You can use external powered USB hubs, which is what carts are, but without the cart. You can use Apple Configurator to set up the devices.
Controlling iPads in schools is a VERY complex problem. Before you can do it successfully you need to make several decisions and understand the cosequenses of those decisions.
You must prepare every device first. When devices are updated they might be erased. Backups need to be done if the devices contain individualized files and you want to save that data. Data includes apps and files. You need a large external drive to handle this. I am talking about a 1 terabyte drive or larger and 7200 RPM. If users are able to purchase materials for themselves, these must be backed up so that they are not lost when the device is synced. This could be the case when students are using their personal iPads in class.
Synced devices can be supervised or not. SUPERVISED DEVISES ARE RESTORED TO THE SPCIFIED CONFIGURATION. The configuration can be CLOSED or OPEN. You can automatically refresh every device - or not. This is a preference for ALL devices. You can REMOVE ALL APPS AND PROFILES CONFIGURATOR DID NOT INSTALL. This is a preference for ALL devices.
You can set up the LOCK SCREEN. The chooses are: None, Device or User Name, Custom, User Image. This is a preference for ALL devices.
Best of all, you can create and manage users and groups, assign supervised devices to individual users, back up and restore users' content and settings and retrieve users' documents. All this is stored IN YOUR SYSTEM. That is why you must have the storage capacity to handle EACH AND EVERY DEVICE.
I think this system was designed for use in a classroom where the teacher monitors the iPads and distributes and collects them as required. It has been expanded over the years but still has root in its programming where monitoring by administrators or tech is now being done. This can cause problems for the teacher who want to evaluate student work. Email seems to be a solution to this, avoiding the problem of differing point of view between the teacher and the tech or administrator/librarian who might be given the job of maintaining hundreds of iPads.
Study the Apple Cofigurator application and determine if it will do what you need.
On the App Store. Free
