iPad Management

[Denise Meyer]

Is anyone using JAMF - Casper Suites to manage iPads?  Or if not what are you using to manage iPad carts with multiple users?

[Joshua Borzick]

We've been using Meraki-with varying degrees of success. 

[Scott Oftedahl]

Germantown is using MAAS360 with limited success.  We currently have one Chromebook cart and one iPad cart for checkout at each elementary school.  We also have numerous devices that reside in classrooms full time, including Kindle Fires, Chromebooks, iPads, iPad minis, and a few Android tablets.  Many were purchased through DonorsChoose, and are connected to district wireless, but are otherwise unmanaged except by the teacher.

Very few of the devices is student-specific, so we are using some generic Apple IDs.  We enroll and manage the iPad carts with MAAS, but not the others.  The teacher is allowed to manage the installation of apps.  We usually don't install district-paid apps on those devices, and if we do, we enroll the device and push the app through MAAS360 so we can get it back if needed.

It has not been smooth, by any means.  We really struggle to make a personalized device function as a shared device, and the MDM doesn't simplify things at all.  It affects the apps we promote and purchase, preferring to select apps that allow student work to be exported to a Google Drive account and allow the student to continue the work on another device or at home, if needed.  I provided many suggestions to a regional Apple sales and support team this fall.  They were respectful, but the school ideas just didn't match the company vision for iPads as personal devices in a 1:1 environment.  Germantown is looking at all options for increasing the number of devices, however I would be surprised if that was ever a 1:1 solution.  No single device can possibly meet the learning and creation needs of all our students, even if we limited the 1:1 device selection to just a few grades.  

We are watching the market and industry closely.  I am convinced the market will drive Google or someone to go after school like ours with better options.  Where there is money to be made...

Scott 

On Friday, December 5, 2014 7:23:13 AM UTC-6, Denise Meyer wrote:

[Brian Yearling]

Denise,

In Waukesha we are using Casper to manage our student and staff iPads.  Feel free to connect if you have specific questions.  We have been successful with it and are quite happy with it.  It allows us to do a no-touch setup from any IT staff when we roll out to students or staff.  We take them through the setup process using Casper, have it download the payloads it needs to get wireless access codes and apps, and then they are off and on their way.

We are now using it to wirelessly examine the devices for a specific list of "banned apps" and then applying restrictions on the devices wirelessly (mostly) with fair success.  This is brand new so we have some things to work out yet, but just giving you a perspective of how we are using this tool.

Brian

On Friday, December 5, 2014 7:23:13 AM UTC-6, Denise Meyer wrote: