“The Internet has been revolutionizing education, and tech giants are swooping in on the immense potential for schools to become more connected, as Apple has pulled out all the stops to cater to the education sector in its latest iOS version, offering new features that ‘make it easier for institutions to put devices in the hands of students,” Kaylene Hong reports for TNW. “The company has unveiled its initiatives for schools to buy, distribute and manage apps with more ease on iOS 7.”
“Students with their own personal Apple IDs can now receive licenses in the new app store’s Volume Purchase Program (VPP),” Hong reports. “What institutions can do is purchase app licenses through the VPP website and use their mobile device management (MDM) software to assign apps to students, faculty and staff. Students get to sign on with their Apple IDs and apps will either be installed automatically via MDM or will be reflected in the purchase history for self-service download.”
Hong reports, “Besides iOS apps, VPP also supports Mac apps and even books now, making it easier for schools to provide all the tools needed for classes. With iOS 7, the MDM protocol has also been updated to give teachers more control.”
Read more in the full article here.
This is good news… sort of.
In my district, each building has one iTunes account administered by the Media Specialist. That way, students can’t just go loading whatever they want onto their devices. In fact, I don’t know of any districts that allow kids to use their own Apple ID.
We use a combination of Casper and Configurator to administer iPads, and it’s a hassle. It takes a long time to image them. Of every ten iPads we configure, one won’t work and we have to try again repeatedly. We’ve had one stolen, and had no way to track it. iOS 7 is supposed to fix that, though.
Big money to be made in the education market. I’m certain that Apple is working hard to grab more of the pie. They had better be doing something.
Hey Tim Cook, how does it feel to betray the trust of millions of Apple users, when turning over all their private date to the NSA, fully knowing that it is illegal, unethical, immoral and UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
You can stick your ugly iOS 7 up your ass!
You remind me of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp commanders…
Oh the government told us to do it…
…you spineless Sack of $hit!
NEVER EQUATE ANYBODY WITH THE AUSCHWITZ NAZI CAMP COMMANDERS, EVER!!!!!
It only shows your ignorance and stupidity.
Make your point without resorting to hyperbole that is unrelated.
T•R•O•L•L
At my kids school they won’t get iPads because of privacy issues, as they have to share devices. The will not let them in unless each users data is secure and not available to other users of the same device. At least that is ITs excuse.
Sharing iPads is like sharing pencils. It’s counter-productive. Tell your school system to come back with a real plan.
iOS 7 is only good for deployment in a kindergarten environment seeing how kidlike it is, to the point of being useless to a professional.
T•R•O•L•L
Nice.