iPad / iTouch in education

Comment

Comment by Christopher M. Casal on May 31, 2011 at 9:06am

My apologies for my delayed response.

 

Here is how I break down our device restrictions. Keep in mind I'm in an elementary school so I restricted these with an eye toward our users being 11 and under. If I was in a high school I might have set it up differently. Also, I set a 4 digit pass-code lock on it, required for changes. An added level of security.

In the General Settings I turned on the restrictions for:

 

YouTube (the DOE blocks it anyway, but I figured I'd save a little battery/processing power by deactivating the app - if the City unblocks YouTube I'll take the restriction off)

 

Ping - it's iTunes attempt at social networking. I see no real need for it at this point.

 

Installing Apps, Deleting Apps, In-App Purchases

 

Accounts - "Dont Allow Changes" - I dont need this now, but if we do set up generic email addresses for each device I want this setting pre-selected

 

Movies - turned off NC-17, R, PG 13

TV - turned off MA, 14

 

Game Center  - turned off Multiplayer and Adding friends (at this point we are using these devices as research and content creation platforms. If, in the future we find beneficial uses for the Game Center I'll turn this feature back on).

Comment by Darlynn Alfalla on May 26, 2011 at 12:17pm

Great Chris - I just need a bit more help. Syncing was not an issue and apparently did not need my apps card yet to sync which is good. I would like to know which restrictions you set up in settings. So far I put no for deleting apps but curious as to the rest of your settings. I really appreciate your help! I was able to get them online which is great!

 

Comment by Christopher M. Casal on May 26, 2011 at 12:13pm

I leave the "Automatically sync apps" boxed checked all the time.

 

"Automatically sync apps to my iPad" means any time you download an app it will atuomatically be added to the iPad.

 

This feature in no way prevents you from downloading directly on the iPad via the App Store app and has no ill efects on your sytem.

 

That feature is, essentially, a hold over option from older devices. Keep in mind the iPad is basically an iPod, so the features of iTunes are essentially add-ons to the original, decade old, iTunes platform. The "Automatically sync" options are hold-overs from when you needed to plug in to iTunes to get anything on your device. The age before wifi and 3G enabled iPods, et al

 

These days I rarely download apps from iTunes on my desktop, I get most of my apps downloaded directly to my iPad.

 

I have the "Automatically sync" option checked so that when I do use my desktop iTunes I know the apps will transfer without me having to do it manually.

Comment by Darlynn Alfalla on May 26, 2011 at 12:02pm

When syncing for the first time to I leave the box Automatically sync apps to my ipad checked?

Comment by Christopher M. Casal on May 25, 2011 at 7:26pm

No school image for the teacher systems. The way iTunes works you can't create an "image" and then tie a different account to the same device. The device is account specific. If we created an "image", as we do for the student systems, they would only be able to sync to a singular computer under a singular iTunes account/credit card.

iTunes wont let you create an account on an iPad and then change the account and add to it. Any school "image" would be erased when the teacher account is setup/activated.

Teacher systems are only synced to their classroom desktops/laptops.

We have a required app list, which they install during initial PD session, and any further required, or suggested apps, are sent out via email blasts and updates on our site.

We have tried to make the teachers as self sufficient as possible on the devices.

Comment by Susan Ettenheim on May 25, 2011 at 4:40pm

Hi Christopher - so does that mean that those iPads are never synced to any other computer than the teacher's laptop? I was thinking there was a central school image and then they could add on to that as desired and was asking about what happened if you added to the base school image... how that would get to each teacher's laptop. Thanks!

Comment by Christopher M. Casal on May 25, 2011 at 3:16pm

We give the iPads to the teachers with the understanding that any required app will be free (Dropbox, Diigo, etc) and any paid app will be suggested, or strongly suggested (GoodReader or Confer for instance) with a free alternative (Plaintext, Documents Lite, etc).

 

Teachers are free to purchase any apps they want, knowing they wont be reimbursed, it's a DOE device that may be taken back if need be (the paid apps are theirs, so they could always move them to a different device), and that the iPad is a tool for the classroom, not a school sponsored toy.

 

We offer ongoing, weekly, PD to ensure teachers are getting the most out of them in their classroom.

Comment by Darlynn Alfalla on May 25, 2011 at 1:42pm

Christopher, I wanted to say thanks for your last post. It was extremely helpful.

Will will be purchasing App cards to purchase Apps for the teacher ipads.

Thanks again!

Comment by Susan Ettenheim on May 25, 2011 at 1:40pm

Christopher, Can you update the teacher iPads with your newest school Apps without affecting whatever they may have purchased and added to their iPads? Do they just get iTunes gift cards if they want to add Apps to their teacher iPads?

Comment by Christopher M. Casal on May 23, 2011 at 1:01pm

At my school all teachers and staff with iPads sync to their own DOE computer, using an iTunes account created with their DOE email address (even if they had a pre-existing personal iTunes account we made them make a new, DOE one to ensure the iPads, which the school purchased, don't become expensive personal toys).

 

The cart of 20 are solely for student use, and shared among multiple teachers with the iTunes account set to the Principal's school-issued credit card, hence the restrictive app store setting. Teachers can test apps with their own iPad and then submit a form requesting an app be added to the student devices. If the Principal approves it is purchased and installed.

 

Teachers are free to buy apps for the device they are issued. We just want a system to keep track of the shared devices.

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