WPP - Part A - Description of Need or Opportunity

Within my schools I will be deploying over 500 iPads in just a few weeks. The purpose of these iPads is to assist students with special needs with communication, comprehension, creativity and much more. Upon receiving these iPads, a major question struck our concern: How will we manage all these iPads in the most efficient way? After meeting with Apple through a Web Ex(virtual meeting), we were recommended to use a new tool called Apple Configurator. Apple Configurator is a free application that allows you to easily deploy new iOS devices in large quantities by quickly preparing, supervising select devices and assigning them to users. Unfortunately, an iPad is a personal device and does not work up to its full capacity when managed by anyone else other than the user. With that being said, as the Technology Coordinator of my schools, it is my job to educate teachers on the use of Apple Configurator. The teachers will be the ones who will be responsible for updating, synchronizing and charging their iPads on a daily basis.

Since most of these teachers are not tech savvy, I will be creating a Camtasia video that will contain the necessary steps they will need to take in order to successfully deploy these iPads on a daily basis. I will also be creating a PDF file with step-by-step instructions on using Apple Configurator that will be uploaded onto either my website or the company's website for teachers to access. I will have the teachers complete a survey after in order to find out how effective my tutorials are. I believe that these two tools will be very effective on teaching the teachers how to use Apple Configurator because they are presented in two different forms. The teachers can watch my tutorial video and follow along for a clear visual on how to use the application. However, they can also print out the PDF of instructions to have something tangible to guide them on daily basis if need be.

I plan to implement this tool within the next two weeks. Unfortunately, there are still loose ends that need to be tyed up on Apples end so we are still waiting on them before moving forward with our iPad project. However, this will not hinder my process because I plan to educate the teachers within my school no matter what, it is still just a matter of when. I do not have a specific time at the moment but I am hoping within the next 2 weeks. I have setup most of the iPads in their charging carts and they are pretty much ready to go. The tutorial video and PDF instruction sheet will first be sent out to all teachers by email. There will only be about four teachers at each school(roughing 20 teachers total) that will be managing the iPads but I am encouraging all teachers to get familiar with the technology(that is a total of 200 teachers total). I think both these tools are great because there isn’t a “time limit” as to how long they will use them for. Teachers can use the tutorial and PDF until they feel comfortable or they can refer back to it when needed. By giving them access to both the tutorial and the PDF on a website, they can easily access it when needed and educate others on how to use Apple Configurator. I plan to incorporate this tool within the next two-three weeks, however, for the future, I will encourage all new teachers to watch the video and refer to the PDF in order to understand the importance of Apple Configurator and how our schools will be using its many different features to accommodate our curriculum needs.

I have done my fair share of research on the Apple Configurator application. I found many helpful resources such as a document on Apple Configurator instructions and a video on special features. This was very helpful because we will only be using select features in order to properly manage and supervise our devices with set restrictions. Since I have been experimenting with the application for a few months now, I am very comfortable with certain utilities that this application has to offer. I will know that my project has been successful with a survey that I will have teachers fill out through Google Form. I think it is important to have their feedback on their understanding of Apple Configurator and how effective they think my tutorial and PDF document are. I will also know if my project was effective based on the efficiency of iPad deployment within all the schools.