Find out how a group of schools in Cambridge are using Apple's iBeacon technology to deliver dynamic content for locality learning. A real-world case study from Locly

1. iBeacon apps deliver dynamic
content for locality learning
iBeacon
case study
Stephen Perse Foundation is a group of six
schools founded in 1881 that have always been
at the forefront of education developments.
The school recently rolled out one-to-one iPad
deployment across its senior and 6th form
schools, placing it in an excellent position to
explore the potential of new technologies for
learning such as iBeacon. Having heard about
iBeacon the school was eager to discover how
it could be used to enhance student
experiences and deliver location-specific
content to students of all ages and across all
schools.
Following an initial consultation with locly the
school decided to explore the following key
elements for phase one of a beacon rollout
project:
๏ a student iBeacon app
๏ learning zones
๏ self-discovery displays
๏ discovery / information points
๏ creating an open day app
“iBeacon technology is bringing a
whole new dimension to teaching at
SPF Schools. We are be able to take
our existing content and deliver it in
a way that has real-world context.
Discovery and sharing has never
been easier and the experience for
both teachers and students is simply
outstanding.”
Daniel Edwards, Director
of Innovation & Learning
SPF schools created two custom
beacon apps using locly. One for
students and one for open days.

2. learning zone cabinet of curiosities
student beacon app
locly developed a beacon app for
teachers and students to populate
with dynamic content using
locly.com. Content is very easy to
create; for example, sharing an
iTunes U course is as easy as
pasting a link. Any changes or new
content created will automatically
appear in the app on students’
iPads.
Content in the app is shown as
bite-sized ‘cards’ that students can
browse through easily. Tapping on
a card reveals more information in
the form of:
text, photos, video files, audio
files, interactive widgets,
extracts from iBook files,
Google Drive documents,
iTunes U courses and more.
The app content is locked-down so
that it is only visible to teachers and
students when they are nearby a
beacon. For additional security
reasons both teachers and students
must login to the app to access its
content.
The Cabinet of Curiosities is an
amazing learning space and was
the perfect place to set up multiple
learning zones with beacons. The
Cabinet of Curiosities now has 7
beacons for students to discover
as they walk around. Cards are
created for each beacon using
extracts from the school’s own
multi-touch books, which are
created using iBooks Author. They
also create content using
photographs, images, audio and
video files, plus some interactive
Bookry widgets.
Beacons are placed around the Cabinet of Curiosities
for students to discover. This example exhibition was
to commemorate the centenary of WW1.
Students can now explore the
Cabinet to discover content from
the beacon that is nearest to them
and discover more.
This room also presents a number
of interesting layouts and beacons
had to be placed very close
together in some instances. This
was easily configured by setting
the proximity radius of each
beacon in situ using the locly app.
The room is now fully beaconised,
and ready for each exhibition.

3. self-discovery displays
visual arts centre
Text, audio and video is
being used in the cards
and interactive widgets
like ‘before & after’ are
being used to great effect.
Digital art plays an
important role at the
centre, and beacons are
now being used in the
creation, presentation and
assessment process by
teachers and students.
There are 10 beacons
in the art facility with
one main aim; to tell
the stories behind key
pieces of art and give
each student, parent
or assessor an
enhanced interactive
experience
discovery points
poem & blog of the day
The school library now has its own beacon (see photo)
and reveals a different inspiring poem everyday for
students to discover. Students can also tap on a card to
open a Google Form to request a book.
A beacon device has also been placed at the main
school entrance to display a blog card in the morning.
Students can read this when they arrive, and it changes
to a different blog in the afternoon when they leave. This
beacon is also used to send notification alerts to
students via the app.
The Visual Arts Centre is a hub of
creativity at the school where
students have the freedom to
explore inter-disciplinary
approaches and experiment with
new and exciting ideas - the
perfect place for beacons!
The facility now has 10 beacons all
of which have one main function;
to tell stories about key pieces of
art, including information about the
artist, their influences, and how
they created the piece,
step-by-step.
Much of the content for the Visual Arts Centre was
created by the student artists themselves. They
include video, where they spoke about their work
and described the methods they used.

4. open day
custom
beacon app
With locly the school can control
when and where their app
content can be seen. One of the
options available to them is to
make content visible at all times,
not just when nearby a beacon.
The school used locly to create
an Open Day project. This
includes content from their
printed prospectus and it is
complemented with audio, video
and relevant pdf documents.
The Open Day app
includes a number of
pdf files which can
be opened in iBooks
on the iPad.
An extra ‘layer’ of
targeted content
aimed at Open
Day visitors was
created on locly
and linked to
physical beacons
around the school.
With locly
beacons can be
used to display
multiple sets of
content
The project was then wrapped-up into
its own customised app for parents and
visitors to download from the Apple App
Store. The app content was also linked
to physical beacons around the school
so that it became location-aware when
visitors were onsite.

5. sharing & working in groups
iBeacon technology introduces a new way of sharing and working in
groups. With no need for emails or codes, students and teachers
can easily share bite-sized digital content when nearby to each other.
SPF Schools and locly are currently rolling out the following beacon
functionality into the classroom:
M@locly w thelocly
project:
key points
✓ simple online content creation
with real-time app updates
✓ no coding, no software to
download
✓ use existing resources like
iBooks, pdf, iWorks and iTunes U
✓ interactive widget support
✓ input content creation in multiple
languages
✓ integration with Google Drive
✓ easy group content delivery
✓ scheduled content delivery
✓ make a device a beacon & file
sharing in one tap
✓ easy physical beacon setup via
the locly app
✓ customised app creation
for Apple’s App Store
iPad as a beacon
A teacher can long-press on
any card in the app to start
transmitting it from their iPad.
The card then instantly
appears in the app on any
iPads nearby.
annotation & return
A teacher shares a document
with iPads nearby, The student
then annotates it on their iPad
and returns it back to the
teacher and/or Google Drive.
“We are very excited about
our iBeacon project with locly.
It has enabled us to deliver key
content to students in a fresh
and engaging way that still
keeps the learner at the centre
of everything we do.”
Tricia Kelleher, Principal
google drive
Any documents shared via
the locly app will also be
saved directly into Google
Drive. Any group structures
will also be taken and used to
manage content delivery.
scheduled content
locly is great for ad-hoc sharing
but teachers can also set content
to be shown at a specific time and
date, and set the length of time it
can be shared for. Perfect for
planning ahead.
Stephen Perse Foundation Open Day App
appstore.com/StephenPerseFoundationSchools
Using locly a
teacher can long
press on any card
and share it with
others nearby.