Information Technology Update – May 11, 2017

iPad Neoprene Sleeves distributed to Year 7 Students

On Friday 3rd of February nearly 100 Year 7 students received neoprene sleeves they had ordered online from CompNow after a delay in supply. CompNow have agreed to replace the incorrect sized neoprene sleeves and have now come up with a replacement sleeve that has met with the College’s approval. However, the sleeves the College decided met our needs best had to be manufactured.

CompNow have informed me the replacement sleeves should be delivered to the College around mid-May. I will notify parents and students as soon as the replacement sleeves arrive at the College.

Find my iPad

Recently I had an issue where I had misplaced my iPad at home. I knew it was somewhere in the house 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

Device Free Dinners

One of the best technology web sites that has loads of resources to help support the safe and effective use of ICT among our young people is Common Sense Media. They are a not for profit organisation based out of San Francisco. For a while now they have been promoting the idea of device free family dinners where their slogan is -Amazing things happen when families choose to keep devices off the dinner table-. This is something I practice with my family every night and it certainly leads to quality family time with rich conversation occurring. I recommend you try this at home if you are not already and the link to the Common Sense page can be found below.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/device-free-dinner#sign-up

Mr Mark Holland

Director of ICT