control mobile devices for pupils

[darrents]

Morning.

 

We are looking at purchasing some form of mobile technology iPad’s or android devices for pupils to use. There will be about 30 and shared by pupils.

 

We have wireless Meraki access points which is only available to staff at the moment and a Smoothwall in place to control the internet.

 

There are several options we can look at, but I am wondering what all you are using to control these mobile devices with pupils.

 

Any advice welcome Thanks Darren

[Joanne]

I use Lightspeed MDM. I get it free with my LA but it's normally £5 per device per year. With iPads you can set restrictions on it and push out apps via Volume Purchase Program (VPP) - I highly recommend you sign up to that, it will enable you to buy apps legit. Edited January 31, 2018 by Joanne

[NB9457]

What's their intended purpose?

 

Chromebooks are pretty good to be honest, but it depends whether it's a high school or primary and how they will be used.

 

Lightspeed is good for managing iPads, can't really speak for Android.

[LanSchoolUK_Adam]

Hi Darren - are you looking to manage them in an admin / MDM sense (such as deploying apps to the devices, locking down settings, disabling parts of the operating system, enforcing SSID policies etc)?

 

Or manage them in a Classroom Management sense (screen viewing, screen sharing, screen blanking, blocking website access per-class etc)?

 

If the former, there are plenty of good MDM systems out there - Lightspeed, AirWatch, Deep Freeze MDM...you could even extend Meraki to cover the students since it has an MDM component.

 

If the latter, LanSchool has apps for both iOS and Android to help Teachers manage and monitor these devices effectively in a teaching environment. PM me if this is the sort of thing you're looking for and we can have a proper chat.

Edited January 31, 2018 by LanSchoolUK_Adam

[AlanD]

Sharing iPads, or any kind of tablet is not going to work well. They are not designed as multi user devices...and while there are tools and facilities to allow a number of users to share a particular device (such as family members at home) they are less than ideal in school. If a student uses an app and either logs on to a service (google or O365) the next student picking up the device may well end up with access to delete all that data without having to logon. And data stored locally in an app is even more vulnerable. Yes, there are activities, often web based, which work fine when sharing...but once you start using apps the problems with keeping data secure becomes critical. Tablets are essentially “personal”devices. And I thing I’d be using a £150 Android Samsung tablet before considering iPads....not least all because I could buy a lot more. And I’d you are using Apps, or intend to use apple’s classroom feature to share iPad use, go for units with lots of memory..at least 32Gb...otherwise once 5 or 6 users have used the tablet you find there is no memory left.

[Ditto]

What's their intended purpose?

Chromebooks are pretty good to be honest, but it depends whether it's a high school or primary and how they will be used.

Lightspeed is good for managing iPads, can't really speak for Android.

 

It does depend on the intended usage but I'd say +1 for Chromebooks and GSsuite for Education. Touch screen is often seen more useful in primary, but you can get touch screen chromebooks. The issue might be more a size/portability thing. For early years and KS1, I would have suggested Kindles, but until Whispercast is supported in the UK, it's a no-go for me.