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Does anyone have any advice on how to setup windows 10 for local school networks without a domain? We are a group of 5 primary schools with about 250 computers/laptops who all have there own network and NAS device as fileserver. The plan is to install about 120 new devices this year with windows 10, we however still have not decided yet how to manage the windows accounts (atm we use windows 7 local accounts without passwords).

As we only have very limited time assigned for IT(10 hours each week for 250 devices) we would like to keep the administration/wq’(ork needed on a weekly basis to a minimal.

  • Local accounts seem to be out of the question since a Microsoft account is required to install apps (teachers will want to install educational apps/games)

  • Do we make a Microsoft account for each device/class/class year/teacher? And how do you keep these organized (people forgetting passwords etc) / settings that are shared if you use same account.

  • I’ve read that Office 365 E1 is free for schools(atm we use school license for office and windows keys), does this mean we can use Azure AD for free as well since its linked to Office 365? and is Azure AD a viable option?

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just commenting here as we are thinking of going down this route and will be interested in the answers

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Azure AD is a very viable, and are you all using Windows 10 Enterprise?

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We are using windows 10 professional, is there a reason we should go for Enterprise?

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Is there a reason you don’t configure and join these to a domain.

You get all the control you want, with the ability to download apps as a business, and once you get about 15 or so devices, a domain makes sense.

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If you are a school, college, university or any type of education establishment, why not consider Windows 10 education?

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http://onthehub.com/download/free-software/windows-10-education-for-students/

Students also get discount if they user a school email address

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It sounds like you need to have a talk with the higher ups about your IT situation to be honest. 10 hours a week for 250 devices is not possible, especially with no domain or infrastructure in place. That gives you what, 2 hours a week at each school? If you’re going to setup O365/Azure you’re going to need A LOT more time than 10 hours a week to so. Also, I would use Windows 10 Education, not Professional. If I was an administrator, parent or teacher in your school system I would be very concerned about the lack of IT resources. I can just imagine all the other things not being properly managed!

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The problem is that all of the licenses are running contracts from my predecessor. Switching to Educational will have to wait until these run out.

For those interested I have solved my own problem by:

  1. make portal.office.com account for office 365
  2. Link my domain to office 365
  3. Apply for free office 365 E1 accounts for schools
  4. Once verified, create user accounts in portal.office.com and link them to the free E1’s
  5. Add windows 10 devices to the Azure AD with the created user accounts (how to: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/ad/2015/05/28/azure-ad-join-on-windows-10-devices/ )
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