EdTech People

Summary

Ed Tech People co-hosts Matt and Jack discuss practical technology strategy for schools, cyber resilience, and the balance between AI safeguards and preparing students for an AI-enabled workforce. They also reflect on how everyday dependence on phones and cloud services can become a vulnerability, and invite listeners to contribute questions about education cybersecurity.

EdTech People | With Matt Setchell & Jack Marshall
What happens when you suddenly find yourself responsible for an entire school's IT? And how do you go from being the person who fixes everything to the person who leads it?
This fortnight, Matt and Jack have actual listener emails (yes, really!), including a question from someone who's unexpectedly stepped into an IT management role and wants to know how to survive it.
We explore the realities of IT leadership, from managing expectations and communicating with senior leaders to knowing when to stand your ground, when to ask for help, and why you don't need to have all the answers.
We also get into some serious safeguarding questions. Are schools really understanding the difference between filtering and monitoring? Are the checks being carried out actually proving that systems are working? And is enough being done to safeguard pupils using AI tools?
Along the way, there's a discussion about cloud versus on-premises reliability, Jack's ongoing battle with printers, Matt's electric car problems, and a slightly excessive number of sound effects.
In this episode:
Moving from technician to IT manager — what changes?

Why communication and relationships matter as much as technical knowledge.

The non-negotiables of IT leadership, including cybersecurity and safeguarding.

Why temporary fixes often become permanent problems.

Training, qualifications and the surprising usefulness of PRINCE2.

Filtering versus monitoring — and the safeguarding gaps schools may be missing.

Testing and evidencing filtering and monitoring with tools like testfiltering.com and Filter Sentinel.

Cloud versus on-premises infrastructure — which is more reliable?

Intune, printer deployment and the challenges of managing change.

Electric cars, technology adoption and why sometimes things just stop working.

Get involved!
We've had emails, but we're still waiting for your comments!
Have a question, a challenge or a story from your own EdTech experience? We'd love to hear from you, whether you're a technician, network manager, school leader or anyone working in education.
Email us at mail@edtechpeople.co.uk, leave a comment on Spotify or find us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Don't forget to follow, subscribe and share EdTech People.
Real conversations about technology, education and the people behind it.

Apple, Google and Microsoft all have a place in schools—but the real edge comes from knowing when to combine them, when to simplify, and when to look beyond the sales pitch.
Jack Marshall and Matthew Setchell explore the practical reality of edtech today: from getting hands-on with school IT to navigating AI, device management, filtering, and what works in the classroom.
They start with why leaders need to stay connected to the work on the ground, then discuss conferences that offer genuine learning, the realities of configuring Halo, and why AI features can feel more impressive in a demo than in everyday use.
In this episode, they discuss:
Why schools may not need to choose between Google and Microsoft
How Chromebook cost, management, and accessibility factor into device decisions
What Google Class Tools and ChromeOS Flex can offer schools
The practical considerations around iPads, Macs, Intune, Entra, filtering, and device management
Where Microsoft Copilot in education is useful—and where the experience still needs work

The conversation also goes beyond technology. Jack and Matt reflect on learning through experience, the value of having trusted colleagues when things go wrong, and why strong teams make it easier to take thoughtful risks, learn from mistakes, and keep moving forward
.A candid conversation for school IT leaders, technicians, and anyone making technology decisions in education.

Survive September: the IT lessons schools cannot afford to miss
September hits hard for edtech and IT teams, and this conversation gets straight to the point: how to survive the chaos, keep projects moving, and stop the same avoidable problems from happening again. Matt and Jack unpack the realities of back-to-school season, where summer delivery turns into September firefighting fast.Matt and Jack get honest about the pressure points that hit hardest in education IT— incomplete handovers, missing passwords, fragile legacy systems, and the endless challenge of taking over new schools or new environments with limited context. Jack brings the perspective of moving from a cloud-first world into a hybrid one, while Matt shares what it really takes to support multiple schools, multiple teams, and multiple moving parts without losing control.
You’ll discover:
Why password management is not optional, especially when people leave or go off sick
How to separate project support from business-as-usual support so issues do not get lost in the handover
Why a technical plan, delivery plan, and proper closeout documentation matter more at scale than ever
How SOPs, screen recordings, and central documentation turn tribal knowledge into something a whole team can use
Why AI, APIs, and automated data mapping are becoming essential for understanding systems, identity flows, and licensing across schools
Matt also shares how his team is building a live portal that brings together data from systems like Intune, Google, Halo, HubSpot, Bob HR, and more, giving customers and internal teams visibility over devices, licences, onboarding, and procurement. Jack adds a smart angle on identity mapping, single sign-on, and using Claude to help build a clearer picture of where schools are now and where they need to get to.The bigger message is simple: if you do not know what you have, where it lives, and how it talks to everything else, you cannot make good decisions, save money, or move safely to cloud. And if you are in the middle of that September scramble, this episode offers something better than theory—it gives you perspective, practical frameworks, and a reminder that you are not the only one in the middle of it.Perfect for IT leaders, edtech teams, MSPs, and school tech staff who need a realistic reset on documentation, handover, automation, and strategy. If September feels like chaos, this one will make you feel a lot less alone.

In this end-of-season episode of EdTech People, Matt and Jack reflect on the often-overlooked pressure faced by school IT teams during the summer, when major upgrades, migrations and preparations take place before staff and pupils return.
The main discussion focuses on the 2026 updates to Keeping Children Safe in Education, particularly the growing importance of effective filtering and monitoring. They explore the need for annual reviews, clear senior leadership accountability, staff training and stronger understanding of how safeguarding systems are configured and used. They also discuss emerging risks including AI-generated intimate images, deepfakes, misogyny, harmful online behaviour and the limitations of monitoring on personal or unmanaged devices.
The conversation then broadens into the challenges of BYOD, iPads and one-to-one device programmes. Matt and Jack argue that school-managed devices provide stronger safeguarding, greater equity and more consistent access to learning, but only when supported by the right leadership, training and implementation. The episode closes with reflections on education’s lost momentum since the pandemic, the continuing value of technology in improving life chances, and, inevitably, the frustrations of school printers.