Heather Marie Wells

Currently I've been working on a new website for my presentations and handouts.  I've also been working on catching up on my research readings. Which, you guessed it, means new blog posts!! Other than that, I've been working really hard on maintain a number of projects at Crystal Bridges.  We launched a new version of the app a few weeks ago and it's been going well.  And of course there are always new files to published for iTunes U. I'm also looking for some new tech podcasts.  Bring forth the recommendations, and thanks in advance!

In my last post I covered how Guided Access is being used to help us manage the iPads in our Reflection Areas. This time I want to share how Guided Access has worked on our iPod touches. The museum has 80 4th generation iPod Touches with our iOS app installed available for guests to check out. These are free thanks to the generous sponsorship of Cox Communications. After talking to colleagues at other institutions about their experiences, and trying out several alternatives, the decision was made to use iPod cases that do not cover the Home button. Even though covering the Home button could have helped control the devices, the benefits of allowing staff and knowledgeable users to easily service devices when needed seemed to outweigh the potential costs of leaving the Home button accessible. To conserve battery life and prevent new content from being installed on the iPods, we decided to use Apple's iPhone Configuration Utility to create a configuration profile to block access to ce