Information Technology Update – October 6, 2016

Social Media 101 Free Presentation Monday 24 October

I am always interested in listening to experts on advice and strategies that can best support our children in the use of technology. And something that caught my attention is a free Social Media 101 presentation organised by Ballarat Grammar which will be held at the Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, and all parents are invited to attend. At the presentation, leading experts will help us navigate the challenges of our children’s online world. Social Media 101 booklet available for purchase on the night. You can pre-order your $10 Social Media 101 booklet before the night by emailing Paul.Esmonde@bgs.vic.edu.au

VENUE: Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, Howitt Street, Wendouree

DATE: Monday 24th October 2016

TIME: 7pm to 9pm

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Year 12 iPads -“ decision to buy or Return

At the start of the year, all Year 12 students were issued a College owned iPad for them to use during the year. However, we are now coming to the end of the Year 12 year and prior to the Term 3 holidays, all Year 12 students were asked to complete a form indicating whether they intended to buy the iPad and pay the College $100 or whether they would return the iPad, cable and wall plug. We received replies from approximately half the students. For those students who did not reply, we have assumed they intend to purchase the iPad and their College account will be billed for $100. If you do not wish to purchase the iPad, please notify Elie (erowe@stpats.vic.edu.au )at the IT Hub. The iPad needs to returned to the IT Hub immediately after your last VCE Exam. Students returning the iPad need to return all supplied peripherals including the cover ($43), sleeve ($35), charging cable ($30) and wall plug ($30) and will be charged for any missing parts or repairs required to return the iPad to full working order.

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Find my iPad

Recently I had an issue where I had misplaced my iPhone at home. I knew it was home but it was not where I normally leave it. After a deal of searching and frustration, I utilised the Find my iPhone feature on my computer which causes the iPhone to emit a repeated high pitched noise and I located my iPhone very quickly!

The Find my iPhone/iPad feature on iPads and iPhones can be one the most useful features on the devices and has been really invaluable on several times at the College locating misplaced iPads. As I mentioned, it can also be set up for iPhones and iPods as well as Apple watches and Mac laptops. It is one of the key settings we ask students to turn -‘On’ on their iPad as part of the iPad Boot Camp. This is part of the iCloud setup where students can backup up to 5 Gigabytes of data from the iPad to the Apple cloud for free. It is in this setup that students are shown how to turn on the Find my iPad setting. Students are also encouraged to download the Find my iPad app onto the iPad and any other Apple device they may own (iPhone, iMac, Macbook etc).

Students can turn on the Find my iPhone app on any Apple device such as their iPad, iPhone or an iPod touch which will locate any iOS devices that have been setup to use the Find my iPad/iPhone feature with the user’s Apple ID. (There is also an Android version but is not an Apple App Store app.). In the case of a misplaced iPad, by getting the student to login to their iCloud.com account on a computer or by using the Find My iPhone app on an iPhone or iPod touch we can see the missing iPad on a map. You are able to select the -‘Play Sound’ option which activates a high pitch sound on the lost device. The Find my iPad app can tell where the device is located and the high pitch sound can help you to find its exact location. This has in fact been used on several occasions at the College and has allowed us to locate iPads that have been misplaced. Once the -‘Play Sound’ feature is activated you are notified by email

Find my iPad also has the -‘Lost Mode’ feature where you can see where your device is and you can track where it’s been. You can immediately lock your device and send it a message with a contact number. Whoever finds it can call you from the Lock screen without accessing the rest of the information on your device. This is particularly useful when trying to locate a lost device.

There also an -‘Erase iPad’ setting you can deploy. If you are worried that your device has fallen into the wrong hands the -‘Erase iPad’ feature allows you to activate a remote wipe to delete your personal data and restore your iPad to its factory settings. Find my iPhone will continue to display your customised message even after your device has been erased. Once you retrieve your device you can restore it from your iCloud backup.

It is important to note that all of these features can be used any iOS Apple device such as an iPad, iPhone/iPod once the Find my iPad/iPhone feature has been turned -‘On’ when the iCloud account has been set up on the device.

Instructions on how to turn on Find my iPad can be found on page 13 in the -SPC Handbook on Setting up your iPad’ manual on the St Pats Parent Support page at http://ipads.stpats.vic.edu.au/manuals.html

More comprehensive information on how to setup and use Find my iPhone/iPad/Mac/Apple watch at https://support.apple.com/en-au/explore/find-my-iphone-ipad-mac-watch