American School of Warsaw Grade 5 Laptop Program FAQ

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1 American School of Warsaw Grade 5 Laptop Program FAQ What type of laptops will students have? The students will be receiving Apple MacBook Air laptops with an 11 screen. These laptops will be brand new for the school year. They will have the Mac OS 10.9 installed along with a full line of application software suitable for the Grade 5 learning environment. Why Apple? Why MacBook and not a ipad? The ES Technology Committee explored and examined the options of using the PC platform vs. the Apple/Mac platform. After lengthy research and discussion the committee came to the conclusion that the Apple/Mac platform was best suited for the learning environment in the ES at ASW. The ease and intuitive nature of the interface along with the integrated software provided by Apple enables the focus to be on learning the subject matter and not how to use the tool. Once the platform was decided, the Grade 5 team examined what would be the best tool for their 1:1 learning environment-macbook or ipad. The team took a careful look at their curriculum, discussed the types of learning they would like to see in their classroom, and the types of learners they are developing. After this careful reflection the team decided the MacBook Air was the tool best suited for the creative and inquisitive learning environments in Grade 5. If the laptop is damaged, lost, or stolen who is responsible to pay for repairs or replacement? As stated in the ASW Enrolment Agreement the family is financially responsible to pay for repairs or replacement if the MacBook is damaged, lost, or stolen. What if the laptop is lost or stolen on campus? The student should report the MacBook lost or stolen to their teacher and/or the ES main office immediately so all action can be taken to try and recover the MacBook as soon as possible. As part of the student Responsible Use Policy the student is to keep the MacBook in their possession or placed in a secure location at all times, both on and off campus. The family is financially responsible for the MacBook whether it is lost or stolen on or off campus. Does the school have an insurance program for loss/theft/damage that parents can buy into? Currently there is no insurance program for the laptops that would cover loss/theft, damage. However, the school is actively investigating this with different insurance companies.

2 When will my child be bringing the Laptop home on a regular basis? During the first months of the school year each of the Grade 5 classrooms will be going through a series of lessons designed around Digital Citizenship as well as proper care and usage of the MacBooks. We want to make sure the students are well prepared for the responsibility of caring for and transporting the MacBooks back and forth from home and school. We will also be holding a meeting for all grade 5 parents to talk about the logistics of the grade 5 laptop program and strategies for working with your children at home. Parent Meeting: Monday, September 15th at 8:45-10:00 AM in conjunction with the Grade 5 Trip Meeting Monday, September 29 has been set as the day for students to begin taking the laptops home on a daily basis. Will the students be able to install any software they want on the computers? The ASW issued laptops are first and foremost a learning tool. It is not intended to be used for gaming nor should it be used for this purpose. NO GAMING PROGRAMS SHOULD BE INSTALLED ON THESE LAPTOPS. Students may install other software on their computers but only after they have completed the Software Approval Process. The Software Approval Process simply involves the student completing the Software Approval Form including a parent signature and giving it to Mr. Roadside (G5 Tech Coach). Once the software has been approved by the Tech Office the approved form will be returned to the student and the student may install the software. The student accounts on the MacBooks will have full administrative privileges on the Macbook. This will allow them to install any software they wish, as long as it is a legitimate licensed copy and not pirated software. Students are not to have any illegal or pirated software on their MacBooks at any time. Also note that any software purchased and installed on the MacBooks during the school year will be completely deleted when it is prepared over the summer months for use the following year. Will students be able to put stickers and other items on their laptop to personalize it? The students are not permitted to deface the laptops in any way. They are not to place stickers, use markers, pens, or paint on the surface of the laptops at anytime. The students will be able to personalize their laptops by setting desktop images, screen savers, etc. If the laptop is defaced in any way when the student turns in the laptop at the end of the year a fee may be charged to the parents.

3 Will the students receive protective covers for their laptops? The MacBook Air will be fitted with a plastic hard shell cover to help protect their laptop when using it and transporting it back and forth from school. Parents are free to purchase additional protection if they feel it is necessary. What if the laptop has mechanical problems and is not functioning properly, what should my child or I do? In the event the MacBook should malfunction in any way, the student should notify their teacher immediately and take the MacBook to the ASW Tech Office. ASW has two Apple Certified Technicians on campus trained to diagnose and repair the MacBook computers. If the issue cannot be fixed/repaired in a timely manner (10-15 mins) a loaner MacBook will be issued to the student to use until the necessary repairs have been made. Should the MacBook malfunction while at home or away from school the student should bring the MacBook directly to the ASW Tech Office first thing in the morning of next day they attend school. Please do not take the MacBook to any Apple stores or repair centers around Warsaw or other areas. Can certain aspects of the laptop be controlled by the parents? Are Parental Controls set up on the laptop to monitor usage and control access to applications and web sites? The Mac Operating System does have Parental Control features that allow parents to regulate and monitor certain aspects of the MacBook. These features will not be activated when the MacBooks are issued to students in the beginning of the year. We encourage parents to have discussions with their children about proper usage at home and set some ground rules for where and when the MacBook can and should be used at home. For children at this age we recommend that parents actively monitor their child s computer use by having them work in a common area of the home (not alone in their bedroom). Strategies parents can use at home with their children will be discussed at the Grade 5 Laptop Program Parent Meeting and a Parent/Student Laptop Home Use Agreement will be provided for parents to use to help set ground rules for computer use at home. Will the students get to keep the Laptops? Will they use the same laptop next year in Grade 6? At the end of the Grade 5 year the student will have to return the MacBook to ASW. At this time the MacBooks will be checked for damage and general condition. Over the summer they will be updated and prepared for the next Grade 5 class. At the beginning of the Grade 6 year each student will be issued a device that has been decided is best suited for their learning environment in the Middle School. What should I do at home to ensure that the laptop is being used as intended? First, we encourage parents to go through and discuss the ASW Responsible Use Policy with their child. You and your child are required to sign and return this form to their teacher. It is our hope that parents try to enforce the same responsible use of

4 technology at home as we do on campus. Secondly, we encourage parents to have discussions with their children about proper usage at home and set some ground rules for where, when, and how the MacBook can and should be used at home. For children at this age, we recommend that parents actively monitor their child's computer use by having them work in a common area of the home (not alone in their bedroom). Strategies parents can use at home with their children will be discussed at the Grade 5 Laptop Program Parent Meeting and a Parent/Student Laptop Home Use Agreement will be provided for parents to use to help set ground rules for computer use at home. Parent Meeting: Monday, September 15th at 8:45-10:00 AM in conjunction with the Grade 5 Trip Meeting Will the students have a secure place to keep the laptops at school? Each grade 5 classroom has lockable laptop carts that the students will use to store and charge during the school day. This cart will be locked when the classroom is not in use. Is there a way to charge the laptops at school? It is the responsibility of the student to bring the MacBook to school each morning fully charged. A fully charged MacBook should last all or most of the school day. However, this depends on the amount and kind of usage during a particular school day. Storage and charging carts are provided in each grade 5 classroom. If there is a need to charge the MacBook during the school day the students may place the MacBook in their assigned slot and plug it in for charging. What should students do about backing up their data? Backing up your laptop on a regular basis is good general practice for all computer users and should be done on a regular basis. We will be setting up a DropBox account on the student MacBooks that will be used to backup student files. We also recommend that each student purchase an external hard drive and use this drive to backup the contents of their computer using the Time Machine application provided with the Mac OS 10.9 operating system. This provides a full and complete backup of the MacBook, including document files, application files, photos, music, movies, etc. We will assist students in setting up the Time Machine back up if they purchase an external hard drive to do so. Will all the students work be done on the laptops? Absolutely not, the laptop is one of many tools for learning the students have at their disposal. Teachers plan their units and lessons to utilize the most appropriate learning tool for the different activities. There will be times the laptops are used a lot and other times where they are hardly used or not at all.

5 What will a student do in class if they do not have their laptop because it is damaged and is being fixed or was lost/stolen? If the laptop is inoperable and being fixed, the students will be issued a loaner laptop that they can use until their school issued laptop is fixed. If a laptop is lost or stolen a new laptop will be issued to the student and the parents will be required to pay the replacement cost of the laptop. What will a student do if they forget to bring their laptop into school? As stated in the RUP, each student is required to bring their laptop to school everyday. If they do not bring their laptop, this will be an RUP infraction. The student will have to complete all their work that day without the use of their laptop. What if my child already has a laptop or MacBook at home? We are requiring the students to use the ASW issued MacBook Air. These computers have been configured to work easily on all the school resources (network, printing, etc) and are set up with all the software that the students will be using in class. This way all students are equipped with the same device that will work smoothly and reliably on the school network making it easier for students to focus on the learning and not on how to get their computer to work in school. Will students have to bring their MacBook to school everyday? Yes, each student is required to bring their MacBook to school each and everyday. The MacBook will be one of many learning tools that will be used in the course of each day in grade 5 at ASW.