FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS) |
The purpose of this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page is to try and answer commonly asked questions DC-G parents, students, staff, and community might have regarding the district's 1:1 Laptop Program for 8th grade students which will begin in the fall for the 2012-13 school year. We will try and keep this page updated with any new questions and answers. If you have a question, address the questions to Responses to questions can be found at More General information about the 1-1 program is available at 1-1-Main |
-----Recently Added Questions/Answers----- |
Q: My daughter uses iCloud to keep contact and calendar data synchronized across multiple devices. Is she allowed to setup iCloud on her school laptop so that her calendar and contacts will be available on the laptop? Yes, you may use iCloud to sync your contact and calendar data across multiple devices. |
Q: I was wondering if students that are in sports, can parents pick up their child's laptop for them if they leave it in the office before 4:00 if they make arrangements for that to happen? Yes, if arrangements are made ahead of time, the school will do its best to be accommodating. |
Q: I realized that a replacement cost for the laptop is not listed? I am sure there are factors depending on the damage, age (since they are getting them back each year) but can an approximate amount be listed & maybe with scenarios for damage? It would be great to know in advance if something happens what the cost will be. The approximate cost of the laptop is roughly $900. I have copied from the 1 to 1 handbook what it says about damage: 2 Damage or Loss of Equipment 2.1 Responsibility for Damage: The Student is responsible for maintaining a 100% working Computer at all times and shall return the Computer at the end of the school year in the same working condition. The Student shall use reasonable care to ensure that the Computer is not damaged. Refer to the Standards for Proper Care document for a
description of expected care. In the event of damage to the Computer which is not covered by the warranty, the Student and Parent will be billed a fine according to the following schedule: First incident - up to $100 Second incident - up to $200 Third incident - up to full cost of repair or replacement Notwithstanding the above, DC-G reserves the right to charge the Student and Parent the full cost for repair or replacement of the Computer at any time, such as when damage occurs due to gross negligence as determined by administration. Examples of gross negligence may include, but are not limited to: Leaving equipment unattended and unlocked. This includes damage resulting from an unattended and unlocked laptop while at school. (See the Standards for Proper Care document for explanations of “attended,” “unattended,” and “locked.”) Lending equipment to others other than one's parents/guardians. Using equipment in an unsafe environment. Using the equipment in an unsafe manner. (See the Standards for Proper Care document for guidelines of proper use). Intentionally causing damage to the equipment. Q: Also is there an option for an Insurance program on the laptops for replacement? We carry insurance on the laptops and parents can carry a homeowners rider policy if they wish but we don't have any insurance program for them. |
-----1:1 Program Overview Questions----- |
Q: What is the purpose or vision for providing laptops to all students?
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Q: How will this be paid for? The district will utilize the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) and the State Wide Local Option Sales tax (SAVE) fund to acquire the equipment. |
Q: Will taxes be increased to buy the laptops? The mil rate for the district will not increase; it will remain at $17.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. |
Q: Which grade levels are participating in this laptop program? In the first year of the laptop program, laptops will go to all 8th grade students. There are plans to expand the program in subsequent years. |
Q: Why is the program starting in 8th Grade? Construction of the new grades 8-9 Meadows building provided a great opportunity to prepare the building for a wireless laptop program. |
Q: What is the timeline for this program to expand to other grades? A plan being considered is for all students in grades 8 and 9 to have laptops in year two and expand to grades 8-12 in year three. |
Q: Will students use the laptop in all classes? This will be based on the subject and teacher lesson plans for a particular day. It is not expected that all teachers must include the laptop in all classes. |
Q: Why an Apple and not a PC? Apple is known as a leader in educational support with a wealth of resources to ensure the success of our program. The seamless integration of applications, cross-platform compatibility, and a secure operating system allow for maximum educational use with minimal support needed. It is easier to restrict access using a Mac; easier to keep virus-free; and easier to "push" applications to laptops at once using an Apple endorsed product. In addition, our faculty
and students have used Mac products for years, so it made little sense to retrain everyone on a new platform. |
Q: How many grades will eventually be included in the 1-1 Laptop Program? No final decision has been reached. |
Q: What are the hardware and software specifics of the 1:1 Laptop Program? Hardware, bag, power cord, 8 GB flashdrive |
Q: What is the district doing to help prevent theft at school? Serial numbers are recorded and asset tags are assigned to a specific student. It is expected that laptops will be with student or locked in their locker. Laptops are not to be placed
in someone else's locker. |
Q: How will digital citizenship be taught to students? Our plans are to have mini sessions at beginning of school year prior to laptop rollout. Our teaching of digital citizenship will continue throughout the year in various classes. |
Q: Who owns the laptop? The Dallas Center-Grimes School District owns the laptop, power cord, flash drive and carrying bag.. |
Q: Will students receive a new laptop each year? No. Students that receive a laptop as part of the 1-1 program will keep that laptop (during school months) until the laptop is replaced as part of replacement cycle. The same laptop stays with the student until the student leaves the district, or graduates, or the hardware is replaced. |
-----1-1 Financial Information----- |
Q: Will students have to pay a user fee? Students will be required to pay a $50 annual technology fee. |
Q: Is the laptop insured? The district carries insurance coverage on all equipment. |
Q: Do I need to carry insurance on my child's laptop? That is a question that parents will have to answer individually. Parents will be responsible for replacement cost should the equipment be lost, stolen, damaged beyond repair while in student custody, or intentionally damaged while under the student's care. |
Q: Do students have to buy their laptops? No, the school district is providing the laptop, power cord, flash drive and carrying bag. |
Q: Can graduating seniors purchase their laptop? No, laptops from the Seniors will issued to a different grade level the next school year. |
-----General 1-1 Information Questions----- |
Q: Is there anything my child will have to do prior to receiving the laptop? There will be a parent/student meeting prior to the start of school where use, care, policies, etc. will be explained. More information about that will become available as the date of the rollout is finalized. |
Q: How will the laptops be distributed and when will this happen? There will be a parent/student night which will be announced soon. Laptops will be distributed during the school day after the student/parent meeting. Details are being worked on and will be available as soon as possible. 1-1-Parent-Letter.pdf |
Q: What does each student receive? An Apple 11 inch MacBook Air, power cord, flash drive, and laptop bag. |
Q: Are files on the student's laptop backed up? It is the student's responsibility to back up their Documents to the district provided USB drive. Instruction for this procedure will be provided at rollout. |
Q: May my child pick up the laptop by himself/herself? We will handout laptops during designated days at the beginning of school and after required forms are signed and handed in. |
Q: Is the student required to take the laptop home every night? Yes and it will be the students responsibility to bring the laptop to school fully charged each day. |
Q: Will there be places available to charge the students laptop during the day? There will be a limited amount of charging stations in classrooms, there fore it is expected the laptop is brought to school each day fully charged. |
Q: Can I use my laptop at lunch? The expectation is that laptops will be kept in lockers during lunch time to prevent dame from food and liquids. |
Q: Can we buy our own bag? The district is providing a laptop case which offers maximum protection. The students will be expected to use this case at all times. The case can be placed inside a backpack if the student already has a book bag or backpack. |
Q: Will the school provide a flash drive so a student could work on something on one laptop to another one? Yes. The district is providing an 8 GB flashdrive for students to backup their class documents. |
Q: When will equipment be upgraded and replaced? The plan is to upgrade as needed and to replace every four (4) years. |
Q: Can I go on games at home? Yes, you can play web-based games while at home but may not install any additional software. |
Q: What if I am a new student transferring in to the district? Students joining the district late will be issued a laptop. |
Q: Can I get the student laptop during the summer prior to my student starting 8th grade? No. Summer maintenance and configuration occur in summer months and students will be provided with specific instruction on rollout day. More details concerning that event's time, date, location, and plan will be available soon. A letter has been sent to parents of 8th grade students. |
Q: Are teachers being trained how to teach using laptops? 8th Grade teachers attended specific curriculum inservice sessions during the 2011-12 school year as well as training specific to the wireless laptop like the students will receive. These inservice sessions will continue during the 2012-13 school year. |
Q: What has my child been told regarding proper care of their laptop? This information will be provided at the parent/student meeting and rollout day, via online with links from school web page will be a source of support and resources. These details are being worked on and more information will be available soon. Check the main page 1-1 Main Page for additional information as it becomes available. |
-----Support Questions----- |
Q: What support is there if my child encounters a problem? Students are encouraged to use the Help feature in all applications, AtomicLearning web-based video tutorials, the school technology 1-1 support website and their friends. The technology department will have posted hours for support and a helpdesk system where questions can be answered. After hours support will be available via an online district support page found 1-1-Parents or for 1-1-Students. This will contain links to help resources, FAQs, curriculum and safety links for parents, students, and teachers. |
Q: What happens if my child's laptop breaks? The incident must be reported as soon as possible or next student day. Depending on seriousness of damage, a loaner may be provided until repaired laptop is returned to student. |
Q: Will the students receive an owner's manual? Reference/support websites will be posted on the 1-1 web support site that will provide information and links to help the students become familiar with laptop. |
Q: What if there is a laptop/laptop problem at home? Due to the wide variety in home networks, the District Tech Department can only offer suggestions. Problems with school supplied software or the laptop itself should be reported immediately to the technology department upon return to school the next day. |
Q: Will students be able to use home printers? At this time, the laptops will not be able to print anywhere, home or at school. |
Q: Will someone from the district come to our home and help set up our home network? Due to the quantity of laptops, the district technology staff cannot provide this service. |
-----Policy Questions----- |
Q: What are the district's guidelines for acceptable use of technology? Those policies are available in PDF form HERE . |
Q: If my student attends an out-of-town activity or school event, should they leave the laptop at school or bring it with
them? The student is responsible for the laptop. We recommend the student leave it locked in their locker. |
Q: What If Laptop Is Lost, Stolen, Or Damaged? If the laptop is lost, stolen, or damaged, it should immediately be reported to the building principal or dean of students. If there is a technical problem with the laptop, report this to one of the 8th grade classroom teachers. As for parent financial responsibility, parents will be responsible for replacement cost should the equipment be lost, stolen, damaged beyond repair while in student custody, or intentionally damaged while under the student's care. |
Q: What if we don't want our student to have a laptop at home? The student can use an "extra" laptop while in class but will leave the laptop at school. The student will be responsible for checking the
laptop and bag into a designation each day. |
Q: What kind of contract or agreement needs to be signed? Laptop User Agreement form which will be signed by the parent and the student at the parent/student meeting. |
Q: Can parents use the student's laptop? Laptops are to be used only by the student and their parents/guardians. |
Q: May students use their laptops for non-school reasons? |
Q: Will my child be able to use their own laptop? No. The district provided laptops will all have the same software and configuration. |
Q: How will issues of inappropriate use be handled? In accordance with current building and district policies and the acceptable use policy. |
Q: Can I create my own account on my child's laptop? No. The laptop is for student use and will come configured and ready for your student. |
Q: Can I install parental controls on my child's laptop? No. Only district tech staff will have access to make changes to district provided laptop. |
Q: How will the district protect students from inappropriate websites when at home? There will be a client installed on student laptops. Although we cannot control all inappropriate websites the district has installed a filtering client on the student laptops to restrict access to inappropriate materials and sites, including visual depictions that include obscenity, child pornography, or are harmful to minors. |
Q: Can parents or students install personal software on the laptop? No. Parents are not to install software on student laptop. |
Q: If we leave the district prior to the end of the school year, what are procedures for returning the laptop? It will be part of the checkout procedure which includes returning other school supplied books, etc. |
Q: How will students keep track of their laptop during the day? It is expected that the laptop will either be with the student in class, with the student in the laptop bag or locked in the student's locker. Laptops are to be in student lockers during lunch. |
Q: Will student laptops be monitored during the day? The technology department has the ability to monitor all student activity throughout the school day. Teachers will also have software that will allow them to monitor and share screens with students during the teachers class period. |
Q: Can student's purchase their own mouse and headphones to be used with their laptops? Yes but any added peripheral device will be the financial responsibility of the student and parents. The school will not be responsible for repair of added peripheral devices or damage to the laptops. |
-----Access Questions----- |
Q: Is the student required to have Internet access at home? No. Internet access will be provided at school. School work can be done using apps such as iLife, and Microsoft Office applications. While home Internet access would be nice, it is not necessary. If a student needs to work on something, download it in pdf form for him to look at and work with it at home without the Internet. Any student is welcome to stay after school or come in early to use our Internet services. |
Q: Other than class, what other times during the school day will students be allowed to use the laptops? Before school, after school, and during study halls. |
Q: Will students be able to print while at school?? The laptops will not, at this time, be able to print anywhere. The district is trying to save paper and have set the laptops to not be able to print. Students are being asked to hand in papers electronically. If there is something that has to be printed, it can be saved to a flash drive and printed at school in the library or at home on another computer. |
Q: Will my student's laptop have enough battery power to use in classroom throughout the day? The battery will be able to have 5 hours of continuous use. It is not expected that the student laptop will be used each period, all periods, all day. The students are encouraged to put the laptop to sleep or turn the laptop off when not is use to conserve power. |
Q: Can my child put their own music, etc. on the school provided laptop. The students will be allowed to access their iTunes account. If the laptop needs to go in for repair, the media will not be saved. It is the student's responsibility to backup their files. |
Q: Will my child be able to keep their computer during school vacations? Yes if the vacation occurs during the school year (Winter, Spring, Thanksgiving, etc). Students will not be able
to have laptop during summer vacation months, from last day of school to first day of new school year. |
TO BE CONTINUED.... ANSWERS WILL BE PROVIDED AS NEW QUESTIONS ARE ASKED. |