Selwyn House Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Guide 2015 School Year Introduction Technology continues to become more prevalent in our lives. The anywhere anytime nature of it enables us to access knowledge quickly and apply that knowledge to support thinking and problem solving. Technology is engaging and can be used to create and communicate. At Selwyn House we recognise that technology is a powerful means of personalising your daughter s education, and student-owned devices facilitate student choice over which application best suits their learning and communication style. Our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme allows girls in Years 3 5 to bring their own Apple Device to school if they wish to do so. It is not an expectation that every girl has her own device and the school has dedicated pods of devices for use in the classroom. Students in Years 6, 7 and 8 bring their own laptop to school. Making the decision to allow your daughter to bring a device to school raises concerns for parents. What security measures does the school have in place? What applications will be required? How are devices used at school? Our BYOD Guide seeks to provide as much information as possible to support parents with their decision. In addition to the Guide we will provide Parent Education workshops around the use of BYOD devices in 2015. If you would like more information please contact: Jimmy Ryan - ICT Administrator (j.ryan@selhouse.school.nz) Liz Fairhall - Director of Educational Technology (l.fairhall@selhouse.school.nz)
Minimum Specifications The following chart should help you in selecting and purchasing a personal device for your daughter to use while she is at Selwyn House School. While there are many options, there are minimum specifications that we require to support your daughter s learning at Selwyn House. Device Type MacBook Pro or MacBook Air ipad Platform MacBook Pro or MacBook Air ipad 2 or later 11 inches or more ipad mini (7.9 inch) or ipad (9.7 inch) Intel i5 or higher -- 4 GB or higher -- 128 GB or higher 16GB or higher Mac OS X 10.10 or later ios 8 or later Standard on all models Standard on all models Screen Size Processor RAM Hard Drive Operating System W ireless Applications you need to download and install on your daughter s device Laptop The following software needs to be downloaded and installed on laptops for use in school. Students should have ready access to an Apple ID for their laptop so they can download or update apps at any time at school. Apple ilife Suite (imovie, iphoto, Garageband), free from the Mac App Store Google Chrome (free) Microsoft Office 2011 or later ipad The following applications need to be downloaded and installed on her ios device for use in school. Students should have ready access to an Apple ID for their ipad so they can download or update apps at any time at school. Apple ilife Suite (imovie, iphoot, Garageband), free from the App Store for ipad Air or later Apple iwork Suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), free from the App Store for ipad Air or later Ultranet (free) Puppet Pals (free version is acceptable, Directors Pass $3.79) Explain Everything ($3.79) Tellagami (free version is acceptable, paid version $6.49) Book Creator ($6.49) Pic Collage (free)
BYOD Programme Details Who is responsible for purchasing education-specific applications on student owned devices? Selwyn House has moved most school software to the cloud (internet based) and student and staff accounts are provided by the school. Most essential and recommended applications are free and families may be asked to purchase some applications. Who is responsible for the maintenance and updates of BYOD devices? All maintenance for the hardware device, operating system, software and/or apps purchased by the family are the responsibility of the family. Families should ensure a quick maintenance turnaround for student devices. Our on-site ICT Administrator can assist with most minor problems but problems such as damage caused by dropping will need to be fixed by a specialist. What about internet filtering for my daughter s computer at home and school? The school has a secure firewall that takes care of internet filtering and protects students from malicious internet content. It is up to families to implement their own internet filtering system and usage rules at home if they choose to do so. How will students store and share their digital work? Students will have access to Google Apps and MySelwyn for saving and sharing documents. These services are available from any device with an internet connection and have dedicated apps on Apple ios devices in addition to Mac application software. eportfolios contain a record of students learning and can be viewed via the MySelwyn website. Do I need to purchase Insurance for my BYOD device? School insurance does not cover your personal devices. It is up to families to choose the type of insurance that meets their needs. Not all contents insurance policies cover damage incurred outside the home. We recommend purchasing Apple Care to extend the 1-year manufacturer s warranty for faults. What security will be in place to protect laptops/devices? All classrooms are locked during the times the students are out of the classrooms. Students are also advised to put a password on their devices. How will we ensure students remain cybersafe in and out of the classroom? Digital citizenship instruction integrated with classroom learning is an essential component of our curriculum. Selwyn House has a Digital Citizenship Policy for use of computers and other networked devices both internally and externally. The guidelines, rules, and recommendations shared in this document will be adhered to in the classroom and should also be reinforced at home. A copy of the Digital Citizenship Policy is included with this Guide. Students are not permitted to send emails outside the school without teacher permission. Which devices are acceptable/approved? The devices that make the minimum specification list mentioned on page 2 are acceptable for use in the classroom. If you have questions about whether a specific model computer will meet the requirements please feel free to our ICT Administrator, at j.ryan@selhouse.school.nz
What Operating System needs to be installed? Laptops must be running OS X 10.10 Yosemite or later. ipads must be running ios 8 or later. What if my daughter doesn t have a device at school? Selwyn House has a number of laptops and ipads available for use by students in Years 1-5. When a digital device is required to complete a task, teachers will book a pod for their class for student use. Students who do not bring their own device to school will not be disadvantaged. However it is compulsory for all Year 6, 7 and 8 students to bring their own laptop to school. What about malicious hacking? Students at Selwyn House receive digital citizenship guidance. If you have questions or concerns about appropriate computer use please refer to our Digital Citizenship Policy. Support for schools and families in teaching cyber safe practices can be found at www.hectorsworld.com and www.thinkuknow.co.uk What about file sharing? Students at Selwyn House can share files digitally using approved file sharing services such as Google Apps. File sharing services such as BitTorrent or cyberlockers that are generally used for piracy are not accessible at school. Although students will be bringing their own devices to school, Selwyn House s firewall will still be working when students are on site to protect our network and other students devices. What are the rules about games? Students are discouraged from playing games on their devices unless they are of educational value. Many games require connectivity to the internet to work, and this is blocked by our firewall in most cases. How many devices can students bring? A single device is sufficient for the classroom and all curriculum activity requires just one device. What are the rules about surveillance (monitoring student laptops)? All internet traffic from all devices at Selwyn House is logged. In the case of laptops, all students are required to have an IT Admin administrator account present on their laptops at all times. This account enables our ICT Administrator to access the laptop if a student has locked themselves out. Teachers and our ICT Administrator have the ability to view a student's screen and take control if necessary to ensure students are on task during class. Will there be assessments using computers? Some assessment systems used in schools have moved to online environments. These may included formal standardised assessments such as easttle, or informal assessments planned by the teacher. Class teachers ensure that a class set of computers is available for any online assessments. Can students use their devices during morning tea or lunch? Students are not permitted to use their devices during breaks at school. We believe in the importance of a balanced day and fresh air and time out of the classroom are essential for breaking up the day and revitalising between lessons.
Can I personalize the appearance of my device? Yes. Students can personalise their device by attaching stickers or custom cases. Students can also set their own colours and themes and customise desktop backgrounds and screensavers. Any customizations that slow a student s work rate aren t recommended. Will the school be providing laptop bags for the students to safely carry their computers? No, Selwyn House does not provide laptop bags. We strongly recommend families purchase a laptop sleeve for students to store and carry their computers in. A sleeve is thin and light, allowing for easy transportation and storage. Full-sized laptop bags are bulky and heavy and make transporting a laptop difficult. Sleeves can be purchased at almost all electronics stores. Does my daughter have to bring a charger to school every day? In most cases, no. Students are expected to bring their laptop or ipad to school with a full battery each day. All newer Mac laptops have enough capacity to sustain it for a full school day. If the laptop isn t lasting the day, or they are using more powerful software for extended periods, students can bring their charger to charge their laptop during class and break times. ipads have no problem lasting several days without a charge depending on their level of use, so a charger is rarely necessary. The battery can be conserved on both laptops and ipads by reducing the screen brightness, turning off the keyboard backlight, quitting unused programmes and avoiding playing games. As a parent, how can I best support my daughter at home with devices? We strongly encourage you to work as a family to set ground rules for the care, maintenance, and usage of devices. Families should have set work routines that allow for completion of Home Learning tasks separately from play or socialising on devices. Given the safety and family concerns of some internet content, we strongly suggest students use devices in such a way to provide family members a direct line of sight to screens and have on-going family discussions about appropriate internet use. Also, parents should have access to passwords for their daughter s accounts online. Families can also help by encouraging students to have only one program open at a time in order to engage more completely with one task. We also strongly encourage families to set ground rules about the use of online chatroom and social media websites. It is against the terms and conditions of some social networking sites to use them before the age of 13.