Known unknowns and unknown unknowns!

This last month or so with the iPads has been a "Rumsfeld" time - we have done all the things we knew about, we have sorted (mostly) the things that we knew we did not know (how to use Configurator, how to use Meraki, how to set up and distribute Apps to 150 machines, how long it takes to unwrap and put covers on 150 machines!) and  now we are into the unknown unknowns time.

The first of these was that there was a conflict between Meraki and Configurator over paid apps (see previous post) then we found out that as we were using a shared Apple ID to distribute free apps some of the students had signed into the cloud using this AppleID and were then sharing other things! We've hopefully solved that one.

Meraki also seems to be doing some funny things - the tracking map showed one device in South Wales and one in London when the students (with their Pads) were in Hull! Still working on that one so if any Meraki wizzes are reading this then please do get in contact (p.hopkins@hull.ac.uk)

Next was the fun of trying to get AppleTV to talk to our university's enterprise wifi - they don't think it can be done as there is a subnet problem with the space we have available - we are working on a solution but it might be March next year before it is solved so no Apple TVs for us until this. So we now need to buy 30pin to VGA connectors in order for the staff to be able to show their Pads onto the projector screen.

However we now how devices out there to the significant majority of the students and to quote a tweet from one of the students "I walked down to the corridor through a sea of iPads" so they are being used. Students are starting to find apps and starting to share these so we are still excited and enthused (if also exhausted) after these weeks. Hopefully the little queues of bods with problems will die down - and there is no doubt that we now know more than we did.

Still looking for others out there in HE who are doing things to share the experiences if you have them.

All the boys and girls

We think we cracked the paid apps problem - thanks to a student ;-) And we are now using them in sessions

Using the iPads in a session

We are also starting to get some great suggestions from students to applications and also for ways to use the device. A couple of my favourites so far include:

1. Facetime conversations with mentors in the university if there is an issue in school that they want to talk about - negating the possible need for the mentor to travel to the placement school
2. Capturing lesson parts (e.g. starters) via video so that these can be shared with the mentor and rehearsed with fellow students

We also had about 120 students using the support website in a session yesterday and most people were pretty happy with the access speed so it looks like the new wireless might be holding up pretty well. Almost everybody is now able to access the system - teething troubles over? Or is that speaking too soon!

After the session we all went out to pose with our new devices ...

Me and my iPad x 125!

First "real test"

Today was the first day that we tried to use the devices in any volume and there were mixed feelings on this. We had about 120 students in a lecture hall and they were able to access the web support but with varying degrees of success. One to go back to IT services.

We are still having some issues with logins and access and getting the paid apps onto the machines via the Meraki / Configurator has not smooth but we are getting there. Hopefully by the end of this week we will have some of these issues sorted. We knew that there would be some teething troubles let's hope this does not become toothache!

Launch Day

Well at last after about 6 months of planning and getting funding and three frantic weeks of preparation after the devices arrive (see previous post) we are ready to go. It's FRIDAY 13TH of SEPTEMBER 2013 and there is a room full of iPads ready to be given out to students alongside stacks of ethical permission forms, Acceptable Use Policies, plugs, cables and other instructions and next door a room full of (hopefully) unaware students who are being given an introduction to the "evolution of learning".

We started the session by looking at the changing ways in which technology has been used in education - from the use of wax tablets to the laptop computer and how the adoption cycles for these had come into schools using Rogers Adaptation Cycle to consider this. We then has a colleague from a local school (Thomas Ferens Academy) to talk about how their 1-1 adoption policy was impacting on teaching and learning.

We then asked the students "How would you like to have an iPad" there was a susurration around the room which grew to an excited murmur and when we then explained that for this year they would all be getting the loan of a device then they were very excited.

Students waiting to get their iPads

Again the process has not been without some teething troubles - the cliché of a "steep learning curve"  was evident but the process went pretty smoothly as the students needed to:

1. Collect a device
2. Read and sign the Acceptable Use Policy
3. Read and sign the research ethics permission form
4. Log onto the Meraki MDM system
5. Collect their plugs, cables and instructions

There were lots of excited and enthusiastic students but my favourite quote of the day was one of the maths student teachers who said,  "When I heard we were getting an iPad I almost cried" - hopefully this was through excitement not because they has just bought one!

The students were then send off to "play" with the devices over the weekend and we will launch into the use of them next week as we begin the Inquiry based learning sessions in the university.

Leading up to the launch

150 iPads "cluttering" up my office

This post is retrospective after the exciting launch day - there has been huge amount to learn as well as huge amounts to do in the last few weeks since I was looking at the large pile of boxes containing iPads, cases and other paraphernalia in my university office a few weeks ago.

It did not help that the iPads arrived the day before I was off on summer vacation and the university closed down for the summer so it was nearly the end of August before we were able to get going with the configuration and setting up of the devices we only had about 3 weeks to get 150 devices ready for the students who would be arriving on the 13th - and we were also desperate to keep the whole thing quiet so it would be a surprise for the students.

The first thing it that it takes a long time just to get 150 devices out of the packing boxes and strip off the protective cellophane - then get the cover out of its own packing. Think of the exciting 10 mins it takes to do one of your own, and then multiply this by 150. The excitement starts to die off buy about number 10 ... and by number 100 you are almost sick of the sight of them; however, once all 150 were laid out on the table it is rather exciting again.

Then we had to label each device twice with an inventory code provided by the university - tagged to the serial number of the device - another whole day's work. Setting up Configurator© with some expert help was not too bad and loading the "free" apps onto the master machine was pretty easy getting the paid apps was more complicated as the university was pretty protective of its  credit card (not unreasonably). We finally managed to do this but then found that we has problems as our wireless network (protected) would not let us validate all the machines in order to install the apps - so we had to log onto each machine separately!

Finally we are using the Meraki© mobile device management system and we found that this did not work easily with the paid apps so we had to install these "by hand" from the MacBook we are using as the master machine - another pretty mammoth task.

Alongside all of this has been setting up the mechanisms for the research project - getting some baseline data and sorting out a core research question.

We are sure that we have not discovered easier ways to do this - but closed Wifi and university systems do not seem to be set up for this kind of deployment - things to think about if we were to look at bigger deployments in the future.

Still it all (more or less happened) and we were ready to hand out the devices to the students on the 13th ... maybe Friday the 13th wasn't the most auspicious of dates to choose!