Sphero Edu Jr™ IT Guide for Schools

Micah Daby Updated by Micah Daby

iOS/iPadOS Deployment

Apple School Manager is the primary way to deploy the iOS/iPadOS app of Sphero Edu Jr™ to a managed device pool in schools. This official management tool allows Schools to manage their device pool, disable certain functionality, and of most relevance to this document, deploy apps to the managed devices.

You can sign in at the official Apple School Manager portal here. You can then search for the Sphero Edu Jr™ app and deploy to the needed devices.

Apple's official support guide for Apple School Manager can be found here, and additional details about their education solutions can be found here. Do note that Apple School Manager can be utilized with other MDM (mobile device management) solutions, including many popular ones. If you use other MDM solutions for Apple hardware, please consult their support documentation and guides.

Chromebook Deployment

The Android version of the Sphero Edu Jr™ app, which is available on Google Play, is our officially supported version of the app on Chromebooks. If your Chromebooks are managed either with Google's enterprise or education admin solutions, then review Google's support documentation on how to Deploy Android apps to managed users on Chromebooks. Google also has additional guidelines and tips for deploying Android apps on Chromebooks in a school environment, located here. Below are some key steps and additional information that may be helpful.

Setting up Managed Google Play (Optional)

Google recommends enabling an app setting called Managed Google Play to deploy the Android version of Sphero Edu Jr™. Don't worry - this won't result in your managed students having access to Google Play without restrictions. Rather, it will provide a portal for your students to access only the Android apps you have whitelisted in Google Play. In this case, this means they will only have access to Sphero Edu Jr™. While optional, allowing users to use Managed Google Play can be a better user experience in some situations, and reduce network traffic bottlenecks compared to forced installations. If you want to enable Managed Google Play, follow the steps below. Otherwise, skip to the Deploying The Android App on Chromebooks step.

  1. In Google Admin, go to Apps > Additional Services
  2. Select your organizational unit of choice, and enabled Managed Google Play
Managed Google Play

Deploying The Android App on Chromebooks

You will need to "allow" Android applications on Chrome Devices. Without allowing this setting, you won't be able to deploy Android apps to Chromebooks.

  1. Go to Devices > Chrome > Apps & Extensions > Users & Browsers
  2. In the top right corner of the page, select Additional Settings
  3. From the Additional Settings screen, go to Android applications on Chrome devices under Additional application settings and select "allow".
  1. Now that Android apps are supported, go back to Devices > Chrome > Apps & Extensions > Users & Browsers
  2. In the bottom right corner, select the + icon, and select the Google Play icon (second from bottom)
  3. Search for Sphero Edu Jr, and from the app overview page, tap "Select".
  4. When deploying the Sphero Edu Jr™ Android app, you will have two core options. You can allow students to manually install from Managed Google Play, or you can force install the app to their Chromebook. With the latter option, you can also pin the app to the task bar after installation.

Location Service/Permission Requirements

Since the Sphero Edu Jr™ Android app scans for Bluetooth and handles automatic Bluetooth connections, it does require that operating system Location Services be enabled and Location Permissions be granted for the app. You can learn more information about Android location services and our apps in our technical documentation.

If you cannot scan and find robots with the deployed Sphero Edu Jr™ app, it is mostly likely due to various location related settings. Review the following to ensure that the app can scan and connect correctly.

Geolocation:
NOTE:
As a reminder, the steps immediately below are done in Google Admin for your organizational unit.

To ensure that ryou can connect in the Android app, you will need to ensure that location services are not blocked by Geolocation settings:

  1. From Google Admin, go to Devices > Chrome > Settings > Users & Browsers
  2. Under User & Browser Settings, Scroll down to the Security section (or search for it)
  3. From there, find the “Geolocation” setting. Change it from “Do not allow sites to detect users’ geolocation” to “Allow sites to detect users’ geolocation” or “Allow the user to decide”.
Google Location Services:
NOTE:
As a reminder, the steps immediately below are done in Google Admin for your organizational unit.

You may also need to enable additional location service settings. You can do so by following the steps below:

  1. From Google Admin, go to Devices > Chrome > Settings > Users & Browsers
  2. Under User & Browser Settings, scroll to the Android Applications section (or search for it)
  3. Look for a setting called Google Location Services and ensure it’s enabled
Chromebook Location Services:

Now that Google Location Services are enabled, users can turn them on for each Chromebook:

NOTE:
The steps below are done on the actual Chromebooks themselves, not on Google Admin.
  1. On the Chromebook, go to Settings > Apps
  2. From the apps menu, select Google Play Store
  3. From the Google Play Store menu, select Manage Android preferences
  4. From Android preferences, select Security & Location
  5. Under the Privacy header, select Location
  6. On the Location screen, toggle Use Location to On
Chromebook Location Services
NOTE:
If location services are not properly set, you will fail to connect in the Sphero Edu Jr™ app. If you are unable to connect after multiple attempts, please revisit the above location services notes.
Please contact our support team if you run into any issues with deployment or other IT needs. You can contact our support team with feedback or inquiries about bugs and features at support@sphero.com.

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