Setting up the iPads for intervention

Building iPad Wallpaper

Last spring, the technology department received 20 iPads from the PTO.  The reasons for purchasing these iPads was to use them in intervention settings throughout the building.

I have had an iPad for years and was on the verge to becoming a convert.  Then I had to manage more than one.  My feelings changed quickly.

I should have known after reading Steve Job's biography.  The term "single-user experience" took on a whole new meaning.  Apple wants everyone to own an iPad, not several people sharing one.  Apple has, however, complied with schools like us and has released enough tools to make it plausible, yet not nearly as easy as it should be, to set up iPads for multiple users to share.

Now my knowledge of all things Apple is limited, but I will share with you here the steps I used to set up different user profiles, added apps, and also planned the management of the iPads.  There may be an easier way, but I have found that this way works the best for our building (note: we work in a building with several technical limitations that I will describe throughout the post).

The iPads arrived in the spring.  Excited, an IT guy (the guy) and myself went to a training session about managing the iPads using the Configurator app.  The app is a tool that I believe Apple made after the fact for the iPads because it is clunky and not nearly as intuitive as most of Apple's offerings.  I am pretty sure that Apple created this app after demand for iPads in public environments became apparent. With that said, it still is not difficult to begin setting up profiles and backing up settings and creating an entire profile that does things like lock in-app purchases, password protections, other things you wouldn't want your child doing on the iPads.

After the workshop, I put together a method for setting up the iPads by taking home one of them, setting it up with the iTunes account, and then created a backup of the device.  Then, I was able to apply the backup to the rest of the devices.

Since then, The teachers using the iPads have found more apps and are beginning to find ways to supplement instruction and increase student achievement.  Now, we are dealing with the second phase of the implementation by creating several profiles for the iPads, making it reasonable to purchase apps in bulk and distribute to the grade levels that need selected apps that may not be appropriate for younger or older students.  This keeps app purchase costs down, but becomes a headache for trying to keep the different iPad profiles updated.

I set up three profiles.  Intervention, Primary, and Secondary.  After marking three iPads as the "master" for their selected profile, I can now copy selected iPads to their preferred profile and pass it on to the teachers for use.  We are still putting the final touches on this phase, mainly because:
1.  We lack a wireless network, so I must take the iPad home and do any updates or uploading there.  This simply just takes up time and adds a step or two to actually setting up the master profiles.
2.  Configuring apps is a pain.  You have to constantly keep checking which apps are checked in the list, or not even added to the configurator yet, adding more steps to an already confusing process.
3.  We have had constant troubles with the district iTunes account, so the account we use is a generic one I set up using my school email address.  Not ideal, but certainly easier to distribute apps.

Overall, using iPads in the classroom for intervention has been successful so far.  As we acquire more usability out of them through the use of wireless networks, I feel the sky is the limit.  Until then, we will continue using the iPads as best we can and I will continue to refine how and when iPads are updated and configured.