Sam Learning on iPAD?

[LB1]

Is anyone out there using Sam learning on iPad? We can't get activities to work because Flash is not supported on iPad. Does anyone have a workround for this? Many thanks.

[Gatt]

Get a laptop?

 

Seriously though - if you want Flash this is gonna be the only option as MS, Apple and probably Google, are ditiching Flash for all Tablet devices

IE10 in Tablet mode Win8 wont support flash, but IE10 for the desktop version will....

Edited October 3, 2011 by ZeroHour
Merged - ZH

[bossman]

RDP client connected to TS server which will run web browser with flash plugin

 

Other than that get laptops as Matt has stated

[Gatt]

RDP client connected to TS server which will run web browser with flash plugin

 

Other than that get laptops as Matt has stated

 

**cough** who?!

[LB1]

eh, what is TS server? Please excuse ignorance!

 

PS Bursar already laid out for 20 ipads - so no going back now!

[jtotheb]

Steve Jobs says no.

Thoughts on Flash

 

Even the alternate browsers I've seen that "do" Flash don't really. They just have servers that transcode the videos at the backend before sending it to the iPad as HTML 5.

 

You might want to trade those iPads in for Blackberry Playbooks if Flash on the device is crucial ( BlackBerry PlayBook - Flash (:30) - YouTube ), otherwise as has been said you need to connect to something in the backend e.g. Terminal Server or a Citrix App server streaming Internet Explorer to the iPad etc.

[Michael]

IE10 in Tablet mode Win8 wont support flash, but IE10 for the desktop version will....

 

I didn't know that Gatt. What's so bad about Flash that it can run on a desktop or laptop but not a tablet? Or are they all gambling on HTML5?

[bossman]

**cough** who?!

 

Apologies Gatt didn't have me glasses on last night

[bossman]

eh, what is TS server? Please excuse ignorance!

 

PS Bursar already laid out for 20 ipads - so no going back now!

 

In easy terms it is a server which allows users to log in remotely using the remote desktop protocol (RDP) client to access programs which would not ordinarily be able to run on the clients own OS as in your case.

 

Look here

 

This would I presume cover the use of flash on your IPads as there are a couple of good RDP client apps for the IPad which I have used, it would be just like the students logging on to the network but remotely.

[zag]

We just changed our website to remove any flash objects specifically because of complaints from ipad and iphone users.

 

Flash is dead

 

Might be worth speaking to Sam Learning to see if they are going to do an HTML5 version. Loads of sites are changing because of this ipad thing.

[Michael]

Might be worth speaking to Sam Learning to see if they are going to do an HTML5 version. Loads of sites are changing because of this ipad thing.

 

Are they though really? There are a lot of children's websites which use Flash. Even the likes of Google are only testing HTML5 with youtube. They haven't rolled out a HTML5 version.

 

HTML5 as a standard isn't even complete yet, so it makes it really hard for developers to convert their sites.

 

If you want portability and compatibility with any standard, just buy a Windows netbook. I still struggle to see the advantages of integrating the code directly into a browser.

 

I don't install Flash on any of my servers, so it's one less thing for viruses, malware or similar to exploit. It's the same with Java or any other plugin. If HTML5 is to be included there should at the very least be an option to turn it off.

[zag]

Are they though really? There are a lot of children's websites which use Flash. Even the likes of Google are only testing HTML5 with youtube. They haven't rolled out a HTML5 version.

 

I think so yes! we just removed all flash from our website for exactly this reason.

 

Another big site that just changed is slideshare, they were a big flash user but recently migrated to HTML5. SlideShare Blog

 

I hear even windows 8 metro will not support flash so its good to see it finally being pushed out.

[Michael]

This is a perfect example of what I am talking about and there are many other sites the same out there.

[samlearning]

Might be worth speaking to Sam Learning to see if they are going to do an HTML5 version. Loads of sites are changing because of this ipad thing.

 

We have no concrete plans yet, although we do see HTML 5 as the way to go. The basic problem is that there are more IE6 users of our site as there are iPad/iPhone users (i.e. not many), and re-writing all of our Flash activities would take time and be expensive. We are working on a strategy, but we can't officially support iPhones at the moment. I realise, of course, that we would have more iPad clients if we supported that platform!

 

Your best bet at the moment would be to use Puffin, which some of us here at SAM have tried installing. It seems to work ok, but is not officially supported.

[GrumbleDook]

We have no concrete plans yet, although we do see HTML 5 as the way to go. The basic problem is that there are more IE6 users of our site as there are iPad/iPhone users (i.e. not many), and re-writing all of our Flash activities would take time and be expensive. We are working on a strategy, but we can't officially support iPhones at the moment. I realise, of course, that we would have more iPad clients if we supported that platform!

 

Your best bet at the moment would be to use Puffin, which some of us here at SAM have tried installing. It seems to work ok, but is not officially supported.

 

Since Puffin stores ands streams the flash from an overseas hosted server how much personal data is passed through that server too?

[samlearning]

Since Puffin stores ands streams the flash from an overseas hosted server how much personal data is passed through that server too?

 

The student's full name and username would be passed through that server. Our Flash applications work on a need-to-know basis, so only the bare minimum of data is communicated between the app and the server.

 

We use HTTPS for our connections, but have no idea what security is in place when data is routed through Puffin. It's one of the reasons why we can't support it officially.

 

In general, the most sensitive data tends to be on the teacher side. Avoid using systems like Puffin to log in as a teacher unless you are happy with them having access to all the data that you do. Different schools and Local Authorities have different policies about this kind of thing, so it might be an idea to check what policy is in place.

[plexer]

Is there no way to deploy something locally like puffin that your users could use aside from the TS allready mentioned, I guess you could probably acheive the same thing using windows multipoint server.

 

Ben

[samlearning]

Is there no way to deploy something locally like puffin that your users could use aside from the TS allready mentioned, I guess you could probably acheive the same thing using windows multipoint server.

 

Ben

 

It's a possibility. I can't promise anything, though. I'll look into it.

 

To be honest, one of the things I'm concerned about is that schools will just plump for cheaper tablet computers that have Flash capability. Has your school already invested in iPads?

[Arthur]

This is a perfect example of what I am talking about and there are many other sites the same out there.

Have they not heard of HTML5Media or SublimeVideo?

[Arthur]

Is there any reason Sam Learning et al can't do what the developers of Machinarium did which their Flash-based game on the iPad 2?

 

blogs.adobe.com/flashplatform/2011/09/flash-based-machinarium-game-is-now-1-ipad-app-delivered-using-adobe-air.html

[Michael]

I don't own or have anything to do with EducationCity, but I know many schools use it and their technical explanation is spot on with regards to the problems with HTML5 and associated technologies.

 

There is no single, compatible 'out of the box' solution which is cross-browser compatible at the moment, which is why Flash is still the number one choice. Flash is cross-browser compatible and nothing else out there currently is.

 

You also have to remember companies are out there to make money, so re-writing code is of no real benefit, yet it costs money - lots of money. Customers can't be expected to take the hit and at the end of the day, children do not care whether it uses Flash or HTML5.

 

If I did own EducationCity, I would be waiting until there was cross-browser HTML5 solution. You also have to bear in mind however that just because IE9 or FF7 is released, it doesn't mean all users are suddenly using it. The world doesn't work like that.

 

It's estimated Windows 7 will be on 50% of workstations worldwide, so from a developer point of view IE8 use is going to go up because Windows 7 comes pre-installed with it by default. Although IE9 is growing in popularity, it's still a small percentage as users need to install it manually.

[LB1]

Thanks for all the replies. We would like to implement Puffin but it is stopped by our network and we don't know why. Puffin have ignored my requests for information which puts me off as a viable option. Using Terminal Server or a Citrix App server streaming Internet Explorer to the iPad may be an option. How workable is this for multiple children accessing various parts of Sam Learning website? Is this the type of service we could pay for by a hosting company or perhaps Sam Learning could offer this as an option? I'm grateful for any ideas. Thanks.