How to introduce mobile devices into teaching and learning? 

  

If you want to introduce mobile devices into teaching and learning, yo need absolutely read this interview with the ICT Coordinator at The Wallace High School and this infographic.

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Q.- What is your role within your school as regards IT?

R.- JMcM, IT Coordintor, overseeing whole school ICT.  CN, Technician/Magician, technical support and development.

 

Q.- What are the difficulties in managing a school network like yours?

R.- Making sure the WiFi is fit for purpose, ensure proactive network monitoring is in place, huge amount of data to back up for the desktop computers.

 

Q.- How does your one-to-one device programme work in practice?

R.- School supplies iPads to staff. Pupils bring their own device and are provided with the option to purchased through the Academia scheme.   The scheme provides a number of different payment options (this year we offered the 128GB iPad 5thGeneration) and includes warranty and insurance cover.   iPads are enrolled in our MDM (mobile device management) system and a number of apps supplied through the VPS (Volume Purchasing Scheme)

 

Q.- Do you use network management apps/programmes for the school? (Meraki? Others?)

R.- We use Apple Classroom synced with our pupil management system to allow staff control over the iPads. We use Unifi network controller to monitor our switches and wifi access points. Casper by JAMF software is our MDM server for iPad management.

 

Q.- What difficulties have you encountered with such a one-to-one programme?

R.-Biggest issue was developing a WiFi fit for purpose on a limited budget! Students keeping iPads up to date and having enough space on the device for school materials. Students playing games! Device breakages and managing insurance claims.

 

Q.- How do you ensure the on-line safety of your users? 

R.- Wifi Filtering and monitoring provided by Securly cloud web filter. Parental support and training Parental emails from Securly on internet use / log available through website 

 

Q.- How do you ensure the reliability of the service? Wi-fi/servers/maintenance/app and device developments?

R.- Continuous reviewing and updating. Software monitors and tests to keep an eye on potential slow downs.

 

Q.- Have you encountered any limitations to IT provision within your school?

R.- Money and time. Difficult  to offer a good printing solution with charging system that works in conjunction with state supplied C2K system.

 

Q.- Where do you see future IT developments taking you and your pupils to next? How do you see your school in 10 years' time in terms of IT developments?

R.-Hard to answer as technology and what we are able to do is continually changing.

 

Q.-Do you think that it’s possible to work with different types of devices in a same work environment? (iPads, phones, chromebooks etc.) and even with different operating systems? Do you think that you will keep on working with iPads in the future or are you considering other options?  

R.-It is possible, but makes school support harder.  At present we have no intention of moving away from iPads as the primary device at KS3/4, but if we thought it would be of benefit we would not be opposed to the idea.  However, 6thform do use different types of devices. Certain tasks are just better on iPad, Garageband for example doesn't have anything close to it on other platforms.

 

Q.-Do some students help the IT team (digital leaders?/apple geniuses? That are a link between the other students and the IT team?

R.-Digital leaders program which is continuously under review. 

 

Q.- What proportion of your students are there to help the others? One per class?

R.-2 per class in junior school

 

Q.- What are the different subsections of your IT management workload? (iPads, Wifi, desktop computers etc?) Do you have all day!! How do you divide your tasks?Items come into the helpdesk and we just tackle them as they come in. And can you control all of them, do you have enough time? There is never enough time, we have learnt to prioritiseWhat are your priorities?

R.- Fix reported issues. Maintain the system to stay up and running! If there is time after that then research and implement time saving and automation to free up more time in future. Workload and time are our main enemies.

  

Q.- What other hardware do you use apart from the iPads? Desktop computers (C2K, Apple Macs and Dell/HP desktops. Which ones do you think are more convenient than others? On which occasions?  

R.-Really depends on the task.  For large amounts of typing and formatting large documents the desktop is best. Mac for graphics and video production. iPad for convenience and mobility.

 

Q.- What are the assets and the flaws of each? (Interactive whiteboards, iPads, computers…) 

R.-Interactive whiteboards are very expensive , iPads connected to data projector give same sort of functionality.   iPads are personal devices that teachers and students can easily take home to continue their work.  Hold their charge all day.  Quick access anywhere to documents and WiFi if available. Desktop computers are slower to turn on.   

 

Q.-Do you have new behavior and ethical problems linked to the use of IT tools? (Cyberbullying, image rights problems, distracted pupils playing games etc.) and how do you cope with them?

R.-Cyberbullying etc. is no more evident in our school than it is in any secondary level school, all students are using social media, they don’t need a school device.  In fact, it is probably easier to track if the offender is using a school device!  Pupils playing games has been an issue which we are currently addressing using a managed mode for extreme casesand the introduction of Apple Classroom, which allows teachers view pupil iPads while in class.  

 

Q.-What are the consequences of those behavior problems? Can the iPads be confiscated?  

R.-Locked accounts so that students cannot use the wifi.  Yes

 

Q.-Which protocol do you use to prevent students playing games during the day? (Colin talked about this last time and when the school day is over, they can then play again).
R.We have a profile on the MDM server that hides all apps except a list of approved ones. We call this school mode. We have a script that switches it on Monday 8am and off again Fri 3:25pm. It is opt in for parents at the moment. Apple Classroom is the other method of watching students for games and app abuse in class time.

 

Q.- Colin talked about “Apple Configurator”. What is it? And how does it work? What does it cost?
R.Apple configurator is free. It is a tool supplied by apple to make setting up large numbers of devices faster for admins, but if you are able to make use of DEP (device enrolment programme) then it is mostly unnecessary. It is still handy for wiping devices or putting older devices into supervised mode.

 

Q.- Is the DEP (device enrollment programme) different? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each solution?
R.- DEP means the device is enrolled in your MDM server from new in the box. It means you don’t even have to unwrap the ipad, you just hand it to the person and it will be force enrolled during setup even at home. It also means if the device is wiped by a student it will always be re-enrolled. They cannot escape management. Supervision done via configurator can be bypassed by wiping the device and setting up again.

 

Q.- What is an MDM server? Is it essential?
R.- If you want to get the most from the iPads I would say it is essential. Without it things like Apple Classroom are severely limited in ability. It also allows for resetting of forgotten device passcodes, setting restrictions wirelessly and reporting on devices.  One point to note, the MD server uses certificates to maintain connection with the devices and this must be renewed (for free) annually. If it expires all devices must be wiped and cannot be restored from backups. We renew every 6 months to make sure this never happens.

 

Q.- Is Meraki still the best solution? Are there others?
R.- We don’t use Meraki. We use Casper for MDM and it is regarded as the best MDM on the market. Unifi is our wireless solution and is like a budget friendly version of Meraki. Many of the Meraki features are not required for schools and Unifi is around 20% of the cost with no annual subscriptions.

 

Q.- What is “global proxy”? And what are the advantages of using this protocol?
R.- Global proxy is only available to devices in supervised mode. This basically forces all traffic on the device to go via a proxy server of your choosing, in our case Securly. This means that they are filtered and protected online whether in school, at home or even in McDonalds on free wifi. The device is always filtered. It also renders the use of VPNs to avoid filtering useless.

 

Q.- How did you manage to set up a protocol that hides forbidden apps during the week?
R.- We are awesome. Also we used Casper to send out a profile that only allows a whitelist of apps and then we just trigger the profile using a simple script set to run at scheduled times.

 

Q.- How did you automize everything? How many iPads at a time can you set up? What time does it take and do you have to plug them all in?
R.- With DEP we don’t really have to touch the devices at all. They set themselves up based on rules on our MDM server. We do usually unbox them all to put them into their protective cases however and while doing that we also take the opportunity to update iOS to the latest version. We plug in 5 – 10 devices at a time and they take about 3 minutes to update. This is not strictly necessary but it is better than 150 people all downloading updates on your wifi!

 

Q.- Who is your partner IT company and how does their insurance policy work?
R.- Academia provide the online shop that parents order from and they change their insurance providers from year to year. But the parents just contact Academia so they don’t need to know the insurer. The devices are covered for accidental damage and theft, and have extended warranty cover also.

 

Q.- What is Casper/Kasper? (Jamf) Why is it something to recommend?
R.-  It is the MDM server we use. It is the best on the market. We tried to use Apples free Profile Manager MDM Server and we had two major failures with it so vowed never to use it again. 

 

Q.- Could we steal your scripts???
R.-  Scripts are very tailored to our school and the SIMs.net management system which used in all schools in NI.

 

 

Q.- What Wifi solution would you advise us to choose? What is the name/brand of these little white flying saucers? (Cisco airCap? Unified?) Is it still the best affordable solution?
R.- The flying saucers are Ubiquiti Networks wifi system called Unifi. They are the best value and very affordable when compared to Meraki/Cisco/Aerohive/Ruckus. I would fully recommend them

 

Q.- Can you explain us how you can “turn on and off a wifi access point from your seat”? Is it through an app or a specific software?
R.-  You can access the controller software from any web browser and Unifi also have an app for iOS that allows that functionality. You can update the firmware, restart access points, block individual clients etc all from the app.

 

Q.- How did you manage to solve the traffic problem and the “balancing of your fiber connections” so the whole school can work with a sufficient broadband?
R.- Last year we moved to using an internet based phone system so we moved over to using a leased line for internet. This is a fairly expensive internet connection. In a smaller school normal broadband would be sufficient. On a smaller network you could use Unifi’s router (Unifi Security Gateway) which allows for traffic control to share the internet fairly among devices. 

 

Q.- Is filtering the internet content useful and worth the time it takes to set up? 
R.- It is a requirement in this country and can be quite expensive. There are ways to do it for free with open source software which may be sufficient. Student education and taking their own responsibility is the best solution but teenagers will be teenagers.

 

Q.-  What is open DNS? Is it useful?

R.- Free web filtering service. Handy for blocking the really nasty stuff quickly and easily

 

Q.- Do you filter the content? What tools do you use? Are you satisfied with them?
R.- Use securly for this. It seems to work well and the fact we can filter devices at home is excellent, the reporting for parents and their ability to change the home filtering rules is good but the login process can be a little clunky.

 

Q.- What is the second physical/virtual internet box that can be used to filter the content?
R.- Not sure about this, may be from an older system.

 

Q.- CCURBI? Another solution? What is “the best one”?
R.- Curbi doesn't work well if you have an MDM server as they use MDM. A device can only be enrolled with one MDM at a time. They do have a non-MDM option but I think it uses VPN and is not as reliable.

 

Q.- Apparently Casper is expensive. Is it worth it? Can it help share paid apps between students?
R.- ​It is expensive but an MDM allows you to use Managed Distribution licences from the Volume Purchase portal. This means you can take an app back from a student and reallocate to someone else. This means when students finish school the school retains the apps to give to the new students coming in. This will save money in the long term.

 

Q.- Is Apple Certified Training something to do? What courses are essential? 

R.- We have not used it, would be useful to schools starting out.

 

Q.- Anything important to add?
R.-  Don’t believe the sales people. If you have a particular need from a product ask to speak to the engineers or get a trial or demo unit to test. The sales people told us you could block apps with their products for years but it wasn’t possible until last year.