Using the iPads - How do we maintain shared devices?

The Learning Design Team has been working hard to educate ourselves on iPad use in the classroom.  We are excited to try new things and share them with our students, however the only way to do that is to PLAY!  We have handed out 8 iPads to members of the learning design team (those who showed interest) and those people have been exploring various uses for about 2 weeks now.  We also had a Meet n’ Eat where we shared some of our learning and experiences with other staff members.  We are still trying to work out some of the “bugs” with shared devices (iPad cart) and are planning on expanding our classroom iPad protocol and maintenance education.  Jess has proposed to educate teachers (pro-d, meet n’ eats?) as well as give a talk at the beginning of the year at our grade assemblies on how to properly use shared devices.  Take a look at the great poster Vicki and Teresa found on Twitter (Go to the resources tab – it’s the first link).

Any FH teachers interested in familiarizing themselves with iPads, you are welcome to sign one out for the weekend (from the iPad cart – See Angela Monk in the Library) or if you are interested in creating a project and think you need a longer time to play around on it, find Jess Pelat in the IAT prep room as she has 2 available for sign out – these iPads are intended for innovative learning design and should be used to promote/develop collaboration and project-based learning.

Please keep in mind that these are shared devices that are maintained at a central location. Thus, please do not log in to your personal iTunes account as it causes problems for the facilitators and is very time consuming to adjust, delete, update, maintain.  Also, please make sure you delete any pictures or personal documents as anyone else using the device after you will have access to it.  Finally, it is advised that you do not log into your personal accounts (email, Twitter, Facebook) using the apps, as some people have encountered difficulty deleting accounts after due to various controls that are on our School iPads.  It is expected that this information is also shared with students when using the school iPad cart.  See Jess if you are having problems or have additional questions. 

Anyone with any ideas for apps to upload or purchase, let Jess know.

We are also looking for speakers willing to come and talk to us about ePortfolios for our students using SharePoint, as well as experts on project-based/collaborative learning.  Any names come to mind?