The concept of “Ed-tech” has brought about a sudden surge of educational apps for popular operating systems like Android, Windows 10, iOS and macOS. Schools and universities around the globe are migrating to tech-savvy means of teaching, compared to the previously used traditional methods. Bulky notebooks and heavy backpacks are being replaced with compact and high-utility devices like tablets and smartphones. This technological merger into education has brought about a range of advantages. Students all over the world consider learning on the tablet more fun compared to the traditional chalk and board method. It not only helps children visualize and understand concepts better but also enables teachers to demonstrate comprehensively.
Schools are adopting the on-to-one technique which means one student will be provided with one tablet specifically for learning. As students get to operate, view and learn on their individual classroom device, learning becomes more innovative and interactive for them. Although this method upgrades the overall learning experience, it becomes increasingly important for school authorities to ensure that the utility of this classroom device is limited to learning. MDM solutions enable school/university IT admins to condition the students’ devices specifically for classroom use. This is also known as Lockdown of classroom tablets or Lockdown tablets. It offers control over several vitals of the device which helps students use devices with undivided attention.
Here are the benefits of lockdown tablets for preventing device misuse by students
1. Controlled content accessibility
Educational institutes prefer limiting the use of school-owned/ student-owned learning tablets to educational apps and websites by blocking all other sites and software on the student’s devices. IT admins of schools & universities can selectively push learning apps on the device and block every other entertainment app. Similarly, specific websites can be whitelisted on the devices which makes all other sites inaccessible.
Teachers can share educational content in the form of files, presentations, video recordings via cloud storage enabled by MDM solutions. This monitored content flow prevents misuse of the device for entertainment purposes.
2. Remote access
IT admins of educational institutions are empowered via MDM solutions to remotely access the students’ devices to keep a check on device vitals. Admins can remotely take over software and app updates on the device fleet at once and conduct troubleshooting remotely. In case the device has been lost or stolen, IT admins have the power to remotely wipe the data on the device and lock it to disable its usage. This prevents students from swapping sim cards, selling the devices or performing other unauthorized actions. It also ensures that in cases of theft, the device is rendered disabled and unfit for use.
3. Location tracking
Lockdown tablets can be restricted to a particular location, such as the school/university campus by enabling a virtual geofence for the devices. If the students cross this virtual perimeter, the institute’s IT admins are notified of it which helps to keep all the school-owned devices within the permitted area. Furthermore, the location of the devices can be monitored using several options such as GPS, IP address, in addition to Geo-fencing.
4. Examinations
Teachers can lock students’ learning tablets into a “single-app mode” which will permit the device to run only one app. This feature is especially useful to conduct examinations where the students are made to use only one app and cannot access or fidget with other apps and websites available on the device.
5. Controlled device settings:
System administrators of schools & universities can keep close control of the devices’ settings. This includes permitting devices to connect to the Wi-Fi on campus and not elsewhere, allowing transfer via Bluetooth, allowing the use of incognito mode are some basic settings.
Closing lines…
Lockdown tablets for advanced classroom learning have assured benefits as the teachers can supervise all devices at once and monitor individual students’ progress too. Scalefusion is one of the leading Mobile Device Management (MDM) providers that helps the educational sector to manage and streamline their classroom devices specific to their teaching methods. The school or student-owned tablets can be locked down into “Kiosk mode” enabling single-app or multi-app adjustments on the device. Scalefusion’s user-friendly dashboard helps IT admins of schools & universities take charge of all the apps and websites that the students are permitted to use on their devices. Apart from these key highlights, Scalefusion MDM enables IT admins to control all other crucial aspects as mentioned above, to ensure an engaging learning experience for students.
