Recently we were tasked with upscaling the technology at Georges River Environmental Education Centre, a Department of Education (DoE) School located at Chipping Norton NSW that aims to inspire young people in experiencing and connecting with the natural world.

Sadly the school’s current technology was being underutilised and in some cases not functioning at all, resulting in many thousands of dollars in computing hardware sitting idle. The Principal Mr Nicholas Hall, who is extremely passionate about his role in teaching the younger generation in sustainability education programs, has a vision of promoting and empowering learners in responsible environmental management. This vision involves the use of technology playing a crucial part in his and the centre’s teaching and learning tools.

Principal Mr Nicholas Hall teaching students from Tempe High School on rainfall patterns using Augmented Reality

Having a fantastic Augmented Reality setup that mimics the local Georges River Catchment Area (see above), Android enabled Samsung Televisions and over 30 iPad devices our objective was to bring these devices up to speed to be usable and ‘talk’ to each other during presentations made to students.

The first stage in delivering the principals vision was enabling the current set of iPads along with deploying a new set of devices so that they were unformed in layout and had all the required apps installed.

Nearly all of the iPads hadn’t been used for some 2 years or more and management using Apple Configurator had long ceased functioning, along with communications with schools Wi-Fi system. We enrolled these iPads into ZuluDesk, granting staff access to manage each device, download and install new and existing apps, creating a uniformed layout and wallpaper to reflect, along with allowing Wi-Fi connectivity for use by DoE students. Migration of GREEC’s iBooks was also critical in maintaining established teaching lessons.

Stage two of this project involves management of newly installed NBN services to allow fast speed connectivity to televisions, iPads (for non-D0E students) and development of learning tools for flora and fauna identification using QR Codes.

We are excited at the prospects this centre currently offers students and with implementation of new technologies can’t wait for what the future will hold.

For more information on visiting this fantastic educational centre, please visit their website at georgesriv-e.schools.nsw.gov.au or contact their friendly staff on (02) 9755 3189. You can also follow them on Facebook or Twitter @GeorgesRiverEEC.

The post Using Technology to promote sustainable Environmental Education appeared first on Webtek Media.

Back in August 2018, Glenwood Public School, located in Sydney’s South West Region, approached us with a dilemma. Their fleet of over 100 iPad devices had been experiencing ongoing Wi-Fi connectivity issues for over 12 months that had rendered them virtually useless in using online apps, browsing the internet and device management.

With changes made within the Department of Education’s mobile device policy for secure connections to Wi-Fi and at times a operational reluctance to offer assistance to devices outside of the standard managed scope of Windows and Chromebook devices, the school was at a loss of how to best utilise these devices.

With the schools upcoming STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Grand Buddy program (run in partnership with Widdon*), it became apparent that the use of the schools iPads were mandatory if they were to have any success in delivering this key learning metric to students.

Webtek Media was consulted to ‘get these iPads working ASAP’, one in part due to the associated costs of these wasted resources, and two for the requirement of iPad devices to deliver a successful program for students and residents of Whiddon Easton Park Residential Care alike.

Whist this inability to use iPad devices was an ongoing headache for the school, our involvement in completing successful MDM migrations to ZuluDesk was a no brainer when it came to providing a resolution to their technology issues.

Once we obtained all the relevant Apple account information and gained access to the schools Volume Purchase Programme for Education we were able to migrate all iPads to ZuluDesk and provide remote installations of new and existing apps, Wi-Fi connectivity, student restrictions and group policies.

With the reviving of the schools iPads students were able to put their visions into practice and delivered a STEM project that has since been lauded by the Department of Education, UNSW and Whiddon among others.

We remain extremely proud of our efforts in delivering a successful project which also included installation of a new FlashForge Guider II 3D Printer.

If your school requires assistance with iPad Management, T4L Device and Hardware Support or advice on best practices in education, view our Information Technology Support Services for Schools page.

Thanks to @TheWhiddonGroup @stemacademysyd @WebtekMediaOz for making this amazing project possible! #grandbuddystem https://t.co/3qTLWd9TuT

— Glenwood PS (@PSGlenwood) October 30, 2018

Now that we have our new 3D printer, it won’t be long until the whole chess set is printed and Allan can play. #grandbuddystem @TheWhiddonGroup @stemacademysyd @WebtekMediaOz pic.twitter.com/Lw1ncUJn2n

— Glenwood PS (@PSGlenwood) November 28, 2018

* Whiddon Easton Park is a residential aged care service in Sydney’s south west. Located in Glenfield, Easton Park offers a range of award winning aged care services.

Essential Links
Glenwood Public School
Glenwood Public School on Twitter
Whiddon Easton Park Residential Care

The post How ZuluDesk helped Glenwood Public School deliver on STEM appeared first on Webtek Media.

Apple Deployment Programs will no longer be available starting December 1, 2019.

If your school currently uses Apple Deployment Programs like the Device Enrollment Program or Volume Purchase Program, you need to upgrade to Apple School Manager by December 1, 2019 to continue using ZuluDesk to manage and install apps.

Apple School Manager is a service that lets you buy content, configure automatic device enrollment in your mobile device management (MDM) solution, and create accounts for your students and staff. Apple School Manager is accessible on the web and is designed for technology managers, IT administrators, staff, and instructors.

Your Apple Deployment Program agent can sign in to deploy.apple.com and upgrade to Apple School Manager. To avoid delays, two-step verification must be enabled on the agent account.

The post Upgrade to Apple School Manager deadline fast approaching appeared first on Webtek Media.

Luckily, this two part process is very simple and takes no time at all.

Step 1 – Purchase or Download from Apple

Login using your Volume Purchase Programme for Education account credentials via https://volume.itunes.apple.com

Search for your desired app

Choose app and review pricing options (note: some developers will offer discounts for bulk ordering of 20+ licenses)

Enter the number of licenses you require (note: you will need 1 license per device)

Select Managed Distribution to assign apps to users or devices using a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, which in this case is ZuluDesk

Review order and confirm purchase

Logout

Hint: For FREE apps we regularly select 100 licenses to cover your complete iPad fleet.

Targeting Maths on Volume Purchase Programme for Education

Google Chrome on Volume Purchase Programme for Education

Step 2 – Synchronising VPP and installing app via ZuluDesk

Login to ZuluDesk with your school administrator account via https://zuludesk.com/manage

Click Synchronize Now button to force app to appear in your available app list.

ZuluDesk Synchronize Now

Navigate to Apps in left sidebar

Locate and click on your recently purchase app from the available app list

In the ‘This app will be distributed to the following device groups‘ section choose which group of iPads you wish to install with new app (note: most iPad groups will be separated into stages, ie: Stage 1 / ESL, Stage 2 and Stage 3).

Click Save and then you’re done…simples

The post How to install iPad apps using ZuluDesk appeared first on Webtek Media.