Apple Overhauling iPad in Education Program to Simplify Sharing Devices and Apps

[2457282]

I agree about the multi-user option needed but doubtful that the majority needs multitasking. I would argue if it's just a few techies that would truly use it.

For me true multi tasking is having two or more screens up at the same time. On my laptop/desktop, I do this often. Two documents to compare, two spreadsheets (not something microsoft know how to do), a website and a document so I can cut and paste. A document and a spreadsheet so I can write about the result of the spreadsheet.

No this is not a techie thing, this is a real world use case that applies to business and school, and just about anywhere where work is being done. The only use case where this is not needed is if the iPad is strictly an emailing/web browsing/ereading/gaming platform, where you truly don't do those at the same time.

 

[Doctor Q]

It's tricky for iPads in middle school, because some middle school students are under age 13 and some aren't. That distinction will remain, but having Apple make app installations easier will be a very welcome change.

 

[HenryDJP]

For me true multi tasking is having two or more screens up at the same time. On my laptop/desktop, I do this often. Two documents to compare, two spreadsheets (not something microsoft know how to do), a website and a document so I can cut and paste. A document and a spreadsheet so I can write about the result of the spreadsheet.

No this is not a techie thing, this is a real world use case that applies to business and school, and just about anywhere where work is being done. The only use case where this is not needed is if the iPad is strictly an emailing/web browsing/ereading/gaming platform, where you truly don't do those at the same time.

I never stated that multitasking in general is useless. I do that on my Mac daily. I said that it's doubtful that multitasking (such as multiple spreadsheets, watching a movie while surfing....blah blah blah) on the iPad is in high demand.

 

[s2mikey]

iPad has so much potential in education-- hopefully they can get the formula right to make these pilot programs more successful.

Yeah, there is potential there but it also has the potential to cost taxpayers a lot of money. Do these schools really need ipads? What's wrong with a VM setup or workstations that can be shared? Way cheaper and potentially more effective.

Of course, when you are spending other people's money it's easy to just say "eff it". Just hope this doesn't get out of hand. The public school system is very good at sucking up taxpayer dollars but hardly produces the results that they should with all of that money.

 

[springsup]

I never stated that multitasking in general is useless. I do that on my Mac daily. I said that it's doubtful that multitasking (such as multiple spreadsheets, watching a movie while surfing....blah blah blah) on the iPad is in high demand.

Here are two scenarios where multitasking is useful on the iPad:

- Communication. People often have to wait for a reply or don't need their entire concentration to communicate with somebody. They want to do other things in parallel. Keeping the conversation window visible in a margin maintains its presence in their mind and stops them from forgetting about it completely.

- Linking to content from other Apps (including the web). People share all kinds of content these days. In many cases, you don't want a total context switch when viewing that content - it has a larger context (e.g. your email inbox, or FaceBook wall, or Twitter stream, or a live iMessage or Skype conversation), and separating those contexts makes for a jarring workflow.

The interesting thing is how desktop OSes solve the latter problem: each content silo is typically within an App or website, in a window or browser tab respectively. However, there is no logical order to them - windows may be freely arranged in 2D space and tabs are an organisational nightmare once you get enough of them.

With iOS, Apple uses a navigation hierarchy paradigm to help you follow where you are (screens slide in and you progress left-to-right, like pages of a book). They could extend that with split-screen multitasking to give you context not just within Apps, but between them. That's the way I think Apple are going to approach it - it simplifies all kinds of workflows and makes iOS a really productive OS.

 

[Boomish69]

Been saying this for so long and now Apple wake up?? what the hell are they doing in Cupertino, I keep thinking there must be one massive sand pit with their heads firmly stuck in it!
Spoke to a US google rep a few months back who phoned our small UK school just to see if he could help with setting up their free google apps for education! They have a tablet coming out later designed just for education where apps & setup can be deployed from a master device simply by NFC..
As an education creator I keep trying to fly the Apple flag against all he anti-Apple IT admins but they keep shooting me & themselves in the foot, with such poor support...they have known about deployment issues for so long. Chromebook's are arriving in UK schools in waves now, supported by a well put together free Google service..I hate it but looks like they will be come the UK school standard but this time next year, by then Apple will be too late..

 

[HenryDJP]

Here are two scenarios where multitasking is useful on the iPad:

- Communication. People often have to wait for a reply or don't need their entire concentration to communicate with somebody. They want to do other things in parallel. Keeping the conversation window visible in a margin maintains its presence in their mind and stops them from forgetting about it completely.

- Linking to content from other Apps (including the web). People share all kinds of content these days. In many cases, you don't want a total context switch when viewing that content - it has a larger context (e.g. your email inbox, or FaceBook wall, or Twitter stream, or a live iMessage or Skype conversation), and separating those contexts makes for a jarring workflow.

The interesting thing is how desktop OSes solve the latter problem: each content silo is typically within an App or website, in a window or browser tab respectively. However, there is no logical order to them - windows may be freely arranged in 2D space and tabs are an organisational nightmare once you get enough of them.

With iOS, Apple uses a navigation hierarchy paradigm to help you follow where you are (screens slide in and you progress left-to-right, like pages of a book). They could extend that with split-screen multitasking to give you context not just within Apps, but between them. That's the way I think Apple are going to approach it - it simplifies all kinds of workflows and makes iOS a really productive OS.

Reading comprehension isn't certain people's strength around here huh? I never stated that multitasking on the iPad wasn't useful. I stated that it's doubtful that's it's in high demand outside of techies.

----------

Yeah, there is potential there but it also has the potential to cost taxpayers a lot of money. Do these schools really need ipads? What's wrong with a VM setup or workstations that can be shared? Way cheaper and potentially more effective.

Of course, when you are spending other people's money it's easy to just say "eff it". Just hope this doesn't get out of hand. The public school system is very good at sucking up taxpayer dollars but hardly produces the results that they should with all of that money.

Sorry to be off-topic but are you the same s2mikey that has a Samsung PN64H5000 TV?

 

[discounteggroll]

alright, at least it's a step in the right direction.

Configurator is still complete and unacceptable ****. I have had people burn so many VPP codes it's atrocious. So much money is wasted buying redundant codes and apps that should be free (depending on gen of iPad) because configurator strips them.

 

[Oletros]

Been saying this for so long and now Apple wake up?? what the hell are they doing in Cupertino, I keep thinking there must be one massive sand pit with their heads firmly stuck in it!
Spoke to a US google rep a few months back who phoned our small UK school just to see if he could help with setting up their free google apps for education! They have a tablet coming out later designed just for education where apps & setup can be deployed from a master device simply by NFC..
As an education creator I keep trying to fly the Apple flag against all he anti-Apple IT admins but they keep shooting me & themselves in the foot, with such poor support...they have known about deployment issues for so long. Chromebook's are arriving in UK schools in waves now, supported by a well put together free Google service..I hate it but looks like they will be come the UK school standard but this time next year, by then Apple will be too late..

Perhaps the IT people are against Apple for a very good reason and they are not "anti-Apple"

 

[PracticalMac]

long overdue.

Still not enough.

 

[jayducharme]

I've been a registered educational purchaser with Apple for years. A few months ago, I attempted to order an app for our labs and got a vague notice saying I was no longer authorized. Apple had changed its procedure for purchasing apps but never informed schools of this. And to make it more confusing, I was still authorized to purchase some apps and hardware -- but not some others. Their policies and procedures for education seem arbitrary and in a constant state of flux. Their communication about it has been poor. And their support might as well be non-existent.

It's going to take a lot more than that for Apple to win back the education market. The sad thing is, I don't think they really care. Their bread-and-butter is the consumer market, and I think they're content to stick with that. But they might find that as students are raised on Chromebooks from an early age and caught in the Google ecosystem, Apple's overall allure might begin to dwindle.

 

[springsup]

Reading comprehension isn't certain people's strength around here huh? I never stated that multitasking on the iPad wasn't useful. I stated that it's doubtful that's it's in high demand outside of techies.

I see some people haven't heard of politeness.

Not only that, but your point is thick - do you think that those things I mentioned are somehow techie tasks? What, do you think that only you have the brainpower to do other things while Skyping people or during an iMessage conversation?

People are already out there, doing these things. They are already stuck in front of iPads, in Skype conversations they wish they didn't have to give so much attention to. They are already sharing content which is best loaded by other Apps, and they have had to endure some really shoddy kind-of-workarounds for a very long time (such as embedded browsers within Apps) as a result.

This stuff is in demand. People are out there on their iPads every day, going through their emails annoyed that they can't just peek at the contents of that link somebody sent them without being yanked right out of Mail entirely.

There is nothing about this which is "prosumer" or techie or whatever. This is as mainstream as you can get.

 

[Boomish69]

Perhaps the IT people are against Apple for a very good reason and they are not "anti-Apple"

Your right bit of both but on the whole their are basically anti-Apple, I've built PC's since I was a teenager and run multiple studio's of Mac's as well as my own home network entirely of Mac's now, So I know both well, the tech guys I speak to have never owned a mac or an iPhone, yet complain about having to deploy them, they simply don't like anything they have to learn more about. Compared to the no of Laptops the school goes through the Mac's far out weigh any other device.
Tricky to generalise but thats a good picture of a typical UK school the teachers love the Apple devices but the IT dept hate em..it doesn't help with Apple's stupid way of deploying App's to multiple iPad's..and lack of support.

 

[whiter28]

Has anyone heard

This is all fine and dandy but I am curious to know if anyone has heard whether those of us with first gen Ipads in our classroom will be able to use them for apps and such. Apple requiring all there apps run on the 6.0 or greater iOS has really but a thorn in our side. Publically funded schools that are trying to focus on the student needs have a hard time funding an overhaul of there hardware. Does anyone know of any plans to add something like that to these current paper weights?