The fact that we will be rolling iPads out to all of our freshman next year is not nearly as scary as the fact that we still have to get everything in place before that point in order to make it successful. Fortunately, the plan is comprehensive and based on the best practices of other schools who have had successful implementations.
The two biggest areas of concern are infrastructure and training. Where infrastructure is concerned, we will be adding industrial grade access points that are centrally controlled. Our total installation should support over 2000 devices across our entire campus. We will also be adding 100x100 fiber and may keep our 50x10 cable connection.
Training is another animal. To make it most effective, it will be tiered. We will have a sample of faculty and staff receive their iPads and have a chance to familiarize themselves prior to the full roll out just before spring break. In the beginning, the iPads will be just for fun. Everyone will have a chance to explore what they can do and hopefully figure out a bit of the how. A handful of faculty and staff will have a chance to attend the iPad conference in Atlanta, and hopefully have the opportunity to come back and share what they learned.
Faculty and stall will continue their self education into the summer, but at that time we will also begin offering formal training sessions from in house faculty and staff as well as representative from other schools. In the fall, we will introduce training sessions with Apple in both small group and one-on-one format.
By that time, freshman teachers should be well prepared to begin using the technology with the new freshman.
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