Setting up your child's iPad for school
It's all very well having a passcode on your child’s iPad so no one but them can access it, but what if it gets lost? Sure, you can use Find My iPhone, but if it's just been left somewhere at school and needs to find its way back to your child you need to make sure it is identifiable.
Your identification choices
are:
- Add their name and a contact number to the iPad case/cover – great as long as the iPad stays in the case
- Engrave their name and a contact number on the iPad back (a permanent option, but hidden if the iPad is in a case)
- Add their name, year, class number, contact number (or any other information you want) to the lock screen, so it's the first thing that is seen when the iPad opens. This is the easiest option, and it’s also one you can change whenever you need to, ie. change of year, change of phone number etc.
How to customise the iPad lock screen
You don't need to install an app to add your choice of
information to the lock screen. You can use any method you like to create an
image that you can save as a photo which can then be chosen as the lock screen
image. You could even handwrite it and
then take a photo of the paper with your child's iPad.
Alternatively, and the method I used for my boys’
iPads, was to create an image in PowerPoint. It is likely that one of the apps you needed
to download was either PowerPoint or Keynote, so why not use what you already
have. Just select a nice theme and create
one slide with the text you want. Run the slide show and take a screen shot of
that one slide.
I’ll run you through the instructions using the
PowerPoint app, although it’s almost identical with Keynote:
1.
Open
PowerPoint and select a theme your child likes
2.
Double tap each
placeholder (text box) and type your text.
You can move the position of each placeholder by tapping it once so you
see the solid frame around it, then dragging it to its new position.
TIP: If you’re using Keynote, the
first slide doesn’t always feature the theme you chose, so add a second slide and use
that one to create your lock screen image.
3.
Once you are
happy with your slide, tap the play button, in the top right corner
4.
Wait a second
for the tool bar at the top of the screen to disappear so your slide takes up the full iPad screen, then take a screen
shot. To take a screen shot on the iPad
just simultaneously press the home and power buttons.
5.
The image has
now been saved to Photos on the iPad.
To set your image as the lock screen:
1.
Go to
Settings
2.
Select
Wallpaper
3.
Select Choose
a New Wallpaper
4.
Tap on
Screenshots
5.
Tap the image
you just created
6.
If it doesn’t
fit the screen perfectly you can adjust it by pinching and stretching to adjust
it on the screen
7.
Make sure Perspective
Zoom is Off if you’ve adjusted the image
8.
Tap Set Lock
Screen
That’s it –
your lock screen is done!
