Crazy to Use shared iPad in a 1:1 deployment?

[michael_lewis]

During testing and research I have come to the conclusion that shared iPad mode might make the most sense in our 1:1 deployment. Big reason is how it behaves with apple classroom which we will be using extensively. Also it automatically blocks iOS updates, restricts certain settings, etc. I would restrict the iPad to only allow one shared user account at the same time.

Downsides...kids won't be able to login if don't have wifi for 3 days.
Storage limit per shared user? For some reason my storage space on a 256 GB shared iPad is only showing a 8.56gb capacity.

Am I missing something here but it essentially gives you all the nice things about the iOS ecosystem and gives it a login scheme like a Chromebook? Would also allow me to not have assign a user to every iPad in Casper?

[jared_f]

I have never tried shared iPads, but if you are using DEP you would not have to assign each user to an iPad in Casper (Jamf Pro).

[michael_lewis]

U don't need to for the user to be assigned to the iPad automatically in Apple Classroom?

[tsossong]

For classroom you need shared iPads because of the connection to the managed Apple IDs. We try to use only the managed Apple IDs for backup reasons on our 1:1 devices. You can use Casper Focus instead if you dont want / dont can use Apple Classroom.

[hsekiv]

We use shared iPads for classes which do not have 1:1 devices and regular setup for 1:1. Some of the limitations of Shared iPad are the storage allocation per use as well as not supporting web clips. Also the login process for shared iPads still takes 30 seconds to 1 minute.

We also use Apple Classroom for all devices, shared and non-shared. I setup Apple School Manager, imported all the relevant data from the CSV files for ASM, then that information syncs with Jamf Pro which creates the classes. I do have to assign each iPad to an individual student for the 1:1 devices.

[michael_lewis]

We are syncing ASM with Infinite Campus. Will be using Apple Classroom from K-12 it looks like this year. I really wish Casper would allow for authenticated enrollment using the managed apple ids. In an ideal world both ASM and Casper would use Google Apps for ids / authentication.

[kwsenger]

@hsekiv @michael.lewis Which student information system does your District use? We use Skyward. Do you feel Apple School Manager is now working correctly with Secure FTP when importing en masse? We have only been performing manual imports over the past year but want to pull the trigger this year.

[michael_lewis]

@kwsenger we use Infinite Campus. Have been working with Apple all summer on making sure the sync is working as expected. Unfortunately, I won't know for sure until the first school day given the way scheduling works in IC. It is looking promising though.

[hsekiv]

@kwsenger Our school is in Brisbane and our information doesn’t sync (and I’m not holding my breath for this to happen anytime soon.) The initial CSV upload last year took a bit of time through trial and error in getting the naming schemes right. With ASM 2.0, it has certainly gotten more reliable with notifications and logs easily accessible if something goes wrong.

[jyergatian]

Hey @michael.lewis , I'm curious to know if you chose to move forward with your idea or not. We've put a lot of thought into the idea of using Shared iPad for 1:1 deployments and we can come up with lots of benefits and very few downsides. Based on the fact you beat us to this idea by 6 months, do you have any insight or information you could share?

[timlings]

We actually are using Shared iPad in a 1:1 setting with our 5-7 year olds. The advantage has been with the inital setup for kids, as they literally tap their name off the list and off they go. They also can't sign out of iCloud etc, which means all their data is safe.

We have hit a few road bumps, mainly with updating the devices as it's not really clear how much space is needed for this and it can only be triggered via MDM command. Shared iPad only allows 8gb for apps on a 32GB device.