Apple Classroom Features
Apple classroom comes with an assortment of features to use as learning tools and help keep lessons on track. In this document it will highlight the features that we will be able to use on student devices.
How to start a class/lesson
From first opening apple classroom you will be able to see any class that you are teaching. Once you have looked at these classrooms you can choose the class you are teaching.
After opening a class you will be met with room with all the students in the classroom being greyed out and not connected. All you have to do from here is click on the three dots in the top right and select connect from the drop down list.
This will then ring every student who is signed into there student apple ID and is connected to the internet. Once students connect they should brighten up on the screen like below.
When students are connected like this is when you can start using the many features of Apple Classroom
Apple Classroom Features
Seeing the apps students are using/viewing a students screen
With Apple Classroom you will be able to see what your students are doing from your own device. The main easiest part of this is on the main screen where you can see what app a student is in by the app appearing next to the student.
When it comes to viewing a students screen you must first click onto the students profile and a pop up will show. This screen has a lot of options but the one you want to use is view screen.
This will allow you to see what the student is doing on their screen when they are in apps that have a lot of diffrent features like google chrome for example.
Making the class use a certain app
This feature is used to make every student use a specific app, even granting the ability to lock people into the app. There are two ways of doing this, the first is individual students and the second affects the entire class.
Individual use of the feature
To use this feature on a single student we must first select the student we want to use it on to bring up the pop up for the student. You will select open from the menu.
This will bring up a screen of apps which you can select from and if you want to lock the student into it you can by ticking the box at the bottom of this pop up window.
Applying to whole class
We can do the same thing but to the entire class by selecting a couple of diffrent options. First you will have to choose select at the top right of the screen from the screen with all the users.
From here you will be able to select multiple students by clicking on them.
You then can choose the open option from the top of the screen, it looks like multiple squares stacked on top of each other.
From here you can select an app you wish for all of them to enter and if you want them locked in you can tick the box at the bottom of the pop up.
Hide Feature
In Apple classroom there is a feature called hide which is pretty simple. When using this option you will be able to make kids leave the app they are in and take them to the homescreen.
The hide feature can be used by selecting the eyeball when looking at a students account or you can do it to all the students by clicking the eye in the top right.
Lock feature
This feature has a little more power than the other features as it can completely lock a student out of there Ipad. This feature is the lock symbol that you can find when clicked onto a student or at the top of your screen.
Using this feature will completely lock the students Ipad meaning they can not use it while you have the lock activated.
Remember you will have to unlock the students devices after locking them by clicking the same button.
Mute feature
This feature will just turn the volume off on an Ipad that you choose. This option can be chosen on a students profile or at the top of the screen to affect all students.
Some tips and tricks to help troubleshoot
If you are struggling to get some students to connect it might call the student instead of automatically connecting them, if this is the case the student just has to accept the call
If you try a feature and it won’t work for a couple of devices, retrying the command works a lot of the time to resolve this issue.
If some ipads won’t connect or receive the call at all the device might have bluetooth turned off or might not be connected to the internet. Just make sure bluetooth is on and the internet connection is there. Also make sure the student is using the school issued apple ID