FAQ Categories

 

Distribution Questions

Once a student is issued a computer, is that his/hers for the entire high school career?
The plan is for a student to keep the same laptop at all times.

My son goes to Careerline Tech Center (CTC); can he leave the laptop in his locker?
Yes, it can be left in the locker unless it is needed at the Tech Center for some reason.

Will the Middle School have computers come home or stay at school?
The plan is for laptops to go home starting in the sixth grade.

How should students identify their case?
Cases have a card holder with the student's name in it. Each laptop is numbered and assigned to a student.

How do passwords work at home?
Students should use their school password at home to access their files on the laptop. Students have been instructed in how to tell the computer that they are at home or at school.

If the student already has their own personal laptop, do they need this one also?
Yes, the school laptop will still be needed. The school laptop has software that the school uses in different classes. The only way for the student to be able to access these resources is to use the school laptop.

How long will it take to get the laptop?
Typically, it takes an hour or less. The amount of time is dependent on the number of people in line and the number of files the student has on the district network.

Does a parent have to be present to pick up the laptop?
No.

What if the parent does not want the laptop to come home?
Parents are encouraged to try it first. Many students will respect the laptop and accept the responsibility. If a problem exists,the school will work with individuals to find a workable solution.

How long before the program becomes available to the other schools?
The preliminary plan is for the Oakwood building to get their classroom sets in September, 2009. Preliminary plans call for the middle school students to get them when they occupy their new building. Some of these plans are dependent on construction time frames and are therefore subject to change.

What about electric cords?
The laptop will come with the power adapter and cord for charging.

Top of Page

What is Permissible?

Will we block WiFi?
The laptops will use WiFi at school. It should work at home as well.

Are the students able to access Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites?
We have granted access to these sites in the evenings and weekends. They are still prohibited at school due to the disruptions to class.

Will a student be able to delete their browser history?
Yes, however the school still has a record of their internet activity on our servers.

The laptop handbook makes a statement; "I will not change the configuration of the laptop." What does this refer to?
Some configuration options are blocked. Students are not allowed to defeat security measures to change settings.

Are they allowed to install software?
No, the school can only have school owned software on the laptop.

What about downloading music off their ipods and other devices?
Students may download legally owned music onto the laptop.

I use a program to monitor all of my computers in my house. Can I use this to monitor the laptop?
The computer will not allow software to be installed due to licensing restrictions.

Are there any blockers for instant messaging? Is there a recommendation for which one to use? Some instant messaging services such as AOL need to install a program to make their instant messaging work. This will not be allowed. Other services such as Google Chat work fine because they operate in a web browser.

Do I have administrative privileges to this computer?
No.

What about instant messaging? Are they allowed to do that out of school?
As long as it does not require a program to be installed, it may work outside of school. Due to the internet filter, some messaging sites may still be blocked.

What if students play games online?
On-line games may be played at home as long as the filter allows access to them. Games are often filtered under multiple categories and are not simple to unblock.

What if they download photos which take up a lot of space?
Students need to make sure they have enough space on their laptop for their school files. Appropriate photos may be downloaded as long as it does not prevent use at school. Photos may not be backed up to the school network.

We use a Verizon card for our internet access. Should we bring that in when we pick up the laptop? The software should be brought to the technology office so they can work on getting it installed.

Is someone monitoring internet use for proper sites?
The internet connection is filtered. This means that most inappropriate sites are blocked electronically. Some sites that get through may show up in a monitor for further verification.

Can students access YouTube?
Yes.

Can students access Google Image Search?
Yes.

If the student goes to inappropriate sites at home, will the school know about it?
Possibly. If the site is blocked, the school will not necessarily know about it. If the student gets to the site, it might appear on a log that is routinely checked. This monitoring should be considered secondary to the monitoring that naturally occurs in the home by involved parents.

Top of Page

Monitoring Questions

Is there anything on these laptops so that I can watch what is being done on the laptops?
The laptops have software installed for teachers to monitor what goes on in class. There is not any software currently on the laptop that allows a parent to monitor what is happening.

In other schools that have done this, do they have policies in place for dealing with bullying, etc.?
The schools we have spoken with have policies to deal with misbehavior. Cyberbullying is different from bullying only in that it is electronic. Most schools deal with both forms of bullying in the same way.

Top of Page

Teaching and Learning Questions

How prepared are our teachers for this?
Our teachers are learning how best to use these laptops. Teachers received their laptops at the beginning of the year so that they could begin that process. We are providing ongoing professional learning for teachers to understand how best to use this tool in their classroom and subject. We have dedicated professional learning days to this as well as provided teachers with 1/2 day per month to develop their skills. This will be an ongoing process for them.

Are there options in place for students to complete their assignments without a laptop?
The intent is for all students to take advantage of this learning tool. As extenuating circumstances present themselves, we will work to find acceptable alternatives.

How can we find out about copyrighted material rules?
There is copyright information located on our 1 to 1 web site that can help you learn about use of copyrighted materials.

Are you hoping to upgrade the computers so that the students can talk to students in other countries?
This should already be possible without any upgrades.

Will seniors be able to interact with people in their career area?
This should be possible.

In the future are you going to use docking stations?
Each classroom is equipped with a docking station. Student computers will work on these docking stations as needed.

When will we see the first results of the GVSU study?
GVSU intends to release a report at the end of each academic year for the next three years. The first report would follow the 2009-2010 school year so that they can include progress and data gathered over the course of an entire school year.

Is there a mechanism to monitor lesson plans and teacher's implementation of the technology? Building Principals monitor all aspects of instruction in their buildings, including technology.

What is the plan to have online courses such as Blackboard for students to take AP courses?
The high school already uses online courses from various sources including Michigan Virtual High School and ED2020. Some of our teachers have begun using Moodle, a Blackboard alternative, to post content from their courses.

How are teachers going to monitor what the students are on when using their laptops?
Teachers have a program on their laptops that allow them to electronically monitor what the students are doing in their class.

When will we be bookless?
As we review curriculums and look at new and revised curriculums, we will be actively looking for appropriate electronic resources instead of print resources.

Top of Page

Repair/Liability Questions

How are warranty/repair issues going to be handled?
The laptops come with a 5 year warranty. As parts break, they will be replaced with spare parts and the broken parts will be returned for replacement. Students with problems should come to the technology office where the repairs will be made. If need be, they will be given a loaner laptop until appropriate repairs can be made to their laptop.

Are the laptops marked so they are less attractive if they are stolen?
The laptops have an APS asset tag on them, the computer BIOS contains APS information and is password protected. The laptop case has an obvious APS logo. The student name tag is marked with 'Property of Allendale Public Schools' and has contact information on the back side.

Is there something stenciled on the machine itself?
Nothing is stenciled on the machine.

What happens if the laptop gets a virus?
Laptops come with an enterprise anti-virus product installed to help protect it. If it does not catch the virus and eradicate it, the student should bring the laptop to the technology office for further diagnosis and removal.

You talked about the physical damage to the computer. What about other technical issues such as hard drive failure? Is the cost of repairs passed on to the student?
The laptops have a 5-year warranty that will protect both the school and the student from warranty costs. Standard repairs will not cost the student anything. Damage due to gross negligence will result in charges to the students as defined in the laptop handbook.

What, if any, cost will the parent incur?
Damage due to gross negligence will result in charges to the students as defined in the laptop handbook.

Top of Page

Useful Life/Replacement Questions

When the bond expires, are there programs in place to replace the laptops or will we go back to the voters to fund their replacement?
The district is investigating ways to fund future replacements from sources other than bonds. Our intent is to avoid continuously returning to the public for more money.

Is there any chance that seniors will be able to buy their laptops when they leave?
Not at this time. The school will be taking the senior laptops and cycling them back down into the lower grades in order sustain the laptop program at the lowest possible cost.

Batteries degrade over time. What is the plan to replace them?
The district will budget to replace batteries as necessary.

Where is the long term money coming from to replace the batteries?
The money to replace batteries must not come from building bond money. At this time, the cost will come from the general operating revenue.

What happens when the computer is no longer usable?
The district will determine the best way to dispose of the equipment when it reaches the end of its usable life cycle.

How long do you expect these laptops to survive?
The district purchased the laptops with a 5 year warranty intending to fully utilize the laptops during that time frame. While industry typically replaces computers on a 3 year life cycle, we have routinely utilized school technology equipment for twice that long.

Top of Page

Miscellaneous Questions

What are some of the more serious problems that other schools have run into?
Locally, we are not aware of any significant serious problems at this point. Nationally, a few schools have made headlines because they cancelled their laptop initiatives claiming that they were not working. It is not readily apparent what factors led to their program failing. We are monitoring our program closely to ensure that we are doing all that we can to help it succeed.

Currently my child carries a 20 pound backpack to school. Will he have to carry 2 bags now?
Yes. As the district replaces curriculum, we will be looking for high quality electronic materials, reducing the need to carry textbooks to and from school. This process will occur over multiple years.

Will any of the student's data be sold for research purposes?
The district does not sell student data under any circumstance. There is a research program being developed with Grand Valley State University to independently determine how well our technology initiatives are working. Grand Valley researchers may have access to certain student data however, they will never 'own' the data and will comply with all Federal as well as school privacy laws.

If I have a child in the middle school, will he/she be using this for five years?
Our plan would be for each student to use the same laptop for the life of the laptop.

 Top of Page

Technical Questions 

What Word Processing programs are compatible with the one on the laptop?
We installed Open Office on the laptops. This program is Open Source software and is freely available. Links for a download are on our 1 to 1 web page. This software is compatible with most standard office programs.

Is the anti-virus protection scheduled to run daily/weekly or how often? What time is it set to scan? The anti-virus protection scans files as they are saved to the laptop. A schedule has not been set up.

Does the laptop come with Windows XP or Windows Vista?
The laptop has Windows XP Pro installed on it.

We have Windows Vista at home. Will we have a problem with printers?
We have installed many printer drivers on the laptop in addition to the ones that Windows has as part of its Operating System. New printers are constantly being manufactured. We will add printer drivers as needed. If your home printer is not available, the student can provide the printer make and model to the technology office and it will be added to the laptop.

Are all the plugs matched to the computers?
Yes.

What all comes with the laptop?
The laptop comes with a power cord and adapter as well as a laptop case.

How does the computer back up the files?
When a student logs into the school network, the laptop automatically synchronizes the files to the school network. These files then also get backed up to the district backup.

If they have a loaner laptop will they still be able to access their files?
Files can be copied down to loaner laptops as needed.

Do we have a backup plan in place in case our server goes down because a lot of people are going to be transmitting information?
The district has generator backup and redundancy built into its data center.

Top of Page

Wireless Questions 

What do I need to set up my laptop on my home wireless network?
Here are some basic instructions to help you check your wireless network settings. The screenshots/directions are for a Linksys round and may be slightly modified or look different depending on the wireless model you have.

Step 1:
Access your router's web-based setup page. External LinkClick here for additional help.

Step 2:
When the router’s web-based, setup page appears, click Wireless and select Wireless Security. Please note the current settings, and write down all three pieces of information below.

  • Security Mode
  • Algorithm
  • Shared Key or Passphrase

Step 3:
From the top wireless menu, select "Basic Wireless Settings" and note the SSID (network name) information. Once you have completed these steps, please write down the information mentioned and give it to your student to bring back to school.

Top of Page