This app works with a MDM and offers to teachers a management console\u00a0giving them full control of students’ iPad during their course. Abelionni has already worked a lot of time with the edu market, and we can say it’s the main request from staff: being able to control\u00a0students action on their iPad.<\/p>\n
Until now, the only solution available to answer this needs was the MDM provided by JAMF: Casper. This MDM is usable in all kind of environment but offer a special apps for iOS called Casper Focus. It was allowing the teacher to interact with the MDM and manage their class.<\/p>\n
Classroom now standardize\u00a0everything. Like other MDM\u00a0features, all software editors now have the same\u00a0capabilities all\u00a0implemented by Apple directly in iOS. Concurrence between MDM editors now can go back on essential and mismanaged\u00a0points like resilience,\u00a0user experience and price.<\/p>\n
Now let’s take a look at the technic and what it means\u00a0from now to conduct a one-to-one scenario in edu.<\/p>\n
To illustrate it we will use Profile Manager, the MDM provided by OS X Server. It offers all functionalities needed in a simple enough user interface for almost no money.<\/p>\n
To\u00a0ensure\u00a0all readers have the same level of understanding, this article will talk about all steps needed, from the initial setup to the class\u00a0management. This is a good way to remember to everybody what it means iPad in education.<\/p>\n
Upcoming screenshots are in French, we’re sorry but they aren’t that complicated and it’s a\u00a0too time consuming to maintain\u00a0a lab in two different languages.<\/em><\/p>\n The minimum requirement to\u00a0the number of iPads linked to a one-to-one deployment is simple: a MDM, a really good wired and wireless\u00a0network and a big Internet access.<\/p>\n It’s common to see school with a correct estimate of the cost for the iPad, but without any\u00a0thought of what it means from the connectivity point of view. It will never be said enough: to successfully manage an iPad mass deployment, the main\u00a0investment is the network. Without a robust WiFi network with a robust wired network on the back with a robust\u00a0Internet access on the back, your iPad\u00a0mass deployment will finish in a wall.<\/p>\n This means\u00a0many things:<\/p>\n Regarding Wi-Fi access point, the main player on the market is AeroHive. Their products are expensive and for rent only, but they still are the\u00a0only one made\u00a0for performance and iPad mass deployment. The\u00a0management console gives access to all settings needed for fine-tuning.<\/p>\n For the switched network, a classical infrastructure with access, distribution and eventually core layer is recommended. With all uplinked in fiber and doubled. Distribution devices must be layer 3 switch in stack mode, in charge of the internal routing. If the organization\u00a0has different buildings (like college), the network core must be layer 2 in stack too and all distribution equipment must support dynamic routing protocols. It’s important to keep in mind that stacking is used to improve the service level agreement and not the number of ports. A 48 ports switch cost less than two 24 ports in stack. A stack of switch is needed to spread uplink from the same access switch to two different hardware working together. If one fails,\u00a0the network still work.<\/p>\n For the Internet routing and filtering, the Cisco ASA X product line is recommended, 5506-X or 5516-X depending on the number of students and Internet access. FirePOWER and FireSIGHT licenses must be taken with to allow\u00a0deep packet inspection and filtering. Keep in mind, it will be used to allow\u00a0children to access to the Internet, even during break time with their iPad. You don’t want them to be able to access to pornographic web site when they are under your charge.<\/p>\n If you really take this point in\u00a0consideration, you can also use products like Artica Proxy to setup Internet\u00a0filters even when the iPad is\u00a0outside the\u00a0school. Artica Proxy can also be used in place of FireSIGHT to reduce the cost.<\/p>\n Internet access must offer a guaranteed speed rate. Don’t expect anything with\u00a0residential or “pro” Internet access. For hundreds of iPad, a fiber access is needed. Start with 20 or 30 MB symmetric access with guarantee and adjust over time.<\/p>\n Regarding iOS and tvOS update, it will consume a lot of Internet when all your devices request the update at the same time. Caching service provided by OS X Server is\u00a0mandatory.<\/p>\n Tips, if you want\u00a0the best performance with Apple TV used for iPad display on the video projector, connect them via an Ethernet cable. Wi-Fi access isn’t reliable for this kind of deployment.<\/p>\n One thing to keep in mind with this recommendation: it’s not because resellers\u00a0offer them they are able to use them correctly. It’s common to see big\u00a0players with a good reputation in this market following this recommendation and falling to make it work. Story of schools with hundreds of iPad still in the case years after\u00a0being\u00a0bought aren’t that uncommon.<\/p>\n If you’re in this situation, you can contact us for an infrastructure audit. We will give you an audit report with all errors made by every\u00a0player in your project and we will list solutions\u00a0available to make it work\u00a0with the minimum amount of investment.\u00a0And you keep the freedom to request whoever you want to apply our recommendations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whatever the provided you select, please be sure to evaluate its technical\u00a0capabilities. If you need, we can offer project management services. If\u00a0we are too far from you and it’s a problem for you, we can work in a one shot method to evaluate\u00a0reseller\u00a0offer and technical knowledge of their employees. We will organize technical talks with all employees\u00a0involved in this project by the reseller and give you a list of competent and incompetent\u00a0name for your project.<\/p>\n Mobile Device Manager choice\u00a0is essentially linked to personal affinities with the sales man. All editors are restricted by the same\u00a0limitations made by Apple. No one has any\u00a0free pass and with Classroom now, not a single solution has a real unfair advantage on others for the edu market.<\/p>\n For this article we will use Profile Manager sold on the Mac App\u00a0Store at 19.99\u20ac in France. The product is supposed to be able to manage 5000 devices on a simple Mac Mini. Even if for that\u00a0amount of iPad a\u00a0virtualized infrastructure with Mac Pros should be better, Profile Manager is still a simple solution that does its job correctly.\u00a0The only limitations are: must run on Apple hardware, support only Apple hardware.<\/p>\n Initial\u00a0configuration\u00a0requires a Mac with OS X Server and a static IP address for internal networks and also for Internet access. A fully qualified domain name must be available (for example apple-mdm.school.edu) and must resolve to the internal or external IP address depending on the iPad location.<\/p>\n You MDM must also be linked to DEP and VPP services.<\/p>\n DEP and VPP are two\u00a0free programs provided by Apple.<\/p>\n DEP means Device Enrollment Program, it allows you to buy iPad who will automatically be registered in your MDM during the activation process and supervision will automatically be enabled (to allow more advanced restrictions).\u00a0This means during the iPad activation process (initial or after an erase), the assistant can be personalized by the MDM and optional\u00a0user IDs.<\/p>\n VPP is the volume purchase program for the App Store and the Mac App Store. It allows centralized acquisition of app licenses (free or not), the right of usage belong to the organization and is given temporarily to a user or a device.<\/p>\n DEP, MDM and VPP, correctly setup, allow this scenario:<\/p>\n Don’t forget paperwork to give\u00a0responsibility for the iPad to the student and verify the packaging content (iPad, cover, lightning cable, power\u00a0adapter\u2026).<\/p>\n Now everything is set, we can use Classroom.<\/p>\n This application distributed to teacher iPad must be set via the MDM. In Profile Manager you must create all classes needed. For all classes and class groups, you must\u00a0indicate the students, the teachers and the devices\u00a0included in the class. For this last point, if your college allow personal devices (BYOD) to be\u00a0managed by your MDM to give access to e-mails and calendars aside your edu iPad, you don’t want teachers\u00a0being able to interact with personal devices, only edu one.<\/p>\n In Profile Manager, its look like a dedicated kind of group with three simple lists.<\/p>\n It’s mandatory to create as many classes and sub classes as needed. If a class can be split in two sub group to follow different courses at the same time, you must create your sub group in the MDM to allow your teacher to select only the requested sub group.<\/p>\n Teachers will also be able to\u00a0manage dynamic groups during their time depending on their needs.<\/p>\n Classroom apps must be added to apps catalogs provided to teachers. When they start the app, they will be allowed to choose the class and be able to manage what students are doing on their iPads.<\/p>\n The teacher has\u00a0all information needed on a single screen. The button in the upper left corner allow to select the current class, and the one in the upper right corner allows teachers to create custom subgroups. Central buttons are for group actions.<\/p>\n In the quick access functions\u00a0we have user assignation for\u00a0shared iPad, we won’t use it in this scenario.<\/p>\n We also have a feature use to open a target app on all iPad, and awake and unlock them if needed.<\/p>\n Be careful, this functionality use local apps to offer a choice. Classroom doesn\u2019t request list of\u00a0apps installed on target iPad. If app selected by the teacher isn’t available on the target iPad, an error message will be\u00a0displayed, only for the teacher.<\/p>\n It’s also possible to open content in iBook and Safari. The\u00a0Safari content is taken from the\u00a0bookmark list in the\u00a0teacher iPad. He\u00a0will be able to select a bookmarked website and request\u00a0students’ iPad to display it.<\/p>\n For the books, same behavior,\u00a0teacher iPad is used as a reference, teacher will be able to select at which chapter the book will be open. This works with books from the iBook Store or internal book used with iBook.<\/p>\n The next function will be enjoyed by teachers. It\u00a0allows to lock all iPad, making them unusable until a release order from the teacher. Useful when it’s time to get back student mind.<\/p>\n The last mass action allows the teacher to display all student iPad screen in a thumbnail. This function is linked to AirPlay, the screen will be displayed in real time but in a small size. This allows teachers to keep a global eye on all iPads at the same time.<\/p>\n This function works with AirPlay, so students will see status bar\u00a0paint in blues when the iPad is watched.<\/p>\n Under all mass\u00a0action teacher will find dynamic groups. Classroom manages\u00a0dynamic group displaying all users and all users on the same app.<\/p>\n If the teacher split its class in sub workgroup,\u00a0Classroom can be used with the upper right button to reflect those groups.<\/p>\n All previous\u00a0actions are available as directed action for a single iPad.\u00a0Directed Action also offer specific features.<\/p>\nNetwork Infrastructure<\/h1>\n
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![\"2DA-L3-W\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2DA-L3-W-300x231.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMDM<\/h1>\n
DEP &\u00a0VPP<\/h1>\n
\n
Classroom<\/h1>\n
Class management on the MDM<\/h2>\n
![\"ProfileManager_ClassesSetup\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ProfileManager_ClassesSetup-300x185.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMass Actions<\/h2>\n
![\"Classroom_home\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Classroom_home-300x225.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Classroom_OpenApps\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Classroom_OpenApps-300x225.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Classroom_OpenAppsError\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Classroom_OpenAppsError-300x225.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Classroom_OpenBook\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Classroom_OpenBook-300x225.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Classroom_iPadLocked\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Classroom_iPadLocked-225x300.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDirected Actions<\/h2>\n
![\"Classroom_DirectedAction\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Classroom_DirectedAction-300x225.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Classroom_Watch\"](\"https:\/\/www.abelionni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Classroom_Watch-300x225.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n