Your scenario assumes the student accounts have admin privileges. If IT gave the kids admin rights and is now mad because he’s using Firefox instead of IE, sounds like he’s more qualified than they are.
That's a stupid comment. In some of our labs, the users do have the ability to load software needed as part of the course, but they are only allowed to do so with permission or by instruction. IF they load software without permission, they are disciplined. In other words, we expect our students to be able to follow the rules, even when the opportunity to break them exists...