Not surprised. School District IT staff tend to not be very competant at this sort of stuff - they can install and manage Deep Freeze but that seems to be the extent of their abilities.
Though I do fault Apple a little here, if they're going to sell millions of units they can afford to write a doc for all school districts around the country to use to properly lock down the devices such that...
1. They're traceable if they are lost/stolen. This also removes the theft incentive if the school district can just remotely brick the iPad (especially w/ iOS 7's activation lock). 2. Prevent students from visiting illicit sites. 3. Prevent students from visiting prohibited sites (FB, twitter). 4. Only install authorized apps.
Cisco and some other companies offer pay-for products, but Apple should give schools the tools necessary to manage their fleets of iPads.
Best evidence yet that this technology has no place being issued to every student. Keep a lid on it in the school lab. Not so much because it doesn't have a legitimate use but because the little bastards can't be trusted. And their parents are probably no better. Old dad probably would be on xhamster.com with the kid's iPad.
More like, "Best evidence yet that restricting YouTube and Facebook is silly." What could they possibly do with access to either that is wrong or that they can't normally do on any other computer?
Device management wise, I think the mistake is letting them take them home at all. Within the school grounds they can be easily managed and maintained. Once you give them to the students to take home, you should expect to lose all control regardless.
As "The Big Bang Theory" Sheldon Cooper said while 'working' as a faux customer service rep in a computer store when being lead away, "By the way, a six year-old could hack your computer system. 1-2-3-4 is not a secure password!"
I take ur point. But not every organization is as smart as Apple. Most have people working for them that have the personalities of dented shit cans. Especially, in IT, and doubly so, in US School districts! I wouldn't trust most of them with a pair of scissors!
Just saying, on big time orders it's worth paying a team a few $100 grand to help get it implemented correctly and avoid the bad press!
One thing that is interesting about this program is each kid will also have an Apple ID. There is another big source of potential trouble for the district and Apple.
Indeed, the fact that Apple's devices (including the computers now) all require an individual consumer Apple ID to work properly is the biggest issue facing those who wish to deploy classroom sets, or work computers in general. They still haven't got bulk purchasing worked out properly and in most schools that I've worked with, having an institutional account connected to a credit card is a non-starter in any case.
There are numerous problems associated with using iPads particularly, in anything other than full "open" mode.
The blame is on the IT managers not the students. Proper configuration of an MDM system would have kept them out. The MDM has a separate admin password for all system changes. This is inexcusable. I'd bet the IT managers and techs (if they had any) never read the manuals.
OK, who is the mental midget who isnt using a MDM or Apple Configurator? I deploy many iPads and lock down the settings so much that if it even goes off campus without permission I know. BTW thats on a University campus.
I had no idea the LAUSD intended to lock down these devices. How futile. A school district's IT department is no match for hundreds of thousands of motivated kids with hours and hours of time to kill. Reminds me of my days in high school. They will never be able to stay very far ahead of the next hack!
That's like blaming the lock company and not the home intruder. I don't think students should be allowed to do what they want as long as they can find someone else to blame.
I would blame the lock company if they failed to construct a lock properly. Apple has documented how to secure iOS devices so this shouldn't have happened. Students are inquisitive so it doesn't surprise me they tried bypassing the restrictions (and succeeded). People are quick to blame a "tool" and give the user of that tool a free pass. Learn how to use iOS devices and how to configure them properly before giving them to anyone. I've been monitoring secure configurations of iOS devises since they first came out. Government installations have the same usage rules as schools and they have them locked down. School administrators need to do their own homework before telling students to do there's.
Most of these kids have six other ways to get to the same content. So how exactly are K-12 schools teaching students how to cope with the real world by pretending it doesn't exist? This is more about avoiding political embarrassment than preparing youth to cope with the digital world.
If this is a true "one laptop per student" type of program, there SHOULD be NO restrictions at all on the thing...I can understand having restrictions if this is a lab device, but from what it looks like, these were being distributed to many students who could not afford a home computer...and of course, they are going to want connectivity and social networking, etc...when they are at home. It just sounds ridiculous to try a take-home program like this and put restrictive access profiles and filters on the device.
Just my opinion. When I was that age I had a PowerMac and a PowerBook, and a fast cable modem to enjoy it all....in like 1997.
Most of these kids have six other ways to get to the same content. So how exactly are K-12 schools teaching students how to cope with the real world by pretending it doesn't exist? This is more about avoiding political embarrassment than preparing youth to cope with the digital world.
I predicted this would be a disaster before it started. The district is surprised. I'm not.
Seriously, I saw this coming 10 miles away, too! There's alot more dumber people out there than I thought. And the worst part, they are in the business of educating our future :-/ Seems the students should be the ones teaching!
These little bastards don't need iPads, anyway! I didn't even get my first iPad til a year ago and I had to PAY for it! Spoiled brats
The families or the students themselves should have to either buy or rent these iPads. At least then there would be some level of accountability and any 'out of bounds' activity would have a real-world repercussion.
IMO, home schooling or work-group style learning is far superior to the traditional American school model. Intelligent students are only brought down by class clowns and social miscreants and creative students who don't fit into a factory-like "educational" setting have little hope of actually learning. An iPad at home and Internet access gives all kids an intellectual and creative advantage... so long as they can be kept off Facebook or YouTube (which is a commenting cesspool).
If these students can't carry their iPads home, what's the point? And blocking YouTube is crazy. It's not all kitties in paper sacks. There are tons of great National Geographic and History Channel documentaries there.
--Michael W. Perry, My Nights with Leukemia: Caring for Children with Cancer
Comments
Though I do fault Apple a little here, if they're going to sell millions of units they can afford to write a doc for all school districts around the country to use to properly lock down the devices such that...
1. They're traceable if they are lost/stolen. This also removes the theft incentive if the school district can just remotely brick the iPad (especially w/ iOS 7's activation lock).
2. Prevent students from visiting illicit sites.
3. Prevent students from visiting prohibited sites (FB, twitter).
4. Only install authorized apps.
Cisco and some other companies offer pay-for products, but Apple should give schools the tools necessary to manage their fleets of iPads.
Deleting personal profiles is hardly hacking. Puleese ...
Best evidence yet that this technology has no place being issued to every student. Keep a lid on it in the school lab. Not so much because it doesn't have a legitimate use but because the little bastards can't be trusted. And their parents are probably no better. Old dad probably would be on xhamster.com with the kid's iPad.
More like, "Best evidence yet that restricting YouTube and Facebook is silly." What could they possibly do with access to either that is wrong or that they can't normally do on any other computer?
Device management wise, I think the mistake is letting them take them home at all. Within the school grounds they can be easily managed and maintained. Once you give them to the students to take home, you should expect to lose all control regardless.
I take ur point. But not every organization is as smart as Apple. Most have people working for them that have the personalities of dented shit cans. Especially, in IT, and doubly so, in US School districts! I wouldn't trust most of them with a pair of scissors!
Just saying, on big time orders it's worth paying a team a few $100 grand to help get it implemented correctly and avoid the bad press!
Chill, bro!
One thing that is interesting about this program is each kid will also have an Apple ID. There is another big source of potential trouble for the district and Apple.
Indeed, the fact that Apple's devices (including the computers now) all require an individual consumer Apple ID to work properly is the biggest issue facing those who wish to deploy classroom sets, or work computers in general. They still haven't got bulk purchasing worked out properly and in most schools that I've worked with, having an institutional account connected to a credit card is a non-starter in any case.
There are numerous problems associated with using iPads particularly, in anything other than full "open" mode.
"deleting their personal profiles"
What group of morons expected THAT would never be stumbled across?
Keep hacking kids! I'm proud of you!
Go LACES Unicorns!!
I would blame the lock company if they failed to construct a lock properly. Apple has documented how to secure iOS devices so this shouldn't have happened. Students are inquisitive so it doesn't surprise me they tried bypassing the restrictions (and succeeded). People are quick to blame a "tool" and give the user of that tool a free pass. Learn how to use iOS devices and how to configure them properly before giving them to anyone. I've been monitoring secure configurations of iOS devises since they first came out. Government installations have the same usage rules as schools and they have them locked down. School administrators need to do their own homework before telling students to do there's.
Just my opinion. When I was that age I had a PowerMac and a PowerBook, and a fast cable modem to enjoy it all....in like 1997.
Most of these kids have six other ways to get to the same content. So how exactly are K-12 schools teaching students how to cope with the real world by pretending it doesn't exist? This is more about avoiding political embarrassment than preparing youth to cope with the digital world.
Did the district miss something they should have done?
Seriously, I saw this coming 10 miles away, too! There's alot more dumber people out there than I thought. And the worst part, they are in the business of educating our future :-/ Seems the students should be the ones teaching!
These little bastards don't need iPads, anyway! I didn't even get my first iPad til a year ago and I had to PAY for it! Spoiled brats
The families or the students themselves should have to either buy or rent these iPads. At least then there would be some level of accountability and any 'out of bounds' activity would have a real-world repercussion.
IMO, home schooling or work-group style learning is far superior to the traditional American school model. Intelligent students are only brought down by class clowns and social miscreants and creative students who don't fit into a factory-like "educational" setting have little hope of actually learning. An iPad at home and Internet access gives all kids an intellectual and creative advantage... so long as they can be kept off Facebook or YouTube (which is a commenting cesspool).
--Michael W. Perry, My Nights with Leukemia: Caring for Children with Cancer