Ipad Restriction apps

[giles.williams]

Hi i wonder if anyone can help we are a school and we have just bought 16 ipad 2 i am looking for an app to stop users accessing the settings on the ipad or restrict specific settings on it e.g. stop them from accessing wifi details i have seen some apps but the ipad needs jail breaking but this is not an option for us. if you know of anything that would help please let me know.

Giles

 

[DM51]

There are some settings you can change (in the pre-installed "Settings" app, in Restrictions) but these are fairly basic and not difficult to find. Depending on the age of the children, they could find this easily enough, unless you hide the settings app itself deep inside in a folder that you could create with a dull-looking name. A smart child will get into most things pretty quickly, in my experience...

 

[iCrank]

Never mind

 

[DSO99]

I am interested in this too. I Work at a large secondary school and we are in the process of deciding whether to purchase iPads or netbooks for one to one use by students. One thing I like about iPads is that senior maths students can buy a cas calculator app for a fraction of the price of a real one. But, the worry is that in an exam situation the students won't be able to use their iPads for obvious reasons (cheating). I am very interested in knowing if there is a way for the school to restrict specific apps so that iPads can be used in such situations like exams. Is there an app that does this? Could apple consider this with iPad 3?

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

I am interested in this too. I Work at a large secondary school and we are in the process of deciding whether to purchase iPads or netbooks for one to one use by students. One thing I like about iPads is that senior maths students can buy a cas calculator app for a fraction of the price of a real one. But, the worry is that in an exam situation the students won't be able to use their iPads for obvious reasons (cheating). I am very interested in knowing if there is a way for the school to restrict specific apps so that iPads can be used in such situations like exams. Is there an app that does this? Could apple consider this with iPad 3?

I'm afraid this cannot be done - as was alluded to in the previous posts. The iPad's operating system, iOS, does not allow one app to 'control' another and interaction between apps is very limited and is totally under the control of iOS. It's not a hardware issue that any new iPad could address - it's entirely a software issue and Apple have shown no inclination to go down an alternate path. Indeed to do so would require such a fundamental rethink of the philosophy of iOS that it seems inconceivable that they would contemplate it. So the only hope is that any such functionality would be built in to the basic iOS itself. We have already seen the next generation iOS - iOS5 - and it's clear that it's not built into that. Given that we're likely to be using that version of the operating system for the next couple of years, I very much doubt that we'll see any move towards what you're looking for in the foreseeable future.

Tim

 

[DSO99]

I'm afraid this cannot be done - as was alluded to in the previous posts. The iPad's operating system, iOS, does not allow one app to 'control' another and interaction between apps is very limited and is totally under the control of iOS. It's not a hardware issue that any new iPad could address - it's entirely a software issue and Apple have shown no inclination to go down an alternate path. Indeed to do so would require such a fundamental rethink of the philosophy of iOS that it seems inconceivable that they would contemplate it. So the only hope is that any such functionality would be built in to the basic iOS itself. We have already seen the next generation iOS - iOS5 - and it's clear that it's not built into that. Given that we're likely to be using that version of the operating system for the next couple of years, I very much doubt that we'll see any move towards what you're looking for in the foreseeable future.

Tim

Thanks for your reply. There has to be a solution to the problem of supervising what students are doing with their iPads in situations like exams. Perhaps a way of monitoring their use of the iPad in which a supervisor can 'watch' what the students are doing from one screen (computer) so that if they are cheating they will be caught. I'm eager to see something developed that will solve this issue as the iPad is too useful to be denied to students on the basis of the argument I have outlined above.

 

[chevyguy]

If the school is running WIFI, then use a password unknown to the students and they'll have no internet access. My understanding of iOS is that the programs run sandboxed, so one app can't pollute another.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

 

[DM51]

I am interested in this too. I work at a large secondary school and we are in the process of deciding whether to purchase iPads or netbooks for one to one use by students...

If I understand you correctly, the school (rather than the students) will own these iPads.

The school could therefore also retain ownership of the iTunes account for each iPad. Whenever a new app was required by a student, they would have to come to you for the account password to be entered, so you would retain control over purchases.

Access to new apps would not be possible without the student changing all the settings to set up their own iTunes account. That would not be difficult for them to do, but occasional spot checks would reveal any tampering and illicit apps.

 

[jmeier337]

Hello all,

New here. I work at a school district and we are looking into using an app called lightspeed mobile filter. It requires that installing apps, deleting apps, safari, and youtube be disabled in the general restrictions area.

This acts as it's own browser to replace safari. When used inside of a domain network with a Lightspeed security suite server, the kids shouldn't be able to dl anything that isn't allowed at the server level.