Apple iPad Training - Using Classroom (the teaching assistant) on an iPad

I attended an online training session into Classroom for the iPad today. Simon Shaw and his team are overseeing a range of trainings in a back to school series. 

• Classroom is available on Macbook and iPad
• Free to use
• Only the teacher iPad needs Classroom installed
• There is a difference between managed and unmanaged classes.

Unmanaged Classes 

Teachers sign up on their app - setting up their class and teacher name first. 

Students then go to their settings and add the code to their app. This will then push the student's iPad to the teacher so they are now able to be seen by the teacher.

Open = guided access so that you can lock them into that app

Navigate = navigate to a specific bookmarked site or use airdrop to push out sites you come across during a lesson

Hide = Takes students device back to the home screen

Mute = turns the sound off on all student iPads. Great if the sound is getting out of control.

Lock = Locks all the student iPads so you can have their attention. It is important to note that students can turn their iPad off and this will disable the lock screen.

Screen = this gives you the view of the live screen of each student. You can zoom in to see the screen for individuals. Screenshotting this will allow a record of the students work.

Groups = allows you to set up groups inside the classroom, such as a reading group. 

When you end a classroom session you will receive an overview of the session allowing you to see what apps have been used, the amount of time used. You can also drill down into individuals or an app to see more detail. If you want to keep the information simply take a screenshot.

Managed iPads (School owned devices)

The difference is that the school would have assigned Apple Id's that are used to sign up teachers and students. This way the IT gurus manage the iPad. Very similar to Hapara, but with the use of Apple ids. 

Helpful Resources:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/classroom/welcome/ipados

https://www.apple.com/education/docs/getting-started-with-classroom.pdf

Classroom for Mac

Application for my role:

Classroom seems like a sensible way to manage the use of iPad's for a classroom. I have seen this in action, mostly in the use of lock or sharing to an Apple TV. I think it would make sense to push this application for all the 1:1 iPad classes. The flexibility of managed and unmanaged would mean each school can work out how it uses them for their own context.

Something I need to find out is how each school manages their iPads so I am aware.

I would like to show teachers in the iPad classes the full range of functionality and will do so as part of the time I spend with them this year if they aren't aware.