New to iPads and Jamf, need help setting up for PreK

[wilsonIT]

This is our first go at using ipads in the classroom on a large scale. Previously we just a had a few per room and we used generic apple id's and teachers installed the apps they wanted to use. Now we will be having a classroom set of ipads per room for our PreK and Kindergarten classes. We are having a difficult time trying to figure out the best/easiest way to set these up for staff and students. At this age we really don't want each student having their own account. Ipads will remain at school and preferably not assigned to a particular student, any student can pick up an ipad and start working/playing. What have you guys found that works best for these grades? Thanks

[jpeters21]

so step one if you have not already, set up a Apple School Manager account. 

step two link with your Apple VPP account (or create one if needed)  

***note your apple rep will be helpful on those two pieces

from there link both with Jamf

from there its going to get real specific to your organization, but with managed distribution of the apps set up you wont actually need an apple ID .. also check out the jamf training videos through Jamf nation. 

[wilsonIT]

Thanks, I currently have everything set up and have been testing out different ways of setting everything up like giving teachers an ipad with Jamf teacher so they can request apps and have the principal go through ASM and Jamf to approve them and setting the student ipads up as temp sessions or using a generic managed apple id on all ipads in a classroom, but there just seems to be so many steps involved that I'm afraid our teachers and principal will not be happy.

Here is the scenario I'm seeing, if all student ipads are set up as temp sessions and placed in Device Groups per classroom, the teacher requests an app or more than likely 20 apps in their case, then they have to email the principal to let them know they have requested apps (since email notifications do not currently work for app requests, I've talked to support about this). When the principal finally sees that email she has to log into ASM, purchase the needed amount of each app, log into Jamf, go to that class Device Group and add all of the apps. And this is just for one class, when they have multiple I can see it being time consuming.

Is there a better/easier way?

Also, if we decide to use generic managed apple id's for the students. I was thinking one ID for all of the ipads in a particular classroom, but does the 10 Device Limit still apply to managed ID's?

[mainelysteve]

Few points to hit on here.

1. If you're hell bent on using Shared iPad then a single MAID per class may work, but you need to watch out for any data sync issues especially if student one creates a file, document, etc and student two creates one with the same name. Browser cache and history will also be shared. Guest(temp) sessions have session data storage limitations so that's maybe not the best way to go about it.
2. What's your role here or rather what's your school/district size and your role for a building principal to be accessing device management tools not to mention purchasing apps? Mine are too busy running their building and dealing with students, parents, idiotic testing requirements, etc. App purchasing is done by us, device management is done by us so therefore app requests come to us. Either via the Teacher app or via our Helpdesk.
   
   As far as condensing steps here I think you're out of luck. The workflow is essentially: Purchase and assign licenses in ASM > Scope app to a device group or class in MDM service. At the most it should be a 5 maybe 10 minute task even for a gaggle of apps.
3. Using one generic (consumer)apple id on multiple devices can be construed as piracy FYI, and does have a device limit. You won't be able to do that here anyways as Managed Apple IDs don't provide e-commerce services such as the App Store, Music, etc. Apps should really just be assigned to the devices as mentioned by @jpeters21 .
4. You need to rethink app requests. Having a single teacher request a ton of apps just for their classroom is ludicrous and seems like the "throw at wall, see what sticks" method. Our PreK and KG teachers work together and communicate their needs to tech coaches, my director/co worker, district learning administrators, etc. so that app hoarding doesn't happen and all of the iPads (we're 1:1 starting in KG) have access to the same app library.

[jpeters21]

my understanding apple/jamf classroom is intended for managed apple IDs with those apple IDs being 1:1, that is not to say you could not pull it off, just that it would not be a great solution. I would note every apple ID now requires MFA setup, so I do not know how you would even attempt that with young children. Honestly we are only about 5 years out of when my organization had no management solution and were using the same apple ID on all our macs and ipads, so would not worry about the 10 device limit to much. That said apple services become just about broken when you operate like this.. as every saved documents or picture sync with every device (yes you can disable iCloud syncing) and should anyone try to use face time it will be quite the night mare 

That said sounds like you are an MSP or a consultant trying to make this hassle free for a school? I think the best thing to do is explain that the function they are looing for (or you are trying to achieve) does take active administration. I am also in education, but our lab ipads are pretty static so I can not say I have the equivalent requirements you have. different programs have desired applications so I just use static groups for application deployment. As the Apple Device Administrator all the free app request just come to me in the form of tickets (premium has to go through normal software purchasing channels before they get to me) ,, I of course refer any questionable request to the Dean over the program.  I would agree with your assessment that school administrators (at least from my experience) will probably not want the regular task associated with this. Honestly if they have a license or compliance manager of any sort it would probably be the appropriate person for other app purchases in ASM , but then some one still has to handle assignments.