IPAD Experiences

[zag]

How are you dealing with VPNs ? At the firewall level ?

 

I'm not sure if your talking about students or staff but we haven't used VPN for years in school.

[caffrey]

Sorry, I meant personal VPNs, the students install them on their iPads and basically bypass the filtering (stuff like onavo)

[zag]

Sorry, I meant personal VPNs, the students install them on their iPads and basically bypass the filtering (stuff like onavo)

 

Cool! I didn't know about that. Will have to check it out, but we only allow port 80 and 443 on our BYOD system, set in our Aruba wireless controller on the vlan.

 

Also if they are using their own VPN apps, then I wonder if it really is our responsibility any more. You could say the same about personal proxy servers being run by students on windows machines.

[maark]

It is our job to make whatever is deemed best for the students and staff work. Just because ipads are a pain to setup we should not dismiss them.

However, I am not convinced they are being bought for the right reasons.

Staff have had quite a few on trial but have still not come back with good ideas or apps to use on them.

A £150 chromebook will boot up just as quick as a £300 ipad and has a larger screen and keyboard to aid creation of documents which is what a lot of students spend their time doing. They also have 8 hour battery life. The cost implications of ipads are massive as they would only have a 3 year life-cycle at most due to ios changes and apple's restriction on what device can run the latest ios.

It may be that we need different devices for different departments but the first thing should be to look at what improves teaching and learning.

[simpsonj]

Our deployment of iPads has been very mixed, however some good uses that we've found are:

 

PE/Dance - Recording students and instant playback of their technique/choreography in a sport has been useful.

 

Music - Garageband is a useful app, though it hits the wall of "How do I prevent other students from deleting this work?" But it is a good app, and students like using it. Again, the recording of performances using the iPad has been a good addition.

 

English - Literacy apps to help the weaker students have proven very popular this year. This is a set of four iPads that are closely monitored, though we're expanding to 6.

 

As a general point, Meraki is very useful for removing the pesky access codes students set without a factory reset, but I've not used the rest of its functions in anger yet.

 

I can't say I would welcome large sets of iPads though, truly believe something along the lines of a chrome book, but tied into our Office365 environment, would be far better suited.

[zag]

I can't say I would welcome large sets of iPads though, truly believe something along the lines of a chrome book, but tied into our Office365 environment, would be far better suited.

 

Now if only Microsoft would realize this instead of releasing £1,000 surface laptops

[simpsonj]

Now if only Microsoft would realize this instead of releasing £1,000 surface laptops

 

As I was typing that sentence that very thought popped into my head!

[SYNACK]

As I was typing that sentence that very thought popped into my head!

 

Chromebooks are terrible on 365, the little hybrid tablets and even the Surface 2 RTs are quite good but are again hobbled by MSs insistence on segregating O365 accounts and live accounts then not letting Windows 8 logon with O365 accounts directly but requiring separate live accounts and management tools.

 

It is plain as day but they seem to blind or arrogant to do anything about it. Allow 365 accounts to automatically host live extensions like personal onedrive and Windows8 logon then add the option to transition just those personal services to an @Outlook.com account later to keep them tied in. Also bundle Intune with O365 or at least offer perpetual licences like the Chromebook ones.

[ICT_GUY]

Our ICT Coordinator has been talking to techies and has been hard pressed to find anyone who says that they are the way forward.

 

My argument for MS based computing is that they are a mature business orientated device, cheap as chips with a long life span. They are not sexy or exciting but they get they job done with minimal fuss. (Apart from the normal headaches from keeping a large network running).

[BITS_BryanS]

Our ICT Coordinator has been talking to techies and has been hard pressed to find anyone who says that they are the way forward.

 

20 years ago I remember everyone saying the same thing about Windows NT when compared to Novell.....

[Joanne]

I'm currently wrestling with some iPad minis. They were handed out to teachers to trial, so a few have forgotten passcodes on them. I've followed apples instructions (the recovery mode thing) and still the passcode remains. I've told Meraki to wipe passcode, but the ipad doesn't seem to be on the wifi for some reason. I've tried to restore in itunes, but find my ipad is enabled. I have a massive sad. Massive. I just need these off my desk now!!

 

Any other suggestions for passcode removal?

 

Once ipads are set up they are great. Problems arise when you want to update them and install paid for apps. I've being trying to get VPP for a good few months now!!

 

I think with the right apps, they can be a great teaching resource and it really engages the children.

 

[Brimstone]

I'm currently wrestling with some iPad minis. They were handed out to teachers to trial, so a few have forgotten passcodes on them. I've followed apples instructions (the recovery mode thing) and still the passcode remains. I've told Meraki to wipe passcode, but the ipad doesn't seem to be on the wifi for some reason. I've tried to restore in itunes, but find my ipad is enabled. I have a massive sad. Massive. I just need these off my desk now!!

 

Any other suggestions for passcode removal?

 

Once ipads are set up they are great. Problems arise when you want to update them and install paid for apps. I've being trying to get VPP for a good few months now!!

 

I think with the right apps, they can be a great teaching resource and it really engages the children.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]26677[/ATTACH]

 

In order to restore the iPad by using iTunes it will need to be a computer that has previously synced with the iPad otherwise you will get the passcode request, 3 steps below to try...

 

iOS: Forgot passcode or device disabled

 

 

I'd get those teachers who have forgotten their passcodes to let you know what they are for future

[Brimstone]

My 2 penny's worth.

 

Here are just a few very successful iPad deployments in schools...many of these started with shared devices in pilots across classrooms

 

iClevedon » The Home of the iPad Revolution for Learning

Education | Learning and Innovation

Hove Park School Ipad Learning

iPad and iTunes U - Cedars School of Excellence

Press & Awards - Essa Academy

[Trillion11]

I look after several primary schools using ipads. Some are doing great things with them and some not so much...

 

We use appple configurator in most of them with VPP and a Mac mini with osx server installed to manage them.

 

3 of my schools have charge sync trollies, 2 of them keep their ipads in folio cases and take them out to charge. The other school use some snazzy protective cases (they fit in the charge/sync trolley) that they discovered at the Bett show from a crowd called max cases based in the states.

 

Sign up for vpp from day one and you'll be peachy!

Edited September 30, 2014 by Trillion11

[Joanne]

In order to restore the iPad by using iTunes it will need to be a computer that has previously synced with the iPad otherwise you will get the passcode request, 3 steps below to try...

 

iOS: Forgot passcode or device disabled

 

 

I'd get those teachers who have forgotten their passcodes to let you know what they are for future

 

Yeah I set them all up initially with my macbook. It tells me that because 'find my ipad' is enabled it can't restore it. So I login to icloud and the 'find my apple device' everything is listed, but the 2 I have with passcodes show as offline. Gonna hand them back and maybe staff will suddenly recall!! Hah!

[Gibson335]

Whilst part of what we do is to help schools achieve their goals, and if their goal is to flood the site with i-Pads then we should do so to the best of our ability, another part is to offer advice and opinions as to whether the same outcomes might be achieved in a better way. If what's required is simply a fast and effective browser then a pad or tablet might be the way to go. But if what's required is a fast and effective browser together with a range of creative tools, including faculty-specific software, then a laptop might just be a better overall product for the user, the teacher and the school as a whole. Where the resource is wanted might also be a factor in some cases. For me, it should begin with the desired outcome and then choosing the right tool to achieve that outcome, rather than purchasing the tool and then either restricting yourself or having to bolt things on at the cost of time and money. There's far more choice today, and we should not restrict ourselves unnecessarily, but equally we should not dismiss the tried and trusted in favour of the shiny and new just because it is shiny and new.

[Tall_Paul]

We're starting down the road where, in a year or two, every student will have an IPad (currently have around 1000 HP mini netbooks running W7 scattered around the school).

 

My feelings echo most of yours but as others have said our job is to implement what we are given. I haven't been asked my opinion on whether I think they are a good idea or not.

 

We've got Meraki MDM setup and various Apple VPP accounts. It'll be interesting to see the state of play in a year or two.

[Joanne]

I've just finished sorting mine out this afternoon. It feels good. Can't wait for them to get used. I think the kids will really take to them. We have high rate of underprivileged kids here, so I think they will really enjoy them.

[Brimstone]

If what's required is simply a fast and effective browser then a pad or tablet might be the way to go. But if what's required is a fast and effective browser together with a range of creative tools, including faculty-specific software, then a laptop might just be a better overall product for the user, the teacher and the school as a whole.

 

If schools are buying iPads just be used as a fast and effective browser then said school doesn't understand the iPad and needs more education about using them in the classroom, period.

[Jobos]

I've got 30 of the things here and now they are up and running I don't get many problems apart from not being able to use paid apps. I've got the VPP account setup but as the school doesn't have a credit/debit card I can't see a way to purchase the credit.

[emdrum]

We have had iPads in school for over two years - initially as three classroom sets in trolleys, subsequently with a single year group on a 1:1 basis as a trial, and now being deployed as a 1:1 device throughout the school. We currently have in the region of about 700 iPads in the school. Yes, we have made mistakes but we have learned how to manage them and what can and can't be done. Like anything else, it has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

I sense a lot of hostility towards iPads in the forum and it seems that most see them as a headache. This is true of any new technology that is introduced into an environment it was not originally intended for. We have all had PCs for decades, but I remember when laptops were introduced and all the same worries were present - people would break them, they would lose them, they wouldn't be reliable, etc. And this was true to an extent until the technology matured and the tools to manage them became available. With iPads it's still early days, but we're getting there.

 

Managing them as class sets is an issue because they are a 1:1 device. They are designed to give a personal experience, and if you are changing the person using it at every lesson then you are unlikely to get the best from them. Having said that, they have the best ecosystem of apps for education of any device out there. There are far more apps suitable for use with children and students on the ipad than there are on Android, and those are the only 2 eco systems with any traction. The ipads become the electronic school-bag, with your homework planner, your classwork, your reference books, your email conversations with your teachers, your trip plans, your projects. It's all on one device.

 

And yes, a percentage will get broken until they learn to look after them. That happens with netbooks and text books and everything else. The students are still children and will require just as much supervision and guidance as they always did. Good cases are essential. Making use of the Apple volume purchase programme helps with the budgets. A good wireless network is critical and you need to be able to manage it. Good control over your internet access, with filtering and logging is essential. You have to be able to diagnose issues as they occur - the last thing you want is for someone to be doing something brilliant and innovative only to be told it won't work on the school network.

 

The tablet is a natural device for education, though. The first time you get the kids to video their science experiments, or interview each other for a history project, or take them out onto the field to help coach them for sports, you see the difference. All the older students already have phones and they're used to carrying their world around with them. It feels natural to them. The real challenge then becomes how you tap into that enthusiasm and use it to accelerate their learning and improve their opportunities in life.

[Joanne]

My problem is when apple send me e-mails like this:

 

Dear Joanne,

 

My name is Ezra with the iTunes VPP/iTunes U support team. I hope all is well this Saturday.

 

I understand that you have encountered trouble with your VPP enrollment. I can definitely appreciate our concern regarding this matter and I’m happy to assist.

 

Joanne, I have investigated and found your previous enrollment, but found that it had to be rejected due to some information that was entered that we were unable to confirm.

 

Joanne, will you please re-enroll into VPP at deploy.apple.com with a new email address and then let me know so that I can personally locate your new enrollment and expedite the vetting and approval process for you.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ezra

 

Seriously.... this is the 4th e-mail address I've tried. I've replied saying this isn't possible. Sort this out now. I've asked why they can't call the school to confirm the deets. So frustrating!!

[Meldrew]

We have had iPads in school for over two years - initially as three classroom sets in trolleys, subsequently with a single year group on a 1:1 basis as a trial, and now being deployed as a 1:1 device throughout the school. We currently have in the region of about 700 iPads in the school. Yes, we have made mistakes but we have learned how to manage them and what can and can't be done. Like anything else, it has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

Sounds like you may soon be hitting the iPads bonjour problem then with that many devices. Your network may already be a screaming torrent of broadcast traffic:

 

The iPad "Bonjour Problem" - ClassThink.com

 

Might be worth checking out before everything grinds to a halt.

 

Meldrew

[emdrum]

Hi Meldrew,

 

Yes, we discovered the bonjour problem during the trial (which was well worth doing as we learned a lot from running it) and we now hav a network segmented into VLANs with a bonjour re-broadcaster selectively broadcasting bonjour information between VLANS where appropriate. It works very well, though it took us a litle while to work out how to zone the network so that if you were on the wireless in a classroom you saw only the devices near to you.

 

Works great now, though.