Chromebooks management

[jblackburnHWGA]

We have around 500 Chromebooks covering KS4 and KS5

All working nicely. We block most of the google apps including classrooms and push them to use office 365 and teams. The students are logging into the Chromebooks using gmail accounts on out gsuite domain.

 

Can we manage some basic functions on them without paying for an MDM? lock screen, view screen, push an app to use and lock.

 

We also have iPads. 500 covering KS3. These are super easy to manage. You import users and classes from SIMS. Teachers use the apple id for their ipad and the student use their apple ID for their ipads. Teacher sees the ipads in the classrooms apps set but the classes they teach. It works really well. It all just pulls down from apple school manager.

I want to do something like this on our Chromebooks. Everything i've seen so far pushes me to senso.clous, securly and the others.

[Brimstone]

You must be using G Suite, why not use Google Classroom???

[jblackburnHWGA]

we don't use google classroom cause we use teams. We have all our classes setup with content on there. We just want to use the Chromebook cause they're cheap and easy to use.

[BKGarry]

This may be worth a watch though

 

[paulkerton]

Can we manage some basic functions on them without paying for an MDM? lock screen, view screen, push an app to use and lock.

 

These aren't basic functions. They're advanced functions that cost a lot of time and money to develop. You'll need to pay for solutions for this. Schools really need to understand that developers also need to be able to feed their children and put clothes on them. Push an app to use and lock its use is a feature of the Chrome Management License. You can do that using that. The reason Apple give some of these functions away as part of Apple Classroom is that they lock all other developers out of being able to do it, and because you're paying far, far more for Apple equipment than Chromebooks and the like. The basic iPad with 128GB of storage, an Apple pen and keyboard is £670+ at retail, compared to a Lenovo Duet with a pen and keyboard being about £340. That's the difference.

 

Locking screens, viewing screens is a classroom management tool feature, and is something you'll get in Senso.cloud, Securly or Lightspeed. Google don't provide these as standard.

We also have iPads. 500 covering KS3. These are super easy to manage. You import users and classes from SIMS. Teachers use the apple id for their ipad and the student use their apple ID for their ipads. Teacher sees the ipads in the classrooms apps set but the classes they teach. It works really well. It all just pulls down from apple school manager.

I want to do something like this on our Chromebooks. Everything i've seen so far pushes me to senso.clous, securly and the others.

If something is worth doing, it's worth paying for.

Edited April 30, 2021 by paulkerton

[jblackburnHWGA]

Paulkerton where are you buying your iPads from lol paying a bit too much

I see your point however and it answers the overall question. If we want the extra bits we get with iPads we either need to buy ipads or pay for some MDM support to run it. We have Smoothwall which i noticed do a classroom management system. i'll get a demo

 

BKGarry thanks for that video its help me resolve a few annoying things i've yet to figure out

[paulkerton]

Paulkerton where are you buying your iPads from lol paying a bit too much

The basic iPad with 128GB of storage, an Apple pen and keyboard is £670+ at retail

It was the pricing I had at hand for both at the time, so it was as fair comparison between them both (you can get both cheaper in education (no VAT, bulk discounts etc) so it wouldn't be fair to compare the EDU price of the iPad to the retail price of the Duet)

Anyway, the point being you pay a lot more for the iPad and that ecosystem, so they are able to throw in things like Apple Classroom "for free".

[Brimstone]

The basic iPad with 128GB of storage, an Apple pen and keyboard is £670+ at retail

It was the pricing I had at hand for both at the time, so it was as fair comparison between them both (you can get both cheaper in education (no VAT, bulk discounts etc) so it wouldn't be fair to compare the EDU price of the iPad to the retail price of the Duet)

Anyway, the point being you pay a lot more for the iPad and that ecosystem, so they are able to throw in things like Apple Classroom "for free".

You are in no way shape or form doing a proper price comparison.

 

It's utterly disingenuous to claim the 128GB is the "basic" iPad when there is a cheaper version with 32GB, afterall there are nearly 55,000 of this model in hands of every school student in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

 

So lets take another look at that pricing shall we?

 

iPad 8th Gen Education Street Price - £238.00 + Logitech Crayon - £42.00 + Mid Range Keyboard Case - £50.00

So thats £330.00 instead of the crass price you gave.

[jblackburnHWGA]

£330 is also about the price point we're hitting per device. Even though Pauls price is way over as he's based on it retail, education ipad pricing is still £100 per device more expensive than a Chromebook.

Personally i think students and teacher respond better to iPads than Chromebooks but work wise i prefer a Chromebook over an ipad. This is why we spit out devices as ipads for KS3 and Chromebooks for KS4 and 5.

 

I do think its a shame google don't have a native classroom management app like Apple do. We'd pay extra for it if they did it assuming it was good which it probably would be.

[Noobius]

Not for free but recently had a Lightspeed Classroom trial and it looked pretty good. Simple, intuitive, interface and price wasn't TOO bad.

[Lightspeed_Shaun]

Hi all,

 

I'd be happy to meet and discuss your outstanding requirements.

 

Feel free to drop me an email and we can discuss how the Lightspeed Systems solutions suite can help filter, monitor and protect your students - [email protected]

 

In the mean time please see our United Learning Trust | Case Study and solution overview below:

 

Lightspeed Filter

 

Lightspeed Alert (Safeguarding)

 

Lightspeed Classroom Management

 

I look forward to connecting.

 

Shaun Phillips

Regional Sales Director

DDI: 020 4534 5282

www.lightspeedsystems.com

[paulkerton]

You are in no way shape or form doing a proper price comparison.

 

It's utterly disingenuous to claim the 128GB is the "basic" iPad when there is a cheaper version with 32GB, afterall there are nearly 55,000 of this model in hands of every school student in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

 

So lets take another look at that pricing shall we?

 

iPad 8th Gen Education Street Price - £238.00 + Logitech Crayon - £42.00 + Mid Range Keyboard Case - £50.00

So thats £330.00 instead of the crass price you gave.

 

I'm sorry, but you're absolutely wrong here. You cannot possibly compare such wildly different SKUs and then say that's a fair and equal comparison. Any auditor worth their salt would throw that idea right out the window.

The Duet quoted is 128GB so the fair price comparison is the same sized device, using the first party equipment that Apple provides, compared to the first party equipment Lenovo provides, using the same pricing. In this case, I've used the RRP from the retailer for both. You can't use the Apple price for Education, with VAT removed and an EDU discount compare it to the Lenovo retail price! The fairest is to take the same pricing, in this case retail for both.

 

Which in the case of the 128GB 8th Generation iPad WiFi with no accessories is £429.00

You can't go and cheat it by comparing a different, smaller capacity device and using third party equipment compared to first party equipment. That is NOT a fair price comparison in the slightest. To suggest otherwise is true disingenousness.

Compare like-for-like.

Edited May 28, 2021 by paulkerton

[PrimaryNetMan]

Well seeing as the Lenovo Duet is currently available complete with Lenovo USI stylus and a CDL for £290, that iPad package still looks rather expensive.