Ensuring schools and kura have more oversight of their online environments was one of the main drivers behind the development of N4L’s self-service platform, MyN4L. Te Maire St Francis of Assisi Catholic School has been one of the first schools to benefit from the platform gaining simplified control and insights into the school’s online environment.

What can MyN4L do for schools?

Network for Learning (N4L) developed MyN4L so that schools and kura can get more hands-on access to a range of their N4L services. The initial service release provides visibility and control over six key areas of N4L’s Managed Internet, Wi-Fi, cybersecurity, and cyber safety services:

• Web Filtering – allows schools using N4L’s Firewall to submit requests to block and unblock websites according to the school’s needs;
• Network Monitor – shows schools that have received Equipment Replacement the performance and functionality of their Wi-Fi network equipment such as switches and access points;
• Email Protection – allows schools that have signed up for N4L’s Email Protection to safely see their spam or potentially harmful emails in quarantine, so legitimate emails can be released;
• Online Activity – provides schools that have Secure Access, a view of what websites are being accessed and blocked on their school’s network, to help ākonga stay safer online;
• Guest Access – enables Secure Access schools to control Wi-Fi network access for different types of visitors; and
• Device Registration – gives school IT leads and external IT providers the ability to add and remove third-party and shared devices, such as printers and CCTV, to a school’s Wi-Fi network during and after Secure Access migration.

The tools can be used by anyone on a school’s team who has authorisation from the principal to access them, including external IT providers. 

Enhancing online safety for ākonga

Te Maire St Francis of Assisi Catholic School gained early access to all of MyN4L’s tools as part of a pilot of the platform, which Principal, Jo Earl, says the Christchurch primary has quickly adapted to using. 

“The MyN4L interface is really easy to use, it’s simple.”

The St Francis team are using Online Activity to complement their existing classroom management software to enhance online safety in the classroom.

“There’s been a couple of times when we’ve wanted to have a better look at what the kids have been doing, so we’ve used Online Activity at those times.”

If the school does discover that students have been accessing a game or other inappropriate website, they can use the MyN4L Web Filtering tool to request to block it, a task St Francis would previously delegate to their IT provider.

“Being able to manage things ourselves and not have to wait is really helpful.”

Straightforward for IT providers

As IT providers can use MyN4L with a school’s permission, another benefit of the platform is that it expedites communication between a school, their IT provider, and N4L where necessary.

Michael Walding, a System Engineer at Fusion who manages a team assisting 16 schools across Christchurch including St Francis, says MyN4L’s Network Monitor tool has made troubleshooting school network issues easier for him and his team.

“It’s really straightforward,” he said. “For example, if a switch or an access point is offline, the school can check those details, call us, and we can see the same information they’re seeing. This saves us time and enables us to take action and quickly fix the problem.”

IT providers can see multiple schools at the same time in MyN4L, which Walding notes is a plus.

“You just switch between schools using a dropdown. Information about each school appears in the same format every time, so when I’m training new team members that’s much easier than training people for multiple different sites.”

Walding looks forward to all the schools he oversees having access to the platform.

“All 16 schools would be pretty cool,” he added.

Staged roll-out

N4L has commenced a staged roll-out of MyN4L and aims to invite all state and state-integrated schools to the platform within the next year. There is no cost to eligible schools.

After using MyN4L at St Francis, Earl recommends schools access the platform when they can.

“I would definitely encourage other schools to take up MyN4L. You’ve got more control over what’s happening.”

To learn more about MyN4L and how it can be used at your school, visit n4l.co.nz/support/myn4l/

INTERFACE October 2024