Since students' worlds revolve around their iPads and smart phones, they've found ways to use the classroom technology (especially the iPads) for evil instead of good. Here are some of the tricks I've found and how to thwart that problem.
1.
iMessage: Students can iMessage anyone over a WiFi connection - via email address OR if they can create an account on your iPad.
The fix: set a restriction on your iPad that doesn't allow new accounts to be created. Here's how.
- Click your "Settings" icon, then "General"
- Click "Restrictions" then "Enable Restrictions" and enter a 4-digit code. (Remember this code!)
- Scroll down and click "Accounts"
- Click "Don't Allow Changes"
- Now students can't add accounts and can't access iMessage (unless they know your Apple password)
2.
X-Ray iPad: Students sometimes think it's
hilarious to change the color scheme to negative, making your iPad look like an x-ray.
The fix: simple! Triple-click the home key.
3.
Icon Home Screen: If you swipe your icons and you see the odd illusion of the icons both sweeping sideways AND staying behind at the same time, someone has set your home screen to a photo. I've found iPads that have a screen shot taken of the home screen, which is then
set as the home screen.
The fix: change your home screen picture and restrict photo usage. This also will keep them from taking pictures of any- and everyone.
- Go to your photo gallery and delete any pictures that you don't want students to access.
- Click your "Settings" icon, then "General"
- Click "Restrictions" then "Enable Restrictions" and enter a 4-digit code. (or enter your code when you're prompted)
- Scroll down and click "Photos"
- Click "Don't Allow Changes"
- Now students can't add or alter photos (unless they know your Apple password)
4.
The Upside-Down Screen trick: Rotating the orientation of the screen and the cursor so that it's 90, 180, or 270 degrees off. This happens on PCs.
The fix: hold down CTRL and ALT and press the left arrow or up arrow.
5.
Google Docs: Google Docs has a chat feature that can appear when you share your document with others.
The fix: unfortunately, you can't lock out this feature on everyone's account. I tell students not to use it and then just monitor, monitor, monitor. If you see the tell-tale sidebar with multiple messages, it's time for a lecture about proper usage of technology in class.
