Management of iPod Touch

[John Johnston]

Hi,
I am interested in finding links and tips for managing and synchronising a set of iPod touches. I'd like set them all up to be the same, apps, links in safarim and web apps.
At a later date be able to roll them back to these settings. I work for a local authority (county) and have some ipods to lead to schools on a short term basis (4-8 weeks).

[Joyce Paisley]

John I visited Grey Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill, NC to see their iTouch program. They currently have about 500 iTouches used by teams on a daily basis. Each team has an iPod mobile lab. This cart stores 40 ipods and will syn 20 at a time. My understanding is that this allows the team to select the apps, webapps etc that the team will use. The cart can be seen at http://www.apple.com/education/it-professionals/mac-labs.html. Grey Culbreth's site is http://www2.chccs.k12.nc.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=4

My school has just purchased 25 iTouches and I'm spending Spring Break playing and learning.

[John Johnston]

Hi Joyce,
Thanks, 500 touches! I'll keep an eye out for new of that.
The carts look great, but I don't think I can afford one at the moment. I've got 22 touches so not as big a job to keep on top of as 500. I spent a bit of time filling them up with apps and podcasts. I am still looking for more stuff, I'll try and post a list here soon.

[Kostas Nasis]

Hi Joyce,

What sort of Apps do you plan to install on the iPods, and what grade level do you teach?

As a developer, I'd like to learn more about what teachers are looking for, and what your experience has been with existing Apps.

Do you recall what Apps/content Grey Culbreth had installed on their phones?

Kostas


Joyce Paisley said:

John I visited Grey Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill, NC to see their iTouch program. They currently have about 500 iTouches used by teams on a daily basis. Each team has an iPod mobile lab. This cart stores 40 ipods and will syn 20 at a time. My understanding is that this allows the team to select the apps, webapps etc that the team will use. The cart can be seen at http://www.apple.com/education/it-professionals/mac-labs.html. Grey Culbreth's site is http://www2.chccs.k12.nc.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=4

My school has just purchased 25 iTouches and I'm spending Spring Break playing and learning.

[NSharoff]

OK, so here's my concern: I have an iTouch and when playing audio I can get about 21 hours out of a full charge. When running apps I only get about 2 hours on a full charge. I've done research online and this seems to be the norm.

Question to the group: How are you managing allowing students to run apps on an iTouch while at the same time not running out of battery power?

Thanks!

[jason h buck]

John,
I use a class set of 22 iPod Touches for lessons and to train teacher with. I set up a generic iTunes account and use my computer to manage all the touches. My district is a Dell district (boooooooo) and my computer has 4 usb ports. I hook up a 4 port usb hub to two of those and have successfully synced 10 iPods at a time. This has worked with apps as well as PodCasts.

I like this method because all of the iPods are then on the same iTunes account. I also regularly backup the iPods in iTunes and then can easily restore an iPod from a back up.

[Ivalle Noel]

We just received 6 iTouch's and will continue to receive more for our school. We have a few USB hubs that connect 7 devices to a computer and I've been able to sync Apps and Safari Bookmarks easily via this hub. You can set the iTouch to sync Safari Bookmarks in the info tab while the iTouch is selected in iTunes. Unfortunately setting restrictions is not as easy, as far as I know those settings can only be changed one touch at a time.

I'm also looking for a tool for iTouch management, something like Remote Desktop, so if any developers want to get in on the ground floor of remote management for mobile devices now is your chance!

[Mary Beth Hertz]

Just wait until Apple creates a 'server iPod' that supports binding mobile devices : ) Workgroup Manager for iPods would be amazing. That would allow for managing which apps can be opened, which ones can't, as well as whether students can access the internet or not. While students wouldn't necessarily need the server for saving documents, it could be used to save photos or bookmarks. As far as syncing with iTunes goes, syncing with one iTunes account with all of the devices assumes that the same grade/class will be using the iPods. Often, many different students are using the same iPods. I know in my lab I have different docks depending on which grade level is using the computers. Also, I'm not sure the logistics of logging into a networked account on an iPod.

It seems like a simple App that allows an administrator to power down, update software, install apps and possibly use Unix commands (?) would suffice. With the popularity of this NING and the sessions at NECC, it seems like educators have opened up a whole new can of worms and Apple and its App Developers are either going to have to take the bait or lose out on a great opportunity.

I am very jealous of those of you who get to explore the possibilites of these tools in education!

[Sandy]

I am doing a pilot this fall with a US History teacher using the Touch. The teacher will have 30 Touches to keep in a secure cart in his room.

I saw http://tribeam.com/ at the NECC conference and looked at their specs online. While there was no one at the booth to explain things, I do have a colleague who has a 15 ipod charger from them and syncs all 15 at one time. I got a quote from TriBeam for a cart configured with 30 ipod sync/charger and lockable space for a laptop to sync with. The cost of the cart plus shipping is $1500 - I save over $700 by not going with the Apple solution from Bretford. Basically I'm pretty unhappy with most cart manufacturers as they overcharge like crazy.

Once I get things up and running, I'll fill you in on the TriBeam cart.

I will also post what kind of battery life we get during the day.

[Susan Wells]

We manage 500 iPod touches at our middle school. Check out http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/ipod-touch-schoolwide
and feel free to contact me directly at Culbreth.
Best,
Susan

[Sandy]

Wondering how to gather podcasts created on the Touch back to the repository iTunes on the MacBook, I found this site: http://www.podtomac.com/

"Pod to Mac is freeware that lets you copy or transfer music,
videos and playlists from an iPod or iPhone to your Mac and into iTunes."

[Sandy]

I am pleased to tell you that the Tribeam cart we saw at NECC and ordered is superb! It is small and compact. We have 30 Touches securely locked into their docks for charging and syncing. We use one Mac Book to sync all 30 - here's a tip that I've not seen so far. Might be a hole in the iTunes setup and Apple may close this off some day, but you need only buy an app, or the software update version 3 ONE time, and you sync it to all your Touches. Once you've synced all your Touches to one iTunes, you can't individually download or pay for 30 copies. So for $9.99 we've updated all 30 touches with version 3.0 software.

I've bought an iTunes gift card to be used by the teacher and he has an account on iTunes that doesn't require a credit card to use. So far, this is looking good!!

Sandy said:

I am doing a pilot this fall with a US History teacher using the Touch. The teacher will have 30 Touches to keep in a secure cart in his room.

I saw http://tribeam.com/ at the NECC conference and looked at their specs online. While there was no one at the booth to explain things, I do have a colleague who has a 15 ipod charger from them and syncs all 15 at one time. I got a quote from TriBeam for a cart configured with 30 ipod sync/charger and lockable space for a laptop to sync with. The cost of the cart plus shipping is $1500 - I save over $700 by not going with the Apple solution from Bretford. Basically I'm pretty unhappy with most cart manufacturers as they overcharge like crazy.

Once I get things up and running, I'll fill you in on the TriBeam cart.

I will also post what kind of battery life we get during the day.

[Eric Federspiel]

Looks like you received some great suggestions! I'm also using a 7-port USB hub, which seems to work fine. I've only got 15 iPod Touches so far.

Quick question to all. Anyone have microphones to suggest? I'd like students to use iTalk to record podcasts, but I'm not sure what microphones will suit my needs.

Thanks!