Apple is releasing a big update to its Apple School Manager service this week that allows administrators to quickly and easily setup, deploy and manage iOS devices and Macs being used in the classroom (and with Apple’s own Classroom app).
The entire Apple School Manager web portal is getting refreshed with a brand new user-interface and handful of features highly requested by users.
Among the new features is an Activity Manager, which will serve as one central location that users can monitor and take care of most bulk tasks. Searching and filter will be much improved with the ability to filter people by class along with other new search options.
Apple is also aiming to make back-to-school deployment easier with this release with the new version allowing users to download a CSV of Managed Apple IDs and passwords for new school seasons.
Another new feature that will be welcomed by administrators in this release: you can now add four additional administrators to your account in School Manager, bringing the total to five. In addition, the release includes improvements for quickly deleting Apple IDs.
Apple first introduced School Manager with iOS 9.3 last March as an tailored solution for schools compared to Apple’s Device Enrolment Program (DEP) or the Volume Purchase Program (VPP). Apple is migrating school administrators over from those services in the transition to the new School Manager, which is still marked as a “Preview” since its launch last year. Apple says School Manager lets admins “assign devices to an MDM solution; purchase apps and learning materials; and create accounts for staff, teachers, and students.”
Previously in beta, the new features above will be available to all administrators using Apple School Manager starting tomorrow.
