What's Coming for Education in iOS 9.3

iOS 9.3 will introduce new features aimed directly at education, and Apple will release new versions of Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, an app called Classroom designed to help Teachers be more productive with students, and new types of Apple ID’s and Cloud services to make everything work well together.

Educators and administrators, as well as IT staff must understand the changes that are coming and the implications of those changes to classroom technology use, and the re-establishment of the iPad as the preeminent device in the classroom.

When iOS 9.3 is released (and no I don’t know when that will be) Apple will likely simultaneously release updates to OS X Server, Mac OS X, Configurator 2, the Apple ID account system, and a brand new app called Classroom. Much of the new functionality will be anchored on the backend by Apple’s new Apple School Manager system which pulls together Managed Apple IDs, something they call Shared iPad, and the previously mentioned Classroom app.

Each of these new technologies plays a unique and coordinated role in how iPads will be purchased, assigned to mobile device management, populated with applications, distributed to classrooms, and administered by teachers and traditional IT staff. So what do you need to know? That depends on what your role is in the workflow.

Teachers:

If you are a teacher the best thing you can do is communicate with your school and district level administrators so they know you want to explore this new technology. There is not enough information available yet for even a highly skilled iPad teacher to prepare on their own. Teachers should realize that an iOS 9.3 release sometime this Spring or Summer will result most likely in a change in the classroom for the 2016/2017 academic year. You have plenty of time to be trained and to adjust to how to use this new instructional technology in the classroom. Until then, I recommend that you communicate with school leadership about what plans may exist or need to be made to prepare for this roll out. For example, will you have an AppleTV to use for student and teacher presentations? Will the IT department be updating all devices over the summer? Will the IT department have a consulting company on hand ahead of time to staff up for the iPad return to service? Will you be given a Managed Apple ID with the Teacher role so you can take on those management tasks that are so much more convenient if performed in the classroom? Also be thinking of new ways to use your new ability to easily put student’s iPads into single app mode, and to present student work in front of the class much more easily than before.

Principals and Administrators:

If you are a principal, or someone else with the signing rights to purchase equipment, software, or services for your school or school district, you need to pay close attention to the advice of your IT department or IT consultant. The new operating system and the new systems that it supports will change the way you need to think about the deployment of your iPads. A Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, though costly, will change your experience with iPads for the better. Having a system of checks and balances in place ahead of time will ensure that your IT Staff actually has all of your iPads enrolled in the MDM you purchase. An appropriate budget for changes to infrastructure must be put in place as early as possible if required. Staffing supplementation is also a very good idea when embarking on a large scale project such as a device refresh and return to service. Local IT consulting companies can be a strong resource for this type of work. CoreQuick LLC, (my company) provides this service for schools and districts in California, and sometimes out of state. Work with your IT department to start interviewing consulting companies now to build that consulting relationship so you have that support in place when you need them to help.

IT Staff:

If you work in Information Technology, you really should find a company like CoreQuick to advise you on getting yourself up to speed now while you have time. The change in how everything works will take you by surprise if you let it, and if you start with a dedicated project engineer now from a reputable company, you’ll gain two major advantages for the summer and the coming academic year. First, you’ll already have a relationship set up with that company, so you will be on their radar enabling them to plan to cover you during the busy summer months and beyond. Second, you can learn now from an engineer with vast experience across multiple schools and school districts effectively multiplying your exposure to all of the unique needs of those organizations. There are things you can start doing right now if you just know about them! For example, you can make preparations in your Active Directory User Groups in how they are organized, which is time consuming, but will be very helpful once you deploy the Classroom app to your teachers to manage their classroom iPads and their students.

The takeaway advice for anyone reading this article is this: Apple is about to reclaim it’s spot at the top of the education technology food chain. This is the time to seek out and absorb as much early information as possible so that you have fully considered your options far enough in advance to make a difference to your IT workflows, to your academic budgets, and to your teachers professional development preparation for the coming school year.

Sean Colins, Founder of CoreQuick LLC, [email protected], 310-275-3690