reggiep Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 (edited) Hi All, I am currently strategizing (nice word) and one of my many documents I am working on is iPads/tablets for staff and/or students in a secondary school. As I'm sure nearly every school will face this at some point, I don't mean of getting them, I mean of having to talk to the SMT about it. Anyway I have a SWOT analysis so far for iPads for Staff (iPad is going to be the only option for staff) Strengths Portability Instant access Lots of free apps iPad is market leader Weaknesses Won’t integrate with users documents and shared resources Won’t run software on the network Added licensing complexities No Flash support – Some sites currently rely on Flash e.g. mymaths , some moodle add ons Opportunities Access to a wide range of subject specific Apps Off site possibilities (trips) Personal CPD usages Collaboration possibilities Different pedagogical approaches. Threats Security Desirable item for theft Limited lifespan of device? Other tablets could emerge So has anyone else already created something similar or have anything they could add to my feeble lists? I will be doing one for students later.. Edited May 14, 2013 by reggiep Added school type at edutech4schools suggestion and added TechMonkeys Opportunities
TechMonkey Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 Opportunities - Access to a wide range of subject specific Apps, Off site possibilities (trips), personal CPD usages, Collaboration possibilities, trying different pedagogical approaches. 1
tmcd35 Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 Not sure what to add to your list, just to say we've given 1 iPad out to each department and they have been well received. That said I do wonder about the weakness "won't run software on the network" and am currently asking again if iPads are the right device? Any way, minor thoughts... Weakness - "Won’t integrate with users documents and shared resources" - not strictly true since WebDAV works a charm. Weakness - "Added licensing complexities" - Haven't used iPad volume licensing yet, but not sure if it's a weakness? Threats - "Other tablets could emerge" - you could say this about almost any product. Ultimately you need to stress the point that they are not just buying iPads but the whole apple ecosystem. Can you get the same apps from Android or Windows? The only other thought I had was the possible need for a MDM as installing apps to multiple iPads without one is a PIA!
reggiep Posted May 14, 2013 Author Posted May 14, 2013 Primary, secondary etc? Sorry good point, I'm in secondary.
reggiep Posted May 14, 2013 Author Posted May 14, 2013 Weakness - "Won’t integrate with users documents and shared resources" - not strictly true since WebDAV works a charm. I do like the look of WebDAV but I'll need to stress that not all apps will allow saving of documents with WebDAV to the powers that be.
SovietRussia Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 WebDAV is unsecure, another personal disadvantage ... Can't turn off the settings menu without jailbreak Apple need to give us much more in the way of management tools to control these.
edutech4schools Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 If you were a primary I would be pointing you at LearnPad - The Tablet Computer Designed for Education . Changing the theme from Senco to Egyptian using the bar code system made all our I-pad lovers go wow. Not sure if they are any good for secondary schools as I have not looked at that side. Another plus is they can map drives.
reggiep Posted May 14, 2013 Author Posted May 14, 2013 If you were a primary I would be pointing you at LearnPad - The Tablet Computer Designed for Education . Changing the theme from Senco to Egyptian using the bar code system made all our I-pad lovers go wow. Not sure if they are any good for secondary schools as I have not looked at that side. Another plus is they can map drives. We actually have one learnpad and I do like the QR code scanning tool, I didn't know you could map drives with them!
Sean-OC04 Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 WebDAV is unsecure, another personal disadvantage ... Can't turn off the settings menu without jailbreak Apple need to give us much more in the way of management tools to control these. Anyone using webDAV should have a properly signed Cert from a CA, so webDAV is not unsecure.....
edutech4schools Posted May 14, 2013 Posted May 14, 2013 I didn't know you could map drives with them! Its in the manage pages on the website
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