New to iPad school help

[Juren]

Need a bit of advice, we are doing a very low scale roll out on September of 15 ipads as a mobile classroom.

It's small but we are excited.

1-We can't afford a fancy bretford (or any) cart to charge and sync iPads-does anyone have a simple solution for the time being-assuming we will grow minimally each half year (3-5 ipads)

2-I'm syncing all the ipads with a new mac air-downlaoding all the apps to it-is this an issue I should be worried about?

3-will kids be able to log onto their own iTunes account and download songs to the ipads or shows-what is the easiest way to monitor that?

4-Security is a huge concern-many people are afraid that these will go walking-any brilliant ideas about how to make sure they don't go missing?

 

This site is incredible-almost overwhelming at times. I appreciate all the things I've been able to take from it already.

 

Thanks

John

[Juren]

Also trying to figure out if I can turn off the erase the iPad area in the settings icon.

The settings icon has a lot of things that bother me to be so open.

Yes I know I can sync it back, but...

Can I control the settings.

I can enable restrictions, but that stops any new apps from syncing as well...

What am I missing.

[Lorrie Applebey]

Let me know what you find out!  I use the restrictions to disable app store purchasing and in-app purchasing as well as deleting.

[Chris Russell]

1) Supposedly a Mac can handle 10 syncs at one time.  With a powered USB 2.0 hub, you should be able to sync those iPads.  iOS 5 is going to move to over-the-air updates, and may alleviate a lot of the problems.  It may also cause more.

 

2) Here's how the app situation works.  Consumers can buy one app and sync unlimited personal devices to a single computer with one iTunes account.  This is both legal and encouraged by Apple.  For example, we have two iPads, 2 iPhones, and 2 iPod Touches that share the same apps (when they are universal binaries).

 

The good news?  You can sync unlimited iPads to a single account for education as well.  This is both illegal and legal.  It is illegal if you have bought one app.  If you have bought the number of apps (gifted, or Educational Volume Licensing Program) you need for the number of iPads you own, but you used one computer (thus one app) to install the program on all the iPads.  You just need to "keep" that list of unused but paid for apps to prove that you bought the apps if you are ever audited.  Don't use those codes for another reason!

 

Example: You have Penultimate installed on every iPad.   Illegal: you bought one copy and are using it on twenty iPads.  Legal: You bought twenty apps, but only used one code to install the app on all the devices.  You keep the list of app codes available in case you are audited.

 

3) Students CAN use their accounts to download their own apps & music, unless you lock them out...but if you lock them out, you lock yourself out, too.  Set a policy that the iPads can be restored at any time, whereas students will lose all apps and music from other accounts.  And then do that a few times.  They'll stop installing apps.  I might suggest that you want to leave this capability open just to see what they're going to install.  It might be educational....and you might even find apps that you should add, too.  Make sure your Acceptable Use Policy addresses your main concerns (gaming, etc.).

 

4) I just mentioned this for another person, but in addition to using "Find My iPad" which may need some legalese attached to it because you can track a student at home, you'll want to create an iPad agreement sheet with Parents and Students that states they will provide a replacement if the iPad is broken or stolen on their watch.  If they won't agree, you probably don't want that student/family having an iPad in the first place.

 

[Allen Goldstein]

There are affordable iPad carts made by Datamation Systems.  If every cart is truly out of your price range, as you said, you could check out their other products, like their small, portable sync-charge unit, their iPad cabinet, or their USB hub.  There's info about all of these products at www.ipadcarts.com.

[Larry Niebur]

When using a hub, cart, or wireless network to sync multiple iPads at the same time from a single computer, do all of the iPads need to use the same Apple ID account?

[Allen Goldstein]

Not necessarily, Larry.  It depends on what program you use to sync them.  For example: using the Datamation DS-IP Sync Charge unit, the first method is to connect multiple iPads at the same time to your iTunes application where all iPads will need to be synced to a single Apple ID (iTunes Limitation).  Using the Apple Configurator with the DS-IP Sync Charge unit, however, enables you to configure all iPads outside of iTunes without assigning/using an Apple ID.  This allows for assignment to end use, permitting users to log in with their own Apple ID.

In short, use of the Apple Configurator application eliminates the need for all iPads to use the same Apple ID.

Larry Niebur said:

When using a hub, cart, or wireless network to sync multiple iPads at the same time from a single computer, do all of the iPads need to use the same Apple ID account?

[JW]

Do the ipads necessarily need to be synced to a Mac device? or can it be a Windows laptop/PC with ITunes on it on the cart?