A Brief Insight on IOS deployment in Education System- need for 3 rd Platform implementation in Schools I hope you remember Meraki, a company involved in making sensors and which was sold to IBM few years back with all three partners joining IBM. We are going to have a look at a system developed by Meraki for schools and Universities. Well, they did a lot for their college if you remember my article and now let s see what they have done for all colleges. It s a Meraki System Manager, Apple configurator and the Meraki s Mobile device management solution. The application is based on the managed use of the ipads and the vast learning content available through itunes and App Stores. For successfully deploying device like ipad in schools, coordinator needs deployment and device content strategies. This means, device deployment is required and also the device content management in which it will be required to process the information on the itunes and the App Stores. Requirements: A Meraki Dashboard account with a System Manager Network The Meraki system manager is completely free. You need to however, contact Meraki Sales Representatives if you want to deploy more than 100 ipads. Signup here: https://meraki.cisco.com/form/systems-manager-signup If you already have the Meraki s dashboard account then you need to login here: https://dashboard.meraki.com and select the Create a system manager network. There is a drop down menu and you will find this option there. You will also need a mobile device that runs on IOS 6 and later For the supervised devices, you will need a computer running : Apple OS X v10.8.2 Apple Configurator 1.2.1 or above Apple itunes 10.6 or Later Meraki System Manager Overview Meraki system manager is a cloud based device management solution for IOS and Android Devices and it also comes with support for desktop management for Windows and Mac OS X Computers. System managers provide various features that includes Over-the-Air (OTA): Management of Configuration Profile App delivery for IOS device Real time reporting and management for enrolled devices Also, System manager integrates with the Apple Configurator to control the Apple devices. Supervision provides additional control beyond that of configuration profiles. Apple Configurator
Apple configurator is a free Apple Utility that configures and enables advanced setting options through supervision. For this utility it is required to connect the device through USB to a Mac running OS X. you can connect 30 devices at a time. A typical deployment of the Apple Configurator in a school environment requires use of Mobile cart. Apple configurator supports, in general three simple workflows: Prepare For updating IOS devices to the latest version of IOS, enrolling devices in System manager or resolving device backups Supervise Once a supervised device is enrolled in a system manager, advanced settings can be configured Assign This is for assigning devices to individual users. It is possible to specify individual manually or via directory services. Volume Purchase Programs( VPP) Apple volume purchase program allows educational institutions to download apps and books in volume and distribute them to the persons associated with the institution that includes students, faculties and other employees according to the App stores terms and conditions. Apps can be reassigned to the students or installed on the other IOS devices in the future, though this require upfront planning and selection of the appropriate deployment method. As far as books are concerned, they can be redeemed by the students using their personal Apple ID and they cannot be reassigned to the other students once they are being redeemed. Content purchased via the VPP is downloaded using the redemption code being provided by the Apple. Each App and the Book have a unique redemption code, which is unique. Wi Fi Planning While you deploy the IOS devices, consideration for Wi-Fi infrastructure in light of coverage area, device density, security, and the QTA encryption requirement is Paramount. A best practice when using Apple configuration is to provide two separate SSIDs, required to be in conjugation of the System Manager. The basic SSID is being used for the initial device staging and the secured SSIDs connect the device to the Schools Wi Fi network. A staging SSIDs for initial device provisioning that is open for the internet access, though, restricted otherwise. A secure SSIDs by which the devices access the school Wi-Fi network and resources. System manager is used to push this SSID configuration settings to IOS devices. IOS deployment Model
Picking the right IOS deployment model is critical for eliminating management and support issues that can arise once the devices are in use by students and instructors. Age Ownership Which apple ID will be used to redeem app codes purchased by the schools in volume. Device personalization Are users allowed to personalize contents and settings on the devices? These are the questions that guides the selection of the deployment models, the use of Meraki s system manager and the necessity of Apple configurator required for initial startups and ongoing maintenance. Guide To Selecting A Suitable Deployment Model Personal Ownership intuitional Ownership Layered Ownership Owner of Apps Student School Both Students and Schools Device Personalization Yes No Yes Usage Model Single users Multiple users- Temporary device manager Extended single user- Future Assignment Users age 13 years and above All ages 13 years and above Initial Setup System Manager Apple Configurator System Manager Apple Configurator System Manager Maintenance System Manager Apple Configurator System Manager Reporting Systems Manager Systems Manager Systems Manager Prerequisites for Preparing System Manager for IOS Devices
If you want to start using Meraki s system Manager then you need upload an SSL certificate obtained for free from the Apple to the Meraki s dashboard. This certificate is unique to your organization s System managers account and the steps are as follows: Login to your Meraki s Dashboard and select your System s manager network. Select the organization tab and go to the settings page. Follow instructions mentioned under the IOS mobile device management section by downloading the certificate signed certificate from Apple. Visit Identity.apple.com/pushcart and then sign in with a verified Apple ID and then follow the instructions Once, you are successful in uploading the ssl certificate from Apple to Meraki s Dashboard, you are now ready to start securely enrolling Apple IOS devices. Internet Explorer might not work properly with the Apple Push Notification certificate (APNS). In that case, you need to use another browser if you find such problems. Personal Ownership The personal ownership models allows students to use the devices and apps in a manner typical to consumer s usage. The students personal account details is being used by the school to purchase the apps. In this method, students have the ownership right and school cannot consider the apps as their asset. They are just installing the apps and the ownership rights for the apps is with the student.
Begin with new or un-configured devices. Perform initial setups using the built in Apple set up assistant. Skip the process of providing on itunes ID. Connect the devices to an open Wireless SSID (SSID open) and go to http://m.meraki.com In Meraki system manager, enroll the devices under the mobile > deployment page. Use the provided network ID to complete enrollment. To simplify the management and for installing apps to a group of devices, tag them in Systems Manager. Define a system manager profile to secure Wi-Fi settings (SSID secure) and the passcode policy on the device. Deploy devices to end users who then complete their set up using their personal itunes ID. The use of Apple configurator in this deployment model is optional but cannot be leveraged to enforce device restrictions unavailable with 3 rd party mobile device management solutions.
Once the device are enrolled in the system manager, apps from app stores as well as additional configuration profile can be remotely pushed to them. Tags can group devices to receive specific apps.
System managers integrates with Apple Volume purchase program (VPP) and this allows the redemption of the purchased apps via redemption codes. Institutional Ownership In this model, the installation of the Meraki s management profile, new apps and all kind of app updates are being done through connection of each (IOS) device to the computer running Apple configurator, which has been originally used for the staging of the device. As the system manager integrates with Apple configurator, you can automatically enroll the devices via the management profile.
Via the system manager you have the access to the asset tracking, hardware and software inventory management, reporting and also the remote troubleshooting for enrolled devices. In this deployment model, you will generally be using the mobile cart. A Mac running OS X, connected to the schools network and running Apple Configurator, is needed. Make sure that the itunes is installed using the school s itunes account. Login to your Meraki s dashboard, select your system manager network and finally access the Mobile> deployment page, download the Meraki management profile file, xxxx-mobile-config to your Macs hard drive. Download the institutional apps from itunes. On your Mac, open the Apple configurator>preference pane settings tab, Import the Meraki management profile and continue. You can enroll Institutional ownership and layered ownership according to the requirement through Meraki s device management profile. The features needed are according to the features of an ideal mobile centric based learning, the requirement for the third platform. Solutions like this is being required for all schools across the US and Meraki, now working under Cisco, has made that possible.