Setting up your iPad Classroom - the Basics for the Foundation Phase

Health and safety

When working with children in the Foundation Phase it is important to remember that handing them a tech tool such as an iPad implies certain responsibilities which need to be properly communicated to them.  The most basic of these are hygiene and safety:

• iPads should not be cleaned with a strong detergent as it removes the special coating on the screen.  However they should be carefully cleaned with a damp cloth and buffed at least once a week.
• Do buy protective covers (preferably rubberised) for the iPads and remember to clean them too with a light detergent.
• Establish a hand washing routine for the entire class before each iPad session and where the sniffles are doing the rounds clean the tablets carefully before new users access them.
• Be aware of the potential for conflict when two or more children share a device.  Try to avoid sharing unless the device is being used for a passive activity such as watching or listening to media.
• Ask parents to purchase a simple set of headphones for their child.  (The sharing of ear devices is not a good idea.)
• Label each iPad cover and get into the routine of each child using a specific device.
• Don't allow children to walk or stand whilst using a tablet.
• For slightly older children who are using iPads for the first time, the following pdf makes for a handy class poster. The iPad Quick Reference Card http://www.edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ipad-quick-reference-2.pdf
• It's just our opinion - but think carefully about allowing young children to use email and social networking tools and introduce solid policies surrounding their security before doing so.

Charging and syncing

This was a challenging curve for us as we were all first time Apple users.  Understanding and working within the iTunes framework was not as user friendly as we had anticipated it would be!!!  Nevertheless practice makes perfect and we were up and running without to much further ado. We have recently aquire Griffin storage stations which have just arrived.  The school has already had a stand with castors manufactured for the Griffin so that it can be wheeled between classes.  Up to now we have been utilizing USB hubs to charge and sync multiple iPads at once.  The process runs quite fast after the first time and we do a re-sync every week.

We use a MacBook Pro as the backup and master image.  Something that has been somewhat challenging and irksome is the limit on what is available in the South African Apple App Store.  We thought we had found a way past this by purchasing vouchers to use in the UK Store for certain apps however, when we tried to use these the purchase was blocked because of our South Africa IP address - extremely frustrating all round.

Wifi Coverage

Before you start, take care to evaluate your network and WiFi cloud coverage.  Mobile devices such as iPads are intended to be connected and online.  We initially battled with connectivity issues.  Being in a semi rural area, Telkom (bless 'em) informed us that they are unable to provide ADSL connectivity in the area.  Our only option was therefore to use a microwave signal provider.   Our initial wireless connection was frequently interrupted, however we switched to a new provider in May and since then our network has been stable and with good download and upload speeds.  Where possible search for options with uncapped data - Apple devices and iPads in particular tend to be heavy on the download and update side.