DevilsAdvocate Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 Hi all, An order has been put forward for 150 Kindles to be purchased for English because 'Kids are so used to looking at screens they will read more'. I'm firmly against this and have been putting together a plan to get it thrown out, or at the very least the number purchased brought down to a class size of 30 at most. I've no experience with Kindles but it is my understanding that they must be linked to an Amazon account and books can be downloaded to a maximum of 6 devices. Is this the case? I've also read conflicting information that by using them in a school environment you are breaking Amazon UK terms of use agreement as they are a 'personal' device? Could anyone shed further light on the legalities of using them? Those who may have them how do you manage them and the books? Thanks in advance.
FN-GM Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 One thing is Kindles don't support proxy servers. So you will struggle there. You could use USB instead though. This will let you manage kindles in bulk - https://whispercast.amazon.com/
DevilsAdvocate Posted March 20, 2014 Author Posted March 20, 2014 Hi FN-GM, We don't use a proxy here, so that's not an issue. I did briefly look into Whispercast but seemed it was aimed at the US only currently? Thanks.
Arthur Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 This will let you manage kindles in bulk - https://whispercast.amazon.com/ When did it become available is the UK? That's pretty big news.
FN-GM Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 When did it become available is the UK? That's pretty big news. I don't use it personally, someone told me last week schools can use it in the UK.
Arthur Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 I just double-checked and you can't select "United Kingdom" from the Country dropdown box - it's greyed out. That must mean UK schools are creating US accounts which doesn't sound like a good idea.
ardvark Posted March 20, 2014 Posted March 20, 2014 I had 8 in a school, they used a proxy so school bought a PAYG wifi hotspot dongle to get them configured etc... you are right about the 6 devices for one book, all set up was manual and I had to update the software on each one to activate the parent controls on them to prevent the kids dong stuff they shouldn't. when you buy a book you push it to one device and then it becomes available in the archive folder, once 6 licenses used you then buy another copy and push it to device number 7. it took me the best part on 3 hours to configure 8 devices! so good luck with 150! I would stay away from them if I was you! 1
kaphc Posted March 24, 2014 Posted March 24, 2014 We've just got 6 Kindle Fire HDs in an Infants School to encourage reading amongst reluctant readers. These can work with a proxy, just press and hold the wireless connection and then go into something like "Advanced Settings" or "Modify config". Not that it'll be an issue for the OP, but I thought I'd mention in for anyone else who reads the thread and might find this useful. - - - Updated - - - We've just got 6 Kindle Fire HDs in an Infants School to encourage reading amongst reluctant readers. These can work with a proxy, just press and hold the wireless connection and then go into something like "Advanced Settings" or "Modify config". Not that it'll be an issue for the OP, but I thought I'd mention in for anyone else who reads the thread and might find this useful.
DevilsAdvocate Posted April 4, 2014 Author Posted April 4, 2014 Hi all. Just to update with this, have ended up with 30 Kindle E inks to now sort out. Have locked down a few things via the parental settings. However, a few things still trouble me. A device password can be set and the device language can be changed...two things which would render the device practically useless until reset. Any way of doing anything with these? can't find any information anywhere! Thanks in advance.
GeekyPete Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 We've just got 6 Kindle Fire HDs in an Infants School to encourage reading amongst reluctant readers. These can work with a proxy, just press and hold the wireless connection and then go into something like "Advanced Settings" or "Modify config". Not that it'll be an issue for the OP, but I thought I'd mention in for anyone else who reads the thread and might find this useful. - - - Updated - - - We've just got 6 Kindle Fire HDs in an Infants School to encourage reading amongst reluctant readers. These can work with a proxy, just press and hold the wireless connection and then go into something like "Advanced Settings" or "Modify config". Not that it'll be an issue for the OP, but I thought I'd mention in for anyone else who reads the thread and might find this useful. We've got 15 of these but we've set them up to use RM Books via the browser. TBF, could be any android, they didn't need kindles to do this.
mats Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 I had 20 turn up in a school. We didn't even put them on the school wireless (no point - proxy in use). I bought a 15-odd way usb hub and wrote batch files to copy files over. They were a pain in the backside tbh. Kids used them for a while, think they fell into disuse in the end.
elsiegee40 Posted April 4, 2014 Posted April 4, 2014 Apparently we have some in a cupboard somewhere. I found out last week. Whether they were ever used I have no idea. I suspect not, just like the iPod that was bought.
OverWorked Posted October 8, 2014 Posted October 8, 2014 Whispercast is still US only - and they check (they say). I've just found this. Amazon.com Help: Whispercast Help
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now