Integrating iPads into the MSc International Business at Leeds – an update

Here’s the presentation delivered to members of the School’s Advisory Board on November 7th which updates on what has been achieved over the past three months, and ways to take it forward.

Comments and feedback welcome!!!

LUBS Advisory Board Presentation November 2012 from nforsans

For Students – help with configuring student devices to the University network

If you need help configuring your devices to access your University emails or use the wifi, please take a look at http://iss.leeds.ac.uk/helpdesk/category/students/mobile-computing-students

Lots of useful tips for using your iPad

Clipped to my Scoop.it site is an exhaustive list of tips covering every aspect of your iPad – get it there. We’ve covered a number of helpful tips earlier, and I will consolidate all those tips together soon so check again this page for the most exhaustive list of tips (ever produced!).

Bookmark synchronisation across multiple devices

Over the past year I have used various tablets, running both Android and iOS. Although at first it feels like having yet another device, there are ways to set them up so that you can enjoy the same experience, whichever device you are using.  Having all your bookmarks synchronised across multiple devices is of great help if you are looking to minimise the inconvenience associated with the use of different devices.

Android tablets

Android tablets work best with Chrome, Google’s lightweight and probably best browser around. Your android tablet automatically imports your Chrome bookmarks and keep them in sync. If you are using a different browser (Firefox, IE or Safari) best to export your bookmarks as an HTML file, and import them into Chrome – even if you do not intend to use Chrome as your mainbrowser. As long as you set Chrome with your Google account, all your bookmarks will automatically appear on your tablet and be kept in sync at all times. So changes made on the tablet will reflect into Chrome, and vice versa.   Unfortunately the feature is not available on Android phones as they do not make use of Chrome, but the feature will be rolled out as phones get upgraded to the latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich aka Android 4.0 for which Google has just released Chrome.

IPads

IPads work best with Safari, and you do not have to use a Mac to operate Safari – download Safari for both Mac and PCs running Windows Vista/7. On the iPad, Safari comes pre-installed so you don’t have to download it. As long as you activate iCloud on your iPad (go into Settings/iCloud and switch on bookmark sync) all your bookmarks will be in sync. To import your bookmarks from IE or Chrome into Safari on the desktop, you will need to export them from IE or Chrome into an HTML file. Then, double click the file and the list of favourites will appear in Safari. You can then arrange them into folders in Safari. As long as you have downloaded and activated iCloud (look for a forthcoming post on iCloud) your bookmarks will be kept in sync between Safari on the pc and Safari on the iPad – and the synchronisation is instantaneous!

Alternatively, Google has now released its (free) Chrome browser for iPads. The only downside of Chrome is that you can’t set it as your default browser on the iPad – this is one of many annoyances with Apple’s walled garden. This means any http link will automatically open in Safari, not Chrome. You will have to launch Chrome, then copy/paste the url in order to open it in Chrome. Having said that, I read Chrome is performing very well on the iPad. If you use Chrome, log in as yourself and all your Chrome bookmarks will automatically sync across all your Chrome devices (web, iPad and of course, Android devices).

Having all your bookmarks in sync across multiple devices is a winner and a real productivity boost.

Synchronising Gmail contacts with the iPad

One issue I’ve experienced from the start is the lack of built-in capability to synchronise your Gmail contacts with the iPad. This can be a pain if, like me you have come from Android and migrated to iOS, or if you’ve got your main contacts listed within Google servers.  There are apps that allow for synchronisation between the two devices but they’re not free and neither have been a straightforward affair.

There is a simple way which I have just discovered, thanks to the beautifully crafted Appstart which I mentioned in an earlier post, produced by appadvice.com and linked to by the iPads for education’s website, maintained by a consorium of Australian schools that trialled the use of ipads in secondary education. That involves setting up your Gmail account as a Microsoft Exchange server, instead of selecting “Gmail” in the list of email providers in the Mail app. If you have set up an Exchange account on the iPad to access your Leeds emails and calendar, this won’t be of much use as we are only allowed 1 connection to an Exchange server, in which case jump to the next section of this blog.

1. How to set GMail as an Exchange server

• In Mail / Accounts select “Ad Account”, then “Microsoft Exchange” – instead of the built-in GMail account.
• Enter your Google username and password, then hit “Next”
• No comes the important part: on the next page you will be asked to enter a “Server” and “Domain”. For your email server, enter “m.google.com” and leave the domain field empty. Hit “Next”
• On the next page you will be asked which Google services you want to sync with your device.  You can bring your Google Calendars and contacts directly on the device
• Unless you want to delete all your existing Contacts and Calendars on your iPad, select the “Keep on my iPad” option when prompted
• Once you’re finished, hit “Done” and you’ve managed to configure push notifications for your Google Mail account and get your GMail contacts synchronised across the devices.

Has anybody managed to get it to work?

2. Alternatively

Contacts sync for Gmail is the app I have used so far to import my GMail contacts onto my iPad but it requires manual synchronisation with the risk of resulting in duplicates an/or deletions of existing contacts on either device.

Projecting directly from your iPad

Below is the link to the VGA cable I used to project directly from my iPad. It is a standard iPad Dock Connector to VGA Adaptor, retailing at Amazon for £12.67

Main lessons from our 2012 pilot

The presentation below highlights the main lessons that we learnt in our 2012 pilot project, in particular the various ways in which students engaged with their iPads both during and outside of formal lectures and seminars. Further down the presentation is a non-exhaustive list of what can be achieved using iPads in higher education

IPad 3 tips: navigating the screen using your fingers

(contributed by a student on the course in 2012)

As I have used IPad 2 for several month, I would say that there are still many techniques i never heard before, but these techniques are very useful and efficient for users to know the charm of IOS.

Tips for navigating the screen using your fingers

1. when you put all five of your fingertips on the screen and pinch them together, you would find the home screen without tapping the home button.

2. when you place four of your fingertips on the display and slid them up to the screen, the multitask bar would be shown as well as the way you double tap the home button.

3. when you put four of your fingertips on the screen and slid them to left or right side, this would quickly help you switching between apps which you are using now.

These three tips would help you get rid of the home button and extend its life expectancy.

Welcome

Welcome to this blog. It will track the journey International Business academics at Leeds University Business School are taking part in while attempting to provide our students on the MSc International Business programme with innovative ways to learn and engage with the subject. Over time, it will provide academics and other keen iPad users with tips of what works and what does not, and become a platform for the sharing of good practices, both in and outside a seminar room.

For more about the project visit the About tab.