1. Designate one computer in your school to manage your ipads. This does not have to be a separate computer. I used the Resource Teacher's computer (because the 4 ipads were going to be used by her students) and I created a new/separate account on it called "iPad Manager".
2. Create a gmail account for your school. You will need this in order to create an Apple ID in the iTunes account on the designated laptop. Good luck with the birthday choice!
3. Tie your iTunes account to some form of payment. I used a $10 iTunes gift card just to get started. You need something even to download free apps. (I considered tying it to the school's "Pcard", but I heard of some iTunes account security issues and changed my mind.) You can sync up to 5 devices from one iTunes account. More than that and apps should be purchased for each device. Canyons District should have information soon about Apple Vouchers so that apps can be purchased in large quantities at discounted prices. This will be the preferable form of payment.
4. Download apps to this iTunes account. Notice that some apps are only for the iphone/ipod. Others apps may have versions for all devices. I downloaded only the free apps (lite versions) to get teachers started. I asked them to "test drive" the apps and see what best fit their instruction, before ordering the full version $$.
5. Name each iPad. We checked "sync apps" and unchecked "photos" and "songs".
6. Restrictions: Go to Settings, General and select Restrictions. Because these are student ipads for Resource instruction only, we restricted YouTube, Installing Apps, Deleting Apps and In-App Purchases. This means the only way to add an app is to sync it to the iPad Manager laptop. This will prevent students from accidentally purchasing anything.
7. Apple offers a great FREE option called "Find my iPad". It is simple to setup. Go to https://me.com/ (This is Mobile Me but you do not need a mobile me account) and enter your gmail account created in step 2. The step by step instructions are found here: http://www.apple.com/ipad/find-my-ipad-setup/
8. To use "Find my iPad", login to me.com with your Apple ID (gmail address and password) and it will locate your ipads on a map for you. If you have lost an iPad, from here you can display a message or sound, wipe it, lock it, or hopefully find it!
9. Click here to watch the iPad tutorials:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/guided-tours/
