Dear Parent, The IT network at Kowloon Bay supports the Senior School s BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) model of technology provision for students. This model gives families a choice over the device their son/daughter uses to support their learning, both at school and at home. BYOD follows best practice in education and supports us, as parents and educators, in preparing students for life at university and beyond. In a BYOD model: The student provides their own laptop to support their learning The laptop meets the school s minimum hardware specifications The laptop has installed the school s minimum software requirements The laptop and software are owned by the student and the student is responsible for bringing a well maintained, fully charged and functioning laptop to lessons The school will provide the student access to the school s network when on the campus. Through the network they can access learning resources (via ilearn), print and access the internet via an educational filter The school maintains a loan pool which contains a limited number of laptops, available to students for a limited time when their own laptop is unavailable due to service requirements. To support families, the school has partnered with Senco-Masslink Technology Ltd (SENCO). SENCO is a service provider that works with ten other international schools in Hong Kong (see their current school client list later in the letter). They offer a range of laptops which meet the minimum hardware specifications and they offer the relevant software, at educational prices. In addition, laptops purchased through SENCO will be covered by their service and maintenance agreement, which includes a comprehensive warranty extending over three years. If you have further questions, please send them to me at bling@kellettschool.com. Kind regards Billy Ling IT Strategy Manager
Hardware and software minimum requirements Minimum Hardware Specifications Laptop with QWERTY keyboard, approx. 13-inch screen with built in webcam, 4 GB Ram, Working Wi-Fi External portable hard drive for back up of data Two power adapters (one for home and one for school) An inexpensive pair of headphones/earphones A protective case for the laptop Minimum Software Specifications Microsoft Office 2010 or later Antivirus software (with a valid subscription) Students in Year 10 and above who are taking Art are recommended to subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud. Students who own Adobe CS6 may continue to use their existing Adobe software. Please note, due to curriculum requirements, there may be the need to purchase additional software during the year. Adobe Creative Cloud As of June 2014, Adobe no longer offers perpetual licenses for the Adobe software. Adobe will only be offering their software via Creative Cloud as an annual or monthly subscription. Students can subscribe to Creative Cloud at the following website: http://creative.adobe.com/plans Select the Students and Teachers tab and the All Apps edition. Families may also subscribe to Creative Cloud via SENCO. Service and Maintenance Our experience shows the vast majority of issues experienced with student laptops are hardware related and almost exclusively relate to how the student has been treating their laptop. A comprehensive warranty that has been extended for at least three years is highly recommended. If the manufacturer offers accidental damage protection cover, this is also highly recommended.
When a student laptop requires attention, the school s technicians provide a limited first line of support and advice to families, regardless of where they purchased their laptop. If the laptop needs further service or maintenance, then the following occurs: For laptops which have been purchased through SENCO: SENCO will provide a pick up from and return to school service, which the school will help facilitate. SENCO will arrange the repair of the laptop within the terms of the warranty and correspond with the laptop s owner directly. While the laptop is being repaired, the school will be able to issue the student with a laptop from the school s loan pool. For laptops which were purchased directly from manufacturers: A comprehensive 3-year warranty is highly recommended. The warranty requires the laptop owner to take the laptop to the manufacturer s designated service centre. While the laptop is being repaired, the school will be able to issue the student with a laptop from the loan pool. *Note that most warranties do not cover physical or liquid damage. MacBook keyboards are NOT spill resistant. Lenovo Thinkpad keyboards and some other brands are. Liquid damage to a MacBook may require repair charges of around HK$7000. An inexpensive transparent keyboard cover can be considered to protect against minor liquid spills. Network access A student laptop will need to be able to connect to the school s wireless network. Each student will need to have administrator rights on their laptop to enable them to do this. Once connected to the school s wireless network, students will have access to the relevant learning resources via ilearn, be able to print in school and will be able to access the internet via our educational filter. Some parents may enable parental control features on their children s laptop. With this feature enabled, the school s IT technicians may not be able to access certain functions to troubleshoot issues that the student may be encountering in school. In such circumstances, we can only return the laptop to the student and can only proceed further if we are provided with the administrator access. SENCO SENCO is currently supporting the following schools with their laptop programmes: - Discovery College - South Island School - Renaissance College - Canadian International School - Hong Kong International School - Chinese International School - Singapore International School - Lutheran Academy - Harrow International School HK - Victoria Shanghai Academy
Frequently Asked Questions Do I need to buy a new laptop? If you already own a laptop and you are considering your son/daughter using it at school next year, please consider the following questions: Windows Laptop Owners: 1. Was my laptop purchased during or after 2014? 2. Does my laptop have at least 4GB of RAM? 3. Does my laptop have at least 4-hour battery life? 4. Does my laptop have working Wi-Fi? 5. Does my laptop have Windows 7 or a more recent version? If you answered YES to all these questions you do not need a new laptop. Apple Laptop Owners: 1. Was my laptop purchased during or after 2014? 2. Does my laptop have at least 4GB of RAM? 3. Does my laptop have at least 4-hour battery life? 4. Does my laptop have working Wi-Fi? 5. Does my laptop have OSX 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or a more recent version? If you answered YES to all these questions you do not need a new laptop. We also get enquiries if laptops purchased before 2014 cannot be used in school. The above are general guidelines. If the laptop is in good working condition and fit for purpose (i.e. runs a recent operating system version and the required software at an acceptable response), it may be used in school. Can the laptop screen be less than 13 inch? We think that screen size of around 13 inch is most comfortable. Screen size that is less than 12 inch is not recommended as words become difficult to read and the keyboard may not be of standard size. Do I have to buy a laptop from SENCO? You do not have to buy your laptop or software through SENCO. The spirit of a BYOD model is choice. SENCO offer competitive prices and an excellent service including the onsite pick up and return service. If you are buying a new laptop and choose not to use SENCO please take particular note of the section above titled For laptops which were purchased directly from manufacturers to ensure you are clear on the actions you will need to take to fix your laptop if it needs attention.
Notes on ordering from SENCO: 1. The purchase agreement is made directly between parent and SENCO. The school does not take any purchase orders and does not keep track of the order process. Please make any enquiries directly to SENCO. 2. There will only be an initial arrangement of delivery of purchased laptops and software to the school and distributed at the start of the academic year if the order is placed before 15 July 2016. 3. Orders received by SENCO after 15 July 2016, will not be delivered to the school. Families must arrange to pick the purchased items at SENCO s office at North Point. 4. Please follow-up with SENCO if you do not receive an acknowledgement of your order after 5 working days. I already have a laptop, can I just buy software and accessories from SENCO? Yes. Choose from Software and Accessories on SENCO s order forms. Note that you should use the Lenovo order form if you are buying software for a Windows laptop and the Apple order form for MacBook software. Which laptop does the school recommend from the SENCO order forms? All the laptops on SENCO s order forms will meet the school s curriculum needs. Some parents may be more concerned about the weight of the laptop. Students who will work with a lot of graphics may opt for faster processor speed and more memory or the ability to upgrade to more memory later. (Note that the MacBook Air s memory is not upgradable) We also notice that thinner laptops seem to offer less protection and are more susceptible to physical damage. Is the Senior School moving to an all Mac environment? The current plan is to maintain a mixed platform environment for students and staff, again keeping in the spirit of a BYOD model. How long does a laptop last before it becomes obsolete? We currently work on 3 to 4 years. So over the seven years of senior school, two new laptops will be required one at the beginning of Year 7 and the next during Year 10. Of course, technology moves very fast and this may change in the future. How often will I need to replace software? This is a difficult question to answer. More and more software is moving to being based in the cloud and you pay for the access to the latest version on a monthly or annual basis. Office is an example of this, Office 365 is now available in Hong Kong and can be paid for as a monthly or annual
subscription. Adobe is also only offering their software on a subscription basis from June 2014 onwards. This approach keeps your software up to date. Does the school set up the laptop and install software for the student? The school views the ability to unbox a new laptop, set it up and install software according to the instructions provided by the manufacturers as an essential 21st century skill. Parents are encouraged to work with their children in the process. Should parents & students encounter problems, they can contact the dealer from where the laptop or software was purchased. Students may also bring their laptop together with the software pack and license keys to the 3/F IT Helpdesk during break and lunch time. A technician will be available to provide assistance. Do I need anti-virus software for Mac? Although viruses and malwares are less prevalent on the Mac platform compared with Windows, they do exist and new ones are discovered from time to time. Anti-virus software that is being kept updated provides the protection to minimize the possibility of loss of school work, loss of personal information and the risk of students devices being turned into zombies to attack other computer networks. The school requires students devices to have anti-virus software installed to minimize the risk of disruption to learning. Why do we need two power adapters? It is recommended that the student keep an extra power adapter in the school locker. This is for cases where the laptop runs out of battery during school hours. The school does not keep spare power adapters to loan to students.