Intuitive iPad management for successful learning
IGS Ihlow
Ihlow, Germany
The Hermann Tempel School in Ihlow, East Frisia, Germany is a so-called 'integrated school' that is currently attended by 541 children between the ages of 5 and 10. What classifies it as an 'integrated school' is that students are taught together, regardless of academic level and performance. Which diploma path a student takes isn't decided after the fourth grade, but at a later point and is based on aptitude and suitability. Practically speaking, this means that individual learning environments need to be created that meet all students' needs, as well as provide teachers with the necessary support for their work.
A solution for over 300 iPads
Even before the Corona pandemic began, the Hermann Tempel School decided to introduce tablets as a digital teaching tool to support personal learning at school. The school made the conscious decision against a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) solution, opting instead for a single device model in order to avoid a technical overload amongst teachers and simplify the management process.
After testing and comparing several devices, the iPad was chosen on the basis of its long battery life, performance and cost-effectiveness, and the multitude of educational apps on offer. There are currently about 375 iPads actively being used by students and faculty members. Frank Einnolf is the principal at the Hermann Tempel School and responsible for the heading the educational concept of the school.
“The iPad plays a huge role in supporting the customization of each student's learning situation. In foreign language lessons, for example, students are able to play audio files as often as they need to until they understand them. We were looking for a suitable solution to manage the tablets in a way that allows teachers to best integrate the devices and functions into the classroom.”
The school administration chose the Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution, Jamf School, which was specifically designed for the iPad, enabling an intuitive and efficient management of the devices.
Smooth configuration
The school ordered the iPads through the Society for Digital Education (GfdB). The new tablets are set up and configured by the GfdB and delivered ready to-use at the start of every school year. Since 2019, Jamf School has helped to set up approximately 100 devices every year as per the students' individual needs. An in-depth introduction and MDM training means that teachers are able to troubleshoot and manage the devices as needed.
With Jamf, we can create lessons that are as flexible and we can customize it as per the needs of our students.
If a student proposes an educational app for the classroom, we can quickly and easily make it available on all other students' tablets.
Lessons: flexible and individualized
Frank Einnolf sees Jamf's great strength in the ability to respond to new demands in the short term: “At the beginning of the lunch break, a teacher tells me that she needs a specific app for her next class. With Jamf, she can access the app from any computer in the teacher's lounge and install it directly onto all class-based iPads. By the time lunch is over, the app is ready to be used.” Students can also be granted special access if, for example, they need a specific app for a class presentation. During tests, access to the internet can be temporarily suspended.
Educational and personal use are strictly separated
The iPads can also be used by students at home. To keep the school and personal applications strictly separate, Jamf's school-mode is enabled once the tablet enters school property: all educational apps installed by the school are activated and updated, while personal applications are deactivated. This ensures that the tablets aren't a source of disruption or distraction during class hours. The shift to home-schooling in early 2020 took place without incidents, a situation that overwhelmed many other schools. With its combination of iPads, Jamf and the iServ cloud service, the Hermann Tempel School was best prepared. Frank Einnolf: “Working independently on the iPads was already part of our course before the pandemic began. We were able to easily transfer this concept to the spatially separated learning situation.”
We do not teach frontally, instead we encourage individual learning. Jamf is the ideal support for us.
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