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School Deployment

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What’s Your End-of-Year Device Collection Strategy? The academic year for many school districts across the country is coming to a close. That means it's collection time for districts with one-to-one device policies. This can be stressful for IT departments without a solid footing on how to go about the laborious task of ensuring each device from every class, grade level and school has been returned properly. But using tips from more experienced districts can help make that process easier. The Community Consolidated School District 59 in Arlington Heights, Ill. has been using Google Chromebooks for a year now, and its schools have had one-to-one device policies for several years.

Ben Grey, the assistant superintendent of innovative learning and communications for the district, told EdTech that a solid inventory system powered by easily sharable documents in Google Sheets helps keep the otherwise chaotic collection process organized. Sheets is an integral part of the Google for Education lineup, which is free for schools. Deep Dive: The Art of Going 1:1 in the K-12 Classroom - Guides & Reports from K-12 Tech Decisions. Going 1:1 is a big decision. It represents a significant investment in both time and money, but it’s a great way to get technology into the hands of your students.

However, this isn’t a choice you want to make lightly. Before jumping headfirst into choosing a device, you need to understand exactly what’s next for school leaders, technology staff and teachers. A successful 1:1 takes more than purchasing devices. It takes a cohesive educational vision, strategic planning, professional development and more. This article serves as a guide to helping K-12 schools understand the art of going 1:1. After reading this article, you will know… 5 questions to ask to assess your 1:1 readinessWhat kind of network infrastructure you needWhy staff training is importantHow other school have carried out 1:1 professional developmentWhat challenges to expectWhat other 1:1 schools consider the keys to success. iPads in schools: The right way to do it.

This was supposed to be the year of the iPad’s crowning triumph in education—its adoption by and distribution throughout the nation’s second-largest school district, Los Angeles. Events haven’t quite turned out as planned. A $1 billion iPad-distribution program that started in the fall has run up against a series of obstacles. Students hacked their way past the tablet’s security; parents raised concerns that they were liable for iPad damage; and the program ran into cost overruns. Put all that together and the result is that officials recalled the iPads while they rethink their plan. Reportedly, the conflict even put Superintendent John Deasy’s job in jeopardy at one point.

“It’s an ambitious project, involving lots of money, so there were probably going to be some problems coming out of the gate,” said Michael Janofsky, managing editor of L.A. School Report, a blog that tracks education issues in the city. The right way to bring iPads to schools “The instructional side is driving this. How School Technology Departments Keep One-To-One Programs Online. Elle Moxley / StateImpact Indiana East Allen County Schools technology director Bill Diehl demonstrates how to use iTunes U on his iPad. Teachers in the district are building their own courses using Apple's electronic textbook distribution platform.

Last summer, East Allen County Schools made a push to put an iPad in the hands of every student, doubling the number of digital devices in the district. The district didn’t add any technology staff, just miles of cable and a wireless access point in every classroom. Right before school started, the technology department passed out 7,000 iPads to every sixth through twelfth grader in the district. Then they waited. “We had dire predictions at the end of the school year that people were going to walk off with them, that we were gonna have a mess,” says technology director William Diehl. Schools across the country are launching one-to-one programs that put an iPad, laptop or other device in the hands of every student. The district gave him another. iPad 1:1 - iPad 1:1. Digital Learning Resource: The Burlington High School Student Help Desk. The Burlington High School Student Help Desk is entering its second season, and I wanted to share our course outline, pathways and some of the opportunities we'll be creating for the school faculty and staff.

Our Student Help Desk is available six out of seven periods a day and consists of students who have an interest in educational technology. The technology competencies vary for each class and set of students, so students have opportunities to pursue a variety of pathways in this course. Today, February 1, is Digital Learning Day. Our Help Desk students will be presenting their work and their resources to a group of visiting teachers, administrators and students. Below you will find our course description, learning pathways and services for the faculty and staff. Note: Because the following post was created for BHS websites, the signup links for Help Desk Tutorials are not available to Edutopia users. Course Description Welcome to BHS Help Desk. 1) Help Desk Tutorials Help Desk Pathways.

Considerations Before Deploying iPads and iPods. Home > Uncategorized > Considerations Before Deploying iPads and iPods Before schools and districts go on a mass purchasing spree of iPads and iPods, there are a few infrastructure considerations before sending the purchase order. While I am a strong advocate of using the tablet in the classroom, there should be some strategic deployment plans before putting it in the hands of students. Rather than sounding as the expert, I have decided to format the considerations through questions I would ask before purchasing. This list by no means fits everyone’s model, but will hopefully serve as a guideline to planning out iPad/iPod/tablet/mobile device deployments. Thanks! Infrastructure: Do you have enough wireless bandwidth to sustain dense populations of mobile devices?

Academic: How do the iPods and iPads align with your curriculum? Like this: Like Loading... 5 Things Not To Do During an iPad Rollout. 1-to-1 Programs | Feature 5 Things Not To Do During an iPad Rollout K-12 teachers and administrators pinpoint five different areas that schools should be aware of when rolling out iPad initiatives. By Bridget McCrea07/25/12 There's no shortage of iPad rollouts in the K-12 space right now.

Used across all grade levels and subject areas the devices are adored for their portability, battery life, connectivity, and ability to quickly put mobile technology into students' hands. These implementations typically generate positive reviews from educational users, but iPads also present challenges for the districts that dole them out, for the teachers that incorporate them into the classroom, and for the students who use them. Here are five things that you shouldn't do during an iPad rollout. 1. Haggard said she uses a similar organizational approach with daily assignments, knowing that her young students will be most productive when given specific tasks to complete on their tablets. 2. 3. 4.

My Guide to iPad Deployment in School. Almost two years ago to the day, I wrote a post, “The iPad: Why Teachers Should Care.” Flash forward to today, both of the schools I work at have purchased one iPad for each classroom. Although I’ve already mastered how to manage all the iDevices in my personal household, learning to manage iPads in an institutional environment involved a bit more learning due to the complexities of software licensing and the necessity to keep institutional accounts separate from personal ones. School Accounts You’ll Need: 1. A generic e-mail address. You can use a school’s generic e-mail address. However, I would not use any employee’s e-mail address since it’s impossible to guarantee that any employee will be at a particular school forever. To repeat, you deposit gift cards into the VPP account and then redeem the download codes you receive through your school’s Apple ID.

Although you buy 20 codes, you really only redeem one of the codes. Personal Accounts You Should and Shouldn’t Use What’s in a Name? iPad repairs loom for district. Best Practices for Deploying iPads in Schools. Digital Tools Teaching Strategies Flickr: Lexie Flickinger By Matt Levinson As schools get ready to deploy iPads this year, each one is scrambling to figure out how to develop an efficient and effective system that works. With no standardized system or uniform roadmap to follow, at the moment, it’s up to individual schools to reach out through their networks to find information about best practices and smooth, streamlined service. Without professional development and a set plan in place, educators in individual classes might be stumped by how to set up iPads for different uses. To that end, here are some ideas about how to put a system in place for iPad use in classrooms: A Friendly Guide to Deploying iPads at Your School.

For personal use, the iPad is a breeze to set up. Turn it on, connect to a wireless network, enter your Apple ID, and you’re ready to go. If you’re already a resident of the Apple ecosystem, your apps are waiting for you in on a “Purchased” list in the App Store and backups of your other devices are available via iCloud for download to your current device. If you’re a new convert, getting started and downloading apps is a relatively painless experience. There is also a lot to like about iOS. It’s a lean, mean operating system. It’s use of sandboxing keeps it relatively clutter free. iOS doesn’t do a lot, but it’s pretty good at what it does do.

That said, deploying iPads at any kind of scale is just short of maddening. First, kindly allow me to give you some background. Consider this a freshman level tutorial. On paper, Lion Server should work. Apple Configurator is a fickle mistress. Some caveats: Apple Configurator has three modes: Prepare, Supervise, and Assign. iPad 1:1 Means Freezer Bags, Charging Stations and Lots of Cases | Terice T. Schneider's Digital Home.

At South Belton Middle School where we issue an iPad 2 to every student, we have discovered that protecting the device requires forethought and a couple of extras. Our wonderful instructional facilitator, Kevin Rasco, realized on the first rainy day that our kids who walk home might have wet iPads by the time they reached their destination. Quick thinking and a trip to our local Walmart with a few bucks had teachers and administrators handing out plastic freezer bags to students as they left the building. The covered iPads fit neatly inside, and the grateful students headed off without a care. Additionally, you need a few extra cases on hand. The best case scenario is that when a student has an accident of some sort and drops the iPad, the case takes the hit and leaves the iPad untouched.

Finally, you’ll need extra chargers for the iPads. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about what we have learned and how we plan to improve upon what we have done so far. Like this: 7 Policy Tips for deploying iPads in the classroom. 7 Policy Tips for deploying iPads in the classroom Posted by Ashley Wainwright on Fri, Oct 05, 2012 @ 12:16 PM Schools around the world are embracing all the benefits of these new mobile devices like iPads. It’s important for schools to stay up-to-date with technology to help provide the best education to their students. The iPad has become an excellent learning tool that students and teachers alike adore. But before you can begin reaping all the wonderful benefits of mobile devices like iPads in the classroom, you must successfully integrate them onto the schools wireless network.

Here’s a list of 7 key tips to help make deploying iPads and other mobile devices into the school wireless network a lot smoother process. Tip #1) Let the teacher have them first. If y ou don’t give the teachers the iPads first and give them some time to use them before giving them to the students you are making a huge mistake. Tip #2) It’s ok to take baby steps. Tip # 3) Come with a strategy for sharing content.

5 Must-Know Tips For Deploying iPads In Your Classroom. If you’re looking to deploy iPads in education, you may think that it’s just a matter of expense and storage. Those things are big, but they’re not the biggest problems you’ll face. In fact, this is one of those situations where money is the least of your troubles. I was chatting with an Edudemic reader this week who wanted to know a few tips and tricks about deploying iPads in his classroom this coming school year. I figured it might be helpful to share the results of this conversation with the rest of the Edudemic readers.

After all, this site is all about sharing and learning together. How many devices can use one Apple ID? This is a question that pops up all the time. But long story short, it varies. Basically, you should plan on using free apps for the most part as these are easy to install on any device you have, no matter how many Apple IDs you have / need. How do I store all these various devices? What if we lose a device? What apps should be installed? iPad Resistance Is Futile « There is no box. An Ask Andrew Reply: Fellow #ubermix aficionado and CETPA Certified CTO @_NOD55 asks, “I’m buying 50 iPads.

Now what?” iPad2 or “The New” iPad. That’s up to you. Going cheap with the 16GB Wifi Only iPad2 may be tempting but take into consideration the camera kind of sucks and the updated iPad apps are taking up more space so they can look pretty on the Retina display. 16Gb might not cut it anymore depending on what apps you want to run. Buy the 10-Packs. For your shared classroom environment, the exact environment iPads are not designed for, you are going to need secure classroom storage. You can’t MacGyver your way out of setup and management however. If you want to use profiles to manage the iPads over the air after you’ve released them into the wild and you don’t want to spend a fortune on 3rd Party MDM solutions, you’ll also need a Mac Mini Server running the Lion Server OS (Mountain Lion is around the corner, plan for the cost of the OS upgrade).

Apps. Buy some extra iPads.