Yay ipads for everyone! Now what?
November 28, 2011 7:07 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for a step by step guide to ipad 1:1 deployment in schools.
Our school recently received over a hundred ipads for use in 4th - 6th grade classrooms. Students will be using the ipads at school and at home. Difficulty: setting up the ipads with the proper firewall, security, and apps on a large scale. Extra difficulty: no real dedicated IT personnel*
I have found some information on how to set up ipads for business, but nothing substantial that addresses the education question. Even the apple education seminars seem more dedicated to selling the ipad and apps than to actually explain how to set them up once we get them.
I'm not the best computer person, but I can follow directions, download things, and set up general security. I'm also looking for information on how apple ids fit into this picture. Would we have 1 apple id or 1 per device?
*we do have some IT folk, but they are paid by the hour and therefore we are trying to do some things on our own.
Our school recently received over a hundred ipads for use in 4th - 6th grade classrooms. Students will be using the ipads at school and at home. Difficulty: setting up the ipads with the proper firewall, security, and apps on a large scale. Extra difficulty: no real dedicated IT personnel*
I have found some information on how to set up ipads for business, but nothing substantial that addresses the education question. Even the apple education seminars seem more dedicated to selling the ipad and apps than to actually explain how to set them up once we get them.
I'm not the best computer person, but I can follow directions, download things, and set up general security. I'm also looking for information on how apple ids fit into this picture. Would we have 1 apple id or 1 per device?
*we do have some IT folk, but they are paid by the hour and therefore we are trying to do some things on our own.
This is a very large endeavor that is new territory even for IT people. iOS devices are not designed to be rolled out for lots of people / students / employee but are rather scaled to an individual with their own iTunes account. The model breaks down when extended to a family so scaling up to a school is a huge task.
A rollout this ambitious for non-IT people is asking for trouble. I say this as an Apple centric IT consultant.
That said Fraiser Spiers writes about this extensively at Speirs.org and has covered a lot of ground here.
posted by ridogi at 8:31 PM on November 28, 2011
A rollout this ambitious for non-IT people is asking for trouble. I say this as an Apple centric IT consultant.
That said Fraiser Spiers writes about this extensively at Speirs.org and has covered a lot of ground here.
posted by ridogi at 8:31 PM on November 28, 2011
No specific tips, though I've discussed these issues with some administrators, but I would recommend seeking out other schools/school technology directors in your region and asking about experiences. Where I am, there's an active group of administrators and staff that meets monthly or so to discuss ed-tech experiences (at least as of a few years ago, and since they've been going since 1994 or so I'll presume it's still active). I don't know if there's anything similar in your neck of the woods, but that would be my first place to look. Beyond that, reaching out to individual tech administrators who've done this for their experiences is really the best resource. Network away!
Apple's Educational Marketing folks also have some materials and advice on this subject. There are some documents online on their Resources site. Getting Started: A Guide for Using iPad, iPod touch and iTunes for K-12 Teaching and Learning isn't enormously useful, but is a good starting point. It also looks like they are running a series of (free, I think) webinars on iOS in education. Thursday and Friday are explicitly about planning deployments and managing configurations, so that should be useful for the more detailed issues you're interested in. Looks like they are running them for at least the next two weeks, so I'd jump on that. I'd also look at the iOS4 Education Deployment Guide (apparently not updated for iOS 5, but close enough for now), which gets into the nitty-gritty of strategies to manage accounts and syncing and passwords. Once you've got all that, you can call Apple Education (1-800-800-2775, unless you already have your own rep) with specific questions. They may have more references for you, though they might also try to sell you training classes.
From a policy standpoint, you'll also need documents that make clear the answers to questions like these: Who owns the iPads? What happens when a student graduates or leaves the school? What happens when an iPad breaks? What happens when one is stolen? What happens when one is broken or lost negligently or maliciously? Will you have rules requiring students to use cases? Where are iPads to be kept during the school day if not with the student? What can/can't students do on them? Can students put personal music on their iPads? Play games? Jailbreak the devices? Do you have an Acceptable Use Policy and does it apply to iPad use? What about iPad use off-campus outside of school hours with personal email accounts? How do students participate in class if they forget/lose their iPads and need them for an activity? Who will charge the iPads and what happens if someone's battery dies in the middle of a test? Will you lend spare iPads? What about external keyboards and other accessories? I'm sure there are a gazillion other policy questions you could dream up too. Many of these will be the same as for a 1:1 laptop program, so reading more about those could be helpful.
More broadly, I'd encourage you to focus more specifically on the educational side of the ed-tech equation here instead of just the practical details of deployment. How will teachers and students be using these iPads as an integrated part of the curriculum in a way that enhances learning? There's enormous opportunity here, but integrating technology into the classroom is certainly not easy, especially given that some teachers may need to work significantly outside their comfort zone and/or adapt their teaching styles. This is true even in schools with a dedicated staff person to lead these endeavors, but it is especially true without a Director of Technology or similar position in place (one school I know actually experimented with the position of "Curriculum Integration Coach").
Whatever you are looking to achieve in your classrooms, simply throwing hundreds of iPads into the mix will not help things and will probably be more trouble than they are worth. Actually taking advantage of this great opportunity will require a lot of professional development and experimentation to use the devices to their full advantage. At a minimum, all faculty who will be using the iPads probably need to have a shared understanding of common procedures and tasks, so that basic word processing, distributing documents, saving/retrieving finished work, printing, etc... are relatively uniform across all classes. Beyond that, teachers will want support figuring out what apps and opportunities are available and how best to use them in their classes. I am very much not the right person to tell you how to do this, but I would be very concerned about the downsides outweighing the rewards of this program without some real plans and resources in place to help you guys take full advantage of these incredibly powerful tools. Good luck!
posted by zachlipton at 8:50 PM on November 28, 2011
Apple's Educational Marketing folks also have some materials and advice on this subject. There are some documents online on their Resources site. Getting Started: A Guide for Using iPad, iPod touch and iTunes for K-12 Teaching and Learning isn't enormously useful, but is a good starting point. It also looks like they are running a series of (free, I think) webinars on iOS in education. Thursday and Friday are explicitly about planning deployments and managing configurations, so that should be useful for the more detailed issues you're interested in. Looks like they are running them for at least the next two weeks, so I'd jump on that. I'd also look at the iOS4 Education Deployment Guide (apparently not updated for iOS 5, but close enough for now), which gets into the nitty-gritty of strategies to manage accounts and syncing and passwords. Once you've got all that, you can call Apple Education (1-800-800-2775, unless you already have your own rep) with specific questions. They may have more references for you, though they might also try to sell you training classes.
From a policy standpoint, you'll also need documents that make clear the answers to questions like these: Who owns the iPads? What happens when a student graduates or leaves the school? What happens when an iPad breaks? What happens when one is stolen? What happens when one is broken or lost negligently or maliciously? Will you have rules requiring students to use cases? Where are iPads to be kept during the school day if not with the student? What can/can't students do on them? Can students put personal music on their iPads? Play games? Jailbreak the devices? Do you have an Acceptable Use Policy and does it apply to iPad use? What about iPad use off-campus outside of school hours with personal email accounts? How do students participate in class if they forget/lose their iPads and need them for an activity? Who will charge the iPads and what happens if someone's battery dies in the middle of a test? Will you lend spare iPads? What about external keyboards and other accessories? I'm sure there are a gazillion other policy questions you could dream up too. Many of these will be the same as for a 1:1 laptop program, so reading more about those could be helpful.
More broadly, I'd encourage you to focus more specifically on the educational side of the ed-tech equation here instead of just the practical details of deployment. How will teachers and students be using these iPads as an integrated part of the curriculum in a way that enhances learning? There's enormous opportunity here, but integrating technology into the classroom is certainly not easy, especially given that some teachers may need to work significantly outside their comfort zone and/or adapt their teaching styles. This is true even in schools with a dedicated staff person to lead these endeavors, but it is especially true without a Director of Technology or similar position in place (one school I know actually experimented with the position of "Curriculum Integration Coach").
Whatever you are looking to achieve in your classrooms, simply throwing hundreds of iPads into the mix will not help things and will probably be more trouble than they are worth. Actually taking advantage of this great opportunity will require a lot of professional development and experimentation to use the devices to their full advantage. At a minimum, all faculty who will be using the iPads probably need to have a shared understanding of common procedures and tasks, so that basic word processing, distributing documents, saving/retrieving finished work, printing, etc... are relatively uniform across all classes. Beyond that, teachers will want support figuring out what apps and opportunities are available and how best to use them in their classes. I am very much not the right person to tell you how to do this, but I would be very concerned about the downsides outweighing the rewards of this program without some real plans and resources in place to help you guys take full advantage of these incredibly powerful tools. Good luck!
posted by zachlipton at 8:50 PM on November 28, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for the answers I've received so far. I will definitely be checking out the webinar available on Thursday. (I had planned to check it out last week, but unfortunately Apple made it only available for people with Apple devices).
Zachlipton, you bring up a lot of good points, which I appreciate. I think that our school has covered most of the policy issues and how we are going to use them. This is how we won the grant in the first place.
Right now we are just wanting to get the background set up to make these devices as safe as possible for student use and to do so in the most logical way.
posted by aetg at 9:00 PM on November 28, 2011
Zachlipton, you bring up a lot of good points, which I appreciate. I think that our school has covered most of the policy issues and how we are going to use them. This is how we won the grant in the first place.
Right now we are just wanting to get the background set up to make these devices as safe as possible for student use and to do so in the most logical way.
posted by aetg at 9:00 PM on November 28, 2011
I used to work with a nonprofit - the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation - that provides resources and information for 1:1 learning.
They are independent so the information they provide is not solely specific to Apple or any other brand.
You may want to contact them. I know when I worked with them a large part of what they did was connect "new" 1:1 schools with veteran 1:1 schools to share advice, best practices, etc.
posted by click at 7:38 AM on November 29, 2011
They are independent so the information they provide is not solely specific to Apple or any other brand.
You may want to contact them. I know when I worked with them a large part of what they did was connect "new" 1:1 schools with veteran 1:1 schools to share advice, best practices, etc.
posted by click at 7:38 AM on November 29, 2011
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