iPad File Management

If you require your students to transfer work back and forth between the school server and school iPads then you need to use the app File Browser. Below is a poster which you can download for yourself and your students as well as a video taking you through the steps to use File Browser.

The poster specifically shows how to move photos and video from the iPad. File Browser allows other files including Pages, Keynote and Numbers to be transferred off the iPad. Just tap the share button, tap open in another app and select File Browser.

Download classroom poster – Filer Browser: Shift photos and Video from the iPad

Stratopherix

Stratopherix provides a range file transfer apps for iPad and iPhone including the original File Browser app that we use at PBAS. File Browser is not just useful in a school setting. If you want to connect your iPad and iPhone to your PC, Mac computer, stream music from devices or connect with an Apple TV then check out the range of apps provided by Stratopherix. These apps make it easy to manage files between all your devices at home.

Click here to view all the Stratopherix apps including File Browser (connect all your home devices including PC to iDevices), File Browser for Education, File Browser for Business, File Browser for TV (use with Apple TV) and Music Streamer (live stream your music from your computer to you iDevice).

Removing work from iPads

At the beginning of the year I thought it might be useful to remind staff how to get work off of the iPads and what options are available.

File Browser

This is the most effective in terms of being able to access student folders and the P Drive (Curriculum) on our school server. Students can create documents in Pages, Keynote, iMovie, Strip Design, Book Creator, Puppet Pals 2 and Brushes for example and transfer them directly to their student folder. Some of these apps like Book Creator and Strip Design, Pages and Keynote allow you to use File Browser straight from the app while others like iMovie, Puppet Pals and Brushes require you to save to the camera roll first and then use File Browser.

I have included a quick 3 minute video that helps explain how to use File Browser. This presentation was made using the Explain Everything app which is on our student iPads and is a great tool for students to present their work on.

AirDrop

AirDrop iconAirdrop_icon-3

Airdrop for iPad       Airdrop for Mac

The easiest way to transfer documents from one iPad to another. It is however limited when compared to File Browser. It is easy to activate AirDrop and then transfer video/images (from camera roll) or documents from Pages and Keynote. As time goes on more apps will likely incorporate Apples AirDrop functionality within their apps.

The great thing about Airdrop is that it does not require an Internet connection, it just requires WiFi and Bluetooth to be enabled. To read a quick explanation of how to use Airdrop click here.

Note: The year 9/10 students and their teachers can Airdrop work between MacBooks. It is not currently possible to Airdrop between iPads and Macs although would expect this to change in the future.

Connect via USB Cable

Apple have finally seen fit to allow iPads supervised by Apple Configurator (the software we use to run the iPads) to be connected and recognised by other Mac computers (unfortunately not Windows machines). There are a number of Mac machines in the school including the 4 iMacs in the primary area and 4 staff MacBooks (Justin, Allan, Nick and one not allocated yet).

Turn on the Mac computer, connect the student iPad and a USB. Transfer your video or photos by dragging and dropping from the iPad to the USB.

Note: All Lightning USB cables for the student iPads are connected to the iPad cart and cannot be removed. If you wish to use this method you will need to use the lightning USB cable that came with your teacher iPad.

Need Help?

Please ask! If you have any issues with any of the above 3 options please come and see me. I am more than happy to help with any trouble shooting. If you are in the middle of a class and want to transfer student work and I’m in my office I am always happy to come out and help – just ask. All 3 methods are fairly straight forward and will not take a great deal of time for me to help you with.

Email

Currently unavailable. Last year the students had the ability to email work from the iPads. Unfortunately over the holidays I had to reimage (unsupervise and re-supervise) all the iPads. This meant wiping all settings and content which included email settings. As email is configured manually on each iPad I have just not got to it yet.