A class set of iPads is ordered quickly. The real work starts afterwards: who sets up 30 devices, who installs the apps, who locks the App Store, who resets a device a pupil has tied to their own Apple account? Without a tool, someone from the teaching staff does this during the holidays, device by device. With mobile device management (MDM) it happens centrally and automatically.
What an MDM is
An MDM is a management platform in which all of the school’s devices are registered. From there you distribute apps, settings and restrictions to groups of devices: class 5a gets Anton and GeoGebra, teachers additionally get access to the school administration, every device gets the school Wi-Fi, the content filter and the wallpaper. A new iPad is unpacked, switched on, joins the Wi-Fi and sets itself up. Nobody types in an Apple ID.
For iPads, Apple provides two building blocks that the MDM uses:
- Apple School Manager is the portal in which the school manages its devices, apps and users. Devices bought through the education channel appear there automatically.
- Managed Apple IDs are accounts that belong to the school, not the pupil. They allow iCloud storage for school work and sign-in on devices without private accounts, purchases or photos getting involved.
The MDM itself is a product from a vendor such as Jamf School, Relution or Mosyle. It talks to Apple School Manager and to the devices.
What you do with it day to day
Set up devices without touching them. New iPads are assigned to the school on first boot, receive apps and settings and land in the right group. A class set is ready in one morning.
Distribute apps and collect them again. Licences from Apple School Manager are assigned, not bought. When a device leaves the class, the licence goes to the next one.
Restrict what distracts. App Store, camera, AirDrop, Safari: everything can be allowed or blocked per group. In lessons, the teacher can use the Classroom app to see screens, open apps and lock devices.
Find or wipe lost devices. An iPad that does not turn up again is locked remotely or reset to factory settings. The data is gone and the device is worthless to anyone else.
Control updates. iPadOS updates are not installed during an exam but at night, when the devices sit in the charging cart.
What an MDM is not
An MDM does not replace a school server or a teaching concept. It manages devices, not lessons. Users, classes and file storage still come from the school server, for example linuxmuster.net, and the content filter from the network. Both have to work together with the MDM. A school that introduces the MDM in isolation ends up with two user directories and three passwords per child.
An MDM is also not surveillance. It sees which apps are installed and whether the device is online. It does not read messages or photos. The school should tell parents exactly that.
What schools should watch for
- Buy through the education channel. Only then do devices appear automatically in Apple School Manager. Registering later is possible, but it is manual work per device.
- Settle the device model beforehand. School loan devices, parent-funded devices or bring-your-own-device need different rules. Parent-funded iPads can be supervised if that is agreed from the start.
- Plan the Wi-Fi with it. 30 iPads downloading an update at the same time need a Wi-Fi designed for that. The MDM can only distribute what the network carries.
- Name responsibilities. Who adds new devices, who distributes apps, who handles a loss? An MDM moves the work from the device into the administration, it does not remove it.
- Document data protection. What data the MDM processes and where it is hosted belongs in the processing register. The German vendors usually host in Germany.
How we help
We set up Apple School Manager and the MDM, connect it to the school server and the Wi-Fi, and hand over a management system the teaching staff can operate themselves. After that we remain your contact when a device stops cooperating or the next class joins.
Planning iPads for your school, or maintaining a class set by hand so far? Write to us and we will look at it together.