Each student in Years 7-12 in 2012 will receive a quality laptop, a long life battery, a significant range of preinstalled software already used in the School, an AC power adapter and a protective sleeve. The laptops are managed with service agreements for repairs, cover for accidental damage and dedicated staff.

 

The laptop was selected as it provided a combination of flexible options which the School regarded as being important, including a small footprint, performance, quality, long battery life, weight, maintenance and support, accident cover options and cost. It was important to select a laptop that could be used for multimedia activities in a variety of subjects.

 

The laptop remains the property of Abbotsleigh at all times and at no stage is the laptop owned by parents or students. Students are encouraged to use the laptop for their learning but must take very good care of the device.

 

Laptops will be replaced every three years. However, it is likely, especially in the first phase, that students will be given a different laptop every year to get the entry points of new laptops starting with Year 7 and Year 10.

 

No. Abbotsleigh will collect and return the laptops to a leasing company at the end of the three year period. 

 

No, students can only use the allocated laptops with software licensed to the School. Network and internet facilities will not be available on unsupported laptops.

 

Existing research, both internal and external, indicates that access to technology, integrated as part of the learning process, can significantly increase student engagement and promote high order thinking skills. At Abbotsleigh, technology has provided value by enhancing research, aiding problem solving, increasing collaboration, providing effective techniques for the presentation of ideas and publication of work, as well as improving communication.

 

Students will have their laptops with them and available to use throughout the day. It will be up to the individual teacher to assess whether the laptop will be used in a lesson. Some lessons will require intensive use of the laptops, other lessons will require it as a timely research tool or simply a word processor to synthesise thoughts and ideas. In practical lessons, the laptop will not be required.

 

No, Abbotsleigh will maintain a balanced view towards technology and will ensure that the skills required for the HSC are taught. Students will still be required to undertake a considerable amount of handwriting in preparation for examinations.

 

We have deliberately selected a reasonably light laptop to reduce the impact of weight for the students. Abbotsleigh’s timetable has fewer periods per day than other schools, which means students carry fewer text books each day. We will also be investigating and loading digital copies of textbooks onto the laptops if available, which reduces weight further.

 

Yes, each laptop is comprehensively covered for accidental damage; however, as with all support policies there are exclusions. Some of these relate to malicious damage and theft due to carelessness, such as leaving the laptop on a train. It is important your daughter does not leave the computer unattended where there may be a risk of theft.

 

In most situations, there would be no costs to parents if a laptop is stolen or damaged as our support policies will cover replacement or repairs. However, if the loss or damage has occurred due to carelessness, repairs or replacement may not be covered, and parents may be required to cover these costs.

 

The IT Service Desk must be contacted for all laptop problems and issues. If repairs are required, a replacement laptop will be allocated, if available. All claims and details are handled through the IT Service Desk.

 

We have selected a laptop with a large battery that should provide enough charge for use throughout the day. Students should charge the battery each night at home. Students are not expected to bring battery chargers to school. Battery life is very dependent on how the laptop is used. If it is used to play long videos, DVDs or games, it will reduce the length of time the battery can be used on a single charge.

 

Students are required to have the necessary equipment at school and in working order in preparation for class work. It is essential for laptops to be fully charged at the start of each day. Forgetting to bring a laptop or neglecting to charge batteries will be treated seriously.

 

Yes, it is very important that laptops are not left at school for security reasons. It is also important that the laptop is charged at home each night.

 

Some personally owned software can be installed. The software must be legal (neither copied, nor installed on other family computers if there is only one licensed copy) and must have some educational or functional value to support school work, such as a home printer or digital camera. Personal software will not be supported by the School in any way and could be removed should any problems occur with the laptop. File sharing or peer to peer (P2P) software, such as Limewire, or any software that is designed to bypass copyright protection must not be installed. The School will conduct, without notice, remote, random audits.

 

Music files can be stored on the laptop as long as they are legal and do not take up significant amounts of storage. Under the Copyright Act, copies of personally owned, legally purchased music CDs can be converted to a digital format and stored on devices such as laptops. Music legally purchased from online retailers such as iTunes can also be stored. Your daughter is responsible for this and must ensure any illegally copied or downloaded music is not stored on the laptop. Students should not have more than 10 GB of legal music on their laptop. Music files will not be backed up.

 

Video files can be stored on the laptop, but like music files, they must be legally produced or obtained. Full length, commercial movies or television shows stored on laptops are likely to be illegal copies and must not be saved on the device. Students must assess the copyright for all media files that are stored on their laptop and if unknown, these files should not be stored. Video files will not be backed up.

 

Yes, these home services can be connected as long as the Abbotsleigh network and security settings are not interfered with. Seek advice through the IT Service Desk.

 

Parents should investigate the possibility of setting up a wireless network at home. This will provide a flexible solution to share the internet and files as well as other services like printing.

 

No, we do not want students to use a different network or internet service other than Abbotsleigh’s when they are on the campus.

 

Yes, the laptops can be used in the boarding houses. The wireless network will provide access in these areas. Please note that there are specific time restrictions to control the internet as well as other controls for boarders.

 

The majority of students at Abbotsleigh use technology responsibly and there are ongoing education programs for these issues. Along with this, Abbotsleigh has a range of preventive and security measures, such as internet filtering, to help reduce time wasting.

 

Parents also have a role in the education process and should be familiar with the advice outlined by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (www.cybersmart.gov.au).

 

No, students will be entirely responsible for the content on the laptop. Students must not share logon details with anyone.

 

Each student is responsible for the data she creates. Students should save to the network regularly where routine backups take place. The laptops have been set to allow for automatic synchronisation of specific folders and files between the laptop and network. If students save data outside these folders, the data will not be backed up. It is also possible to cancel the synchronisation process, which is not recommended. Additionally, data may be copied to a CD or a USB storage device.