience for teachers and students.
• Simplified Management: Reduces administrative and management effort for IT by moving print management to the cloud.
• Security: Provides a secure print experience for users, ensuring that sensitive educational data is protected.

Windows Autopilot

Microsoft Windows Autopilot is a collection of technologies designed to simplify the setup and configuration of new school devices. It provides a streamlined, cloud-based provisioning process that is particularly beneficial for educational institutions.

Setup devices with Windows Autopilot and Intune for Education

Key features:

• User-Driven Mode: Intune for Education supports Windows Autopilot deployment profiles in user-driven mode. This mode simplifies the out-of-the-box experience (OOBE) so that students and teachers can easily configure their devices.
• Pre-Provisioning: Allows IT admins, Microsoft partners, or OEMs to preinstall apps and policies, reducing setup time for students and teachers.
• Easy Device Setup: Students power on their devices, connect them to the internet, and sign in. Windows Autopilot automatically configures each device from the cloud and gets them ready for the classroom.
• Time and Cost Savings: Students and teachers can provision devices themselves, eliminating the need for IT departments to set up provisioning in large warehouses and hire a fleet of technicians.
• Always Up-to-Date: Custom images and provisioning packages on USBs can quickly become outdated. With Windows Autopilot, student PCs always get configured with the latest Intune policies and apps.
• Easy Reset: Initiate a remote Windows Autopilot Reset from Intune for Education to quickly reset student PCs that are having issues. During a reset, all apps, settings, and user data are removed, while the devices remain enrolled in Microsoft Entra ID and Intune.

Prerequisites:

• Software, Networking, Licensing, and Configuration Requirements: Ensure your school and devices meet the requirements for Windows Autopilot.
• User Permissions: During registration, a Microsoft partner assigns group tags to your devices. If different user permissions are required on different devices, instruct your partner to split the devices into two group tags according to permissions.
• Device Registration: After ordering the devices from the OEM provider, register them for the Autopilot deployment service. It's recommended to work with a partner through Microsoft Partner Center to register the devices.

Several advantages of cloud-based management:

• Easy Device Setup: Students power on their devices, connect them to the internet, and sign in. Windows Autopilot automatically configures each device from the cloud and gets them ready for the classroom 3.
• Pre-provisioning: Reduces setup time for students and teachers by allowing IT admins, Microsoft partners, or OEMs to preinstall apps and policies.
• Time and Cost Savings: Students and teachers can provision devices themselves, eliminating the need for IT departments to set up provisioning in large warehouses and hire a fleet of technicians.
• Always Up-to-Date: Custom images and provisioning packages on USBs can quickly become outdated. With Windows Autopilot, student PCs always get configured with the latest Intune policies and apps.
• Easy Reset: Initiate a remote Windows Autopilot Reset from Intune for Education to quickly reset student PCs that are having issues. During a reset, all apps, settings, and user data are removed, while the devices remain enrolled in Microsoft Entra ID and Intune.

Windows Update for Business Deployment Service

Microsoft Windows Update for Business Deployment Service is designed to help educational institutions manage and deploy Windows updates more effectively. This service provides enterprise-grade control over content delivered by Windows Update, ensuring devices stay protected and productive.

Key features:

• Gradual Rollouts: Enables organizations to roll out Windows feature updates across their devices in waves, similar to how Microsoft uses machine learning to update the global Windows population. This helps discover incompatibilities and implement solutions with minimal impact.
• Safeguard Holds: Automatically applies safeguard holds for potentially impactful issues, ensuring that updates don't cause disruptions.
• Automated Rollback Monitoring: Monitors updates and automatically rolls back changes if issues are detected.
• Enterprise-Grade Control: Provides detailed control over the scheduling, deploying, and monitoring of Windows updates.

Benefits for education:

• Enhanced Security: Ensures that all devices are updated with the latest security patches, protecting sensitive educational data.
• Improved Productivity: Minimizes downtime by intelligently ordering devices to be updated in waves, reducing the impact of potential issues.
• Simplified Management: Reduces the manual labor involved in updating devices, allowing IT staff to focus on other critical tasks.

High Efficiency Video Codec

Microsoft High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) is a video compression standard designed to provide high-quality video at lower bit rates. It's particularly beneficial for educational institutions that require efficient video streaming and storage solutions.

Key features:

• HEVC Video Extensions App: The HEVC Video Extensions app enables customers to open and view HEVC-encoded images and videos on Windows devices.
• Offline Deployment: The HEVC Video Extensions app can be deployed offline, allowing educational institutions to manage installations without requiring access to the Microsoft Store.
• Seamless Updates: Updates to the installed HEVC Video Extensions app, including security fixes, are delivered seamlessly to target devices via the Windows Update service.

Availability:

• Geo Availability: Worldwide
• Segment Availability: Commercial (including Worldwide Commercial Public Sector) and Education.
• Channel Availability: Enterprise Agreement (EA)/Enterprise Subscription (EAS), Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES).

System requirements:

• Operating System: Windows 10 version 16299.0 or higher.

Windows 10 to Windows 11 Upgrade

Upgrade eligible devices from Windows 10 to Windows 11