Help on installing apps to multiple iPads

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Originally Posted by blunty91

Imported an app I brought a couple of weeks ago with 3 codes on the spreadsheet and it worked!

The other two main apps we brought without VPP were iMovie and Garageband, there is no way we can now put them in Apple Configurator is there?

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I'm pretty certain you can't. As soon as you import the app into Configurator it will ask for the codes, or else it won't allow it to be sent to any devices. If you've only bought one copy of each app then that's not a huge problem (both costing £2.99 each).

However, if you've already bought 15 copies of iMovie and Garageband and they're installed on the iPads, make sure you go to the Configurator preferences and uncheck the option that says "Remove apps and profiles Configurator did not install" before you connect the iPads. I've not tried this myself as I have used Configurator to install everything but in theory it should work.

Merkai sent me this link to a whitepaper this week, it might be helpful: http://www.meraki.com/lib/pdf/meraki_whitepaper_ios.pdf

Whilst it's mainly about Meraki it covers some of the background and ins and outs of Apple Configurator (supervision etc) in quite a helpful way.

We purchased a MAC Mini in the end and used Apple Configurator which has worked well for deploying apps and preparing the ipads / naming them / inserting wifi settings / setting restrictions etc

The only thing its lacking is the ability to deploy ibooks which is a real pain. US have the ability to buy books on the VPP but we don't yet in the UK :(

I phoned Apple and they said only 5 devices can use the same apple ID so if you have gone down the route of setting up multiple ipads with the same account you may have done so against the terms and conditions of itunes. Don't worry if you have, we did this at first then had to change it...they don't make it very clear online!

You need:

- A MAC Device (MAC Mini, iMAC, MACBOOK)

- Sign up for a VPP license for your school

- School Credit Card


Its very simple to use once you get the hang of it. We started getting ipads through the door quickly as the new head loves them, we created multiple Apple ID's, and bought multiple app store vouchers but it was a nightmare and using the configurator and VPP is so much easier!

I'd strongly suggest bidding for a MAC mini and a HDMI monitor (cheapest option) so that you can setup multiple ipads the same across the school without doing tonnes of manual work.

We tried meraki without much success, they did send me a guide for education deployment the other day but the service is blocked by our council and is an ongoing battle so went down the MAC route and no regrets. I know very little about MAC's too so you don't need to have much knowledge to use it.

We can only prepare 2 ipads at a time because the MAC mini only has 4 USB ports (2 used for keyboard and mouse) but we will buy a HUB at some point to connect more up.

Importing a spreadsheet of VPP codes is very easy indeed, buy the apps from the educational store, they send you a spreadhseet of codes, download the app on itunes on the MAC, add the app to configurator and then it comes up with a warning saying its a paid app then a buttom appears to import the spreadsheet. Put it on a USB, import it to configurator and it will then allow however many codes you bought to be distributed. You must buy one more than you need so that you can download a copy in itunes on the server to get it into configurator. So if you have 20 ipads that need an app, you must purchase 21 i believe.

Pop me a PM if you need any help.

Is the a complete beginners guide to setting this all up?

We have our first iPad arriving today and very little experience of setting up or using them.

We have recently started using Meraki.

What type of Apple account do we need to set up? I have my own personal one but I dont want to use that. Do we just set up another one or is there special schools account?

Im very aware that it looks like we could set something up that would work for a few iPads but that solution might not be scalable to multiple classroom quantities of iPads.

Ideally we would like to do this for as little money as possible.

thanks in advance

I was in the same position as you a few months ago mate, do you happen to have a MAC? MAC Mini, IMac, MACBook etc will do

No MACs anywhere in this school.

How much will I be able to do with just Meraki?

Your going to find it really hard to deploy ipads on a larger scale than say 10 as you need Apple Configurator ideally.

I have tried Meraki without much luck! We invested in a MAC Mini and using Apple Configurator its quite straight froward once you have the hang of it.

You will need to create a master Apple ID account for the school then use that to sign up for a volume license (free of charge)

http://www.apple.com/uk/education/vo...chase-program/

Once that's actived you can buy apps at a reduced cost in the quantity needed and import them into apple configurator.

Without this, you would need to create an Apple ID, purchase an itunes gift voucher and then put that account onto 5 ipads and then create another, buy another voucher and do the next 5 etc all manually. Meraki may give an alternative solution but we tried getting Meraki to work aswell as iphone conifgurator for windows both without much luck.

How are you handling Office documents and accessing files in the users existing home areas?

We arn't, I don't think its possible.

The only way would be to create a document on the ipad in pages, save it to googledrive / dropbox etc then log in on the windows pc and download it or visa versa. You cant integrate the ipad into your users documents / profiles on the windows network that i know of.

There's plenty of things ipads are no good for a documents is one of the biggest things. They really arn't the way forward in my eyes.

Be warned also ibooks are a royal pain in the butt if you want to roll out on a larger scale.

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Originally Posted by JJonas

How are you handling Office documents and accessing files in the users existing home areas?

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Citrix Receiver at the moment, works OK to be honest. Not great, but kids can access work and Office within one app.

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Originally Posted by JJonas

How are you handling Office documents and accessing files in the users existing home areas?

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There is an app called Smart Office 2 which I managed to download while it was free, usually £6.99. You can view, edit and create Office documents with it but we haven't used it yet. You can also download your files directly from Box, Dropbox or Google Docs if you use those services.

There's also things like Foldr, FileBrowser, iExplorer or a WebDAV setup which could access shared drives but it's not ideal from an iPad.

Personally, I don't think they are much good for Office type work. If you have an IT suite or laptops then use them. A physical keyboard is always going to be better for that. iPads are fantastic but it's the educational apps, many of which are free, which makes it a powerful tool. Without decent apps installed, it just becomes an expensive shiny object.

I know that but it is not me that wants to use them for office.

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Originally Posted by JJonas

I know that but it is not me that wants to use them for office.

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But you are the ICT Technician so you're the best informed member of staff when it comes to tech, so 'they' should take your advice.

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Originally Posted by JJonas

I know that but it is not me that wants to use them for office.

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This is exactly what I'm trying to explain to my school administration. Tablets are great for consuming content, but pretty poor at creating content. You really need a physical keyboard to get any kind of Office work done well or with any reasonable speed, on-screen keyboards take away from your workspace, are error-prone and slow to use.

For that reason, they have for the most part heeded my advice and we are only looking at deploying tablets, either Android or iPads remains to be decided, for early childhood classrooms (3 to 7 years old) where content creation is pretty minimal since the students are just beginning reading and writing at the end of early childhood.

I wouldn't say iPads are poor at creating content. If we're talking Office type work then yes. But if we're talking Garageband, iMovie taking photos/videos, etc. then they're extremely user friendly and effective tools.