Mobile technology provides the incredible ability to communicate, connect, learn, and teach. Educators are especially aware of the power of mobile devices as teaching tools—enabling remote/hybrid learning environments of recent years and more engaging in-person classrooms today. 

As effective as this technology can be as an educational tool, it’s often even more powerful as a distractor. Educational environments today face new challenges in managing both student productivity and data privacy, particularly with the rise of popular social media apps like TikTok. 

With intuitive and customizable Mobile Device Management (MDM) from Meraki Systems Manager (SM), educators can provide focused, optimized, and secure classroom experiences.

Protecting students devices…and their attention spans

Both university and K-12 students are spending an inordinate amount of time on TikTok while in school. This app and other social media platforms don’t only pose a threat to students’ learning capabilities, but could potentially threaten their data privacy as well. Schools today need to find ways to limit distractions and protect their students as best as possible. With Systems Manager MDM they can do just that. 

By utilizing SM, IT administrators can use integrated Cisco security tech like Cisco Umbrella to monitor and control specific application access on school-owned and (even more crucially) student-owned mobile devices. Any device connected to an educational network, either through an MR access point or MX SD-WAN, can be prevented from accessing any type of content, including on a per-app basis. These capabilities empower schools to protect students while on their IT networks and keep them focused on class rather than the newest viral TikTok.

Optimizing educational tools

The use of technology in educational environments continues to grow and evolve: as many as 94% of K-12 schools, for example, utilize school-owned tablets in everyday classroom environments. These can be essential for learning experiences, but without proper device management they can easily become distractors. 

With Systems Manager, school-owned mobile devices can become honed and focused, lean, mean teaching machines. Administrators can control what applications or websites are accessible on devices, and even lock devices on certain applications for certain time ranges. 

For example, during a trigonometry class, a tablet could be configured to access only a certain set of graphing or calculator applications. In the next period, the same tablet could be allowed access to an e-textbook for history class. Administrators can access a broad assortment of customizations for their school-managed devices. The solutions are endless, but also seamless and intuitive.

Administrators also have access to integrated security tools like Secure Client, Cisco Security Connector, or Cisco Umbrella that are compatible with a variety of devices across macOS, Android, Windows, and iOS platforms. 

Conclusion

Mobile technology has revolutionized the way we learn and educators recognize the potential of these devices as effective teaching tools. However, both school-owned and student-owned devices can be distracting in learning environments and the use of certain applications can leave students vulnerable to data privacy concerns. 

With Systems Manager, educational IT specialists can enforce rules on both managed and unmanaged devices, creating learning environments that protect students’ privacy and focus while in class. Learn more on how SM can be used to help optimize and secure learning environments at our Meraki MDM webpage.