[school] iPads for Staff/Admins


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Around our district there are schools that are getting iPads for teachers/staff and students.

At our district we are getting iPads for Admins and Teachers (just to start, will move on to students later). To make it short, the "APPLE" group at the Sr. High will be "Pilots" for the Teachers. They will okay/suggest apps and train teachers/staff how to use iPads.

As for us, the Tech Dept. We will manage Special Ed and Admins of each building.

Our dilemma is, that our district has to use Vouchers to purchase apps for the iPads and keep track of the apps that are purchased. We want to have a central location to where we can sync and manage them but the "Pilots" won't like that, they already have the ability to load their own apps as they wish.

We're just looking for other ways to manage apps, and keep track of them. We have a "tech" iTunes account that we could purchase apps from, but were not sure where to go with the "Pilots" that purchase apps and how they distribute to the teachers.

Any help or advice would be great.

Thanks guys.

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So much for budget cuts?

I was always under the impression you could only sync 1 iOS device with 1 iTunes account, and, if true, that'd make something like this pretty difficult?

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So much for budget cuts?

I was always under the impression you could only sync 1 iOS device with 1 iTunes account, and, if true, that'd make something like this pretty difficult?

Yea and sadly, the other districts around us. They don't have their stuff in place yet. It's just in a "Preparing" stage. But they don't know what they're going to do with their apps either..

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So much for budget cuts?

wow I completely agree, that is really unnecessary, and the government says they need to cut back on school spending? iPad's for every teacher and administration is a complete waste of tax payer money. This schools in for it if the media gets a hold of this information.

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wow I completely agree, that is really unnecessary, and the government says they need to cut back on school spending? iPad's for every teacher and administration is a complete waste of tax payer money. This schools in for it if the media gets a hold of this information.

There's 4 other districts around us that have EVERY student, teacher and admin getting one. They will take them home and have access to them all year. Some are "leasing" them to the kids for a like $40 a year.

I agree, everyone complains the schools need money but they spend a huge chunk on iPads and "technology". But the higher ups see it as a "solution"...

WTF happened to paper, pen, and a paper book?

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There are a few apps that let you deploy apps without the iTunes store.

Ease by Apperian is one of them

MobileIron is another.

MobileIron is what we are using at my job actually (a subdivision of one of the largest Pharma companies in the world, total number of people getting iPads = 3500, so I hope MobileIron can handle that kind of volume :laugh: )

Going through my notes from various meetings to see if I can find anymore for you, but those two are the ones that kept getting mentioned, and the one they ultimately decided upon using.

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oh psh thats nothing, we just cut 18 teaching jobs at the elementary and high school levels just to pay for our brand freaking new wont last a year ipads..... 18 teachers at $75k per year yeah that gets us about 2,000 ipads..... wahooooo.... 1/3rd our district can get an ipad since we fired 18 teachers to pay for them!

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So much for budget cuts?

I was always under the impression you could only sync 1 iOS device with 1 iTunes account, and, if true, that'd make something like this pretty difficult?

I'm pretty sure there is some limit in place, but I'm positive that it is more than 1. My iTunes hasn't given me any issues loading the same apps on my iPhone 3GS, 4, and iPad 2.

As for the question, I have no idea. You may need to contact Apple and get their input. I'm sure that they probably will want a license for each app on each device.

These things really aren't designed for the type of infrastructure you are targeting. They are meant to be personal devices and shouldn't require an IT department for support.

I'd be interested in a report back to see how things end up being implemented and how it is working for you after a few months.

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I'm pretty sure there is some limit in place, but I'm positive that it is more than 1. My iTunes hasn't given me any issues loading the same apps on my iPhone 3GS, 4, and iPad 2.

As for the question, I have no idea. You may need to contact Apple and get their input. I'm sure that they probably will want a license for each app on each device.

These things really aren't designed for the type of infrastructure you are targeting. They are meant to be personal devices and shouldn't require an IT department for support.

I'd be interested in a report back to see how things end up being implemented and how it is working for you after a few months.

Read the pdf file i linked to. These can be used in corporate environments. You need an exchange 2007 or 2010 server and one of these listed programs

http://www.apple.com/iphone/business/integration/mdm/

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Why? Why are these devices needed for school?

Good question, why is Kindergarten and special education the first to get them in my district?...... :wacko:

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Why? Why are these devices needed for school?

Yes, I agree. iPads are good devices for consuming media but they aren't that practical to create new content in more than a superficial way.

I would prefer if the money was spent on more interactive whiteboards.

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oh psh thats nothing, we just cut 18 teaching jobs at the elementary and high school levels just to pay for our brand freaking new wont last a year ipads..... 18 teachers at $75k per year yeah that gets us about 2,000 ipads..... wahooooo.... 1/3rd our district can get an ipad since we fired 18 teachers to pay for them!

That is royally F'ed up.

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I would prefer if the money was spent on more interactive whiteboards.

Things like this are useful. I'd also prefer if they made teachers use their online resources. I hated having a class where the teacher refused to put their diagrams or whatever online because they don't like computers or whatever inane reason.

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I'm pretty sure there is some limit in place, but I'm positive that it is more than 1. My iTunes hasn't given me any issues loading the same apps on my iPhone 3GS, 4, and iPad 2.

As for the question, I have no idea. You may need to contact Apple and get their input. I'm sure that they probably will want a license for each app on each device.

These things really aren't designed for the type of infrastructure you are targeting. They are meant to be personal devices and shouldn't require an IT department for support.

I'd be interested in a report back to see how things end up being implemented and how it is working for you after a few months.

We kind of figured that we would need to purchase an app say 5 times for 5 teachers..etc..

Also, the comment on the Interactive boards...almost all the teachers have either an Interwrite Board, or a SMARTBoard.....plus a laptop, desktop and now will soon have an iPad.

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Isn't there an iOS profile kit, i forget what its called, have you looked into that? Might be worth just giving Apple a ring!

As to everyone moaning about cuts and these being stupid...Imagine, being able to use the same device in any class....No need to purchase 4000 of book A, then another 3000 of book B. Not to mention less paper, saving the environment etc. iPads in schools will be short term investment, long term gain.

The NHS has just done something similiar, with handheld tablets (not iPads). They issue all medical documents on these, not to mention training materials etc. Hard copies can still be obtained, but there are HUGE cost savings in the long term, for a short term upfront cost.

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WTF happened to paper, pen, and a paper book?

Save zeh trees!

On a more important note. I don't think it is a bright idea for several reasons to supply iPads to schools, but the main underlying reason, as to why it is a waste of money and a loss, is the fact that even at the high school I went to which had around 2000+ students, you cannot keep track of all of them.

They started giving out the TI (Texas Instrument) graphing calculators, which are roughly 50-80$ depending on the model, and soooo many students would steal them, or find some way to. Then, they had 3 laptop carts, which each had 30 on them. 90 laptops. I spoke with my IT professor at the end of the year and they had around 65 ish on the cart(s) at the end of the year, so about 20-30 were stolen. Of course to him, and me, it was no surprise, you know it is going to happen. How these kids got out with them is beyond me, thieves find a way.

Now imagine supplying students with iPads, never the less, every student, or even teachers. There are bad students/people out there that will steal them and do whatever it takes to do so, whether it is to sell them or use them.

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Also, the comment on the Interactive boards...almost all the teachers have either an Interwrite Board, or a SMARTBoard.....plus a laptop, desktop and now will soon have an iPad.

Then I would suggest less toys and more training. We don't waste that kind of money around here (at least not at the elementary level).

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Isn't there an iOS profile kit, i forget what its called, have you looked into that? Might be worth just giving Apple a ring!

We've looked at the iPhone configuration tool for configuring them but it doesn't give us much ability to manage apps..

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Things like this are useful. I'd also prefer if they made teachers use their online resources. I hated having a class where the teacher refused to put their diagrams or whatever online because they don't like computers or whatever inane reason.

This comes back to my point about training.

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