Friday, September 28, 2012

iOS upgrades - impact on use in Schools

iWorks apps file transfers upgrade
This will make working with the iPad so much easier, the ability to save your Pages, Keynote or Numbers document to another App or location.

Upload photos from iPad to websites
We can now upload photos from the camera roll to websites.  Great for students working with the iPad and collaborating via Blogs and Wikis.

Guided Access feature
With this new accessibility feature you can lock the iPad into a single App and can also disable certain App functions that you don't want the student to use.

Finding your Apps
Now when you search for your Apps in Spotlight it will show you the folder you have put your Apps in.  Great for many of us who have soooo many Apps in folders.

Updating without passwords
This will be good news for schools with class sets, you won't need to rely on your one IT or tech support person to do updates.  Teachers will be able to do it themselves when convenient.

Improved Proxy bypassing
Our IT staff say this will solve a lot of problems they are having with things that need to operate over a proxy server.  So it should improve our access and functionality with the iPads even more.

Improved Open in functionality
Instead of limiting us to a few Apps you can open your document in, you will now have unlimited  options.

Youtube and Maps
When you upgrade to iOS6 you will no longer have access to the native Youtube App.  So you will have to go to the App store and download the Youtube App.  It has been well discussed that the new Maps App has some problems, so we will have to use it with caution and wait for updates to fix soem of the problems.

AppleTV
With all the hype around iOS6 it was easy to miss that there had been an upgrade also to the Apple TV iOS.  Brian Van Vlimmeran from our IT area alerted me to a great new feature in the upgrade.  The ability to set an onscreen code (as opposed to the current password setting).  What this means is that you can require anyone wanting to AirPlay to have to input a code that will pop up on your HDTV screen.  This will stop students and others from inadvertently (or on purpose) taking over Airplay in your classroom. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5517 for more information.

1 comment:

  1. Nice summary, thanks! I was happy to learn that proxy bypassing has been improved as this has been an issue in our district.

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