The Drum on Apple IDs

Why does my child need an Apple ID?

To install any apps (even free ones) on your child's iPad, you must sign in to the App Store with an Apple ID. More information about Apple IDs can be found here. 

How do I create the Apple ID?

The Parent Handbook Setup Guide (Section 4, page 11) contains detailed instructions for creating an Apple ID on an iPad without credit card or iTunes card details. You can access this document online from the Documents page on this blog.

How do I verify the Apple ID via my child's email?

During the process, a verification email will be sent to your child's school email address. You can access this email account online, from the Student Dashboard on the School Portal. Please click this link to open the Student Dashboard.

The page will look like this:

Screen capture of the Student Dashboard on St Catherine's School Portal

Click the Outlook icon in the main frame or the MyBCE Mail link at the top of the left hand frame (see arrows in the image above).

To login to the email, your child must enter their username (not their entire email address) and password. The username consists of all characters that precede the "@" in the email address e.g. Michael Smith might enter "msmith9"

Is my child old enough to have an Apple ID?

In Australia, individuals under the age of 13 are not legally permitted to own an Apple ID. You may wish to read the iTunes Terms and Conditions for more information. During the account creation process, you will be asked to enter a birth date. We recommend that you use your child's own birth date to avoid confusion, but you will need to choose a year of birth greater than 13 years ago.  Legally, this Apple ID will be owned and managed by you until your child reaches the age of 13. 

We highly recommend that you keep the Apple ID password secret so your child cannot inadvertently make inappropriate app purchases. You will be the best judge as to when you hand over the management of the Apple ID password, allowing your child to install apps independently. 

I already have an Apple ID. Why can't we use that?

If you used an existing, shared Apple ID to manage your child's school device, your child would have access to all the apps, books, music, movies and TV shows purchased with that account. Some of this material may be distracting in a school context or inappropriate for school use. Similarly, any messages or emails associated with the shared Apple ID would sync to your child's iPad.

In the interests of maintaining safety and limiting distraction for all students, we wish to ensure that the digital material that your child requires for school remains separate from family recreational material. Having a personal Apple ID for your child allows their iPad to be managed separately, and maintained for school purposes.

With a personal Apple ID for your child, whenever the iPad is connected to a shared, family computer, the syncing of apps, music and other media will be restricted to the files owned by your child's own Apple ID. This will ensure that only appropriate material is stored on the iPad that is brought to school. Again, this maintains a positive and safe learning environment for all students.

You can manage your child's apps by using their Apple ID to log into the iTunes or App Stores on your own computer (Mac or Windows). With automatic downloads (in Settings), activated on your child's device, any apps you download using their Apple iD in iTunes will automatically install. Please ensure that you always log out of their Apple ID to maintain its security on a shared or family computer.

In the not too distant future (if not already!) your child may want to purchase apps, music etc for themselves, perhaps using iTunes gift cards. For this, they require their own personal Apple ID. When they are old enough to take over the management of this personal Apple ID, they will also retain ownership of the apps they use at primary school - throughout their secondary schooling and beyond.

How do I pay for apps?

We recommend that you do not attach a credit card to your child's Apple ID, especially once your child is managing their own Apple ID password. A simple way to allow the purchase of paid apps is to buy iTunes or App Store cards. Major department stores often discount these cards so you rarely have to pay full price for apps. Each time you redeem a card with an Apple ID, you add limited funds to the account. This ensures greater control on spending with the Apple ID than a credit card would allow.

There is no school requirement for any credit or funds on the Apple ID. A free apps list is supplied on the Documents page (hard copies will be available on Setup Night). All paid apps will be purchased by the school. This arrangement allows us to take advantage of Apple's Volume Purchasing pricing. Registered educational institutions can purchase most educational apps at half price (when 20 or more licenses are purchased in one transaction). We will therefore organise the purchase of required paid apps for all students, so these savings can be passed on to families. A levy of $40 will be charged to each family via the school book list to cover the cost of ALL school apps required over the two year program.

When the school purchases an app for students via VPP, we receive a redemption code or link which we can email to your child. This enables each app to be installed on your child's device without further payment. Ownership of the apps is retained by the Apple ID so your child keeps the app even when they leave the school. Redemption codes will be emailed in the first week of school in 2014, to all families who have paid the $40 levy. The cost of purchasing these required apps independently would be double this cost.

"Rubik Apps" by Cesar Poyatos on Flickr [CC BY-NC-SA] 

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