NP Digital Age Learning

FAQ's

What is the yearly fee for Accidental Damage Protection (ADP)?

The fee, for all students, is $25. If it is a financial hardship to pay the fee, you can complete a WAIVER APPLICATION 23-24. The fee or application for a waiver need to be paid or applied for annually.

If you choose not to pay the Accidental Damage Protection fee you will be charged for each required repair of your child's device. Average repair costs are $170. For charging purposes, our buildings have asked students to continue to take them home and charge them, however, arrangements can be made for devices to be stored overnight for charging at your child's school if this solution does not work for your specific situation. The fee does not cover lost or stolen devices. The cost for a lost/stolen device is $359.

Students can set up their Chromebook to work offline for Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings and edit files when they are not at school. If they are using this method, or if they are leaving their device at school and do not have access to technology in the evening, it will be important for them to communicate this to their teachers so that they are aware that your children may not be able to complete all homework assignments at the same time and/or in the same way that a student with Internet access at home would have to complete the assignment.

What if my child's does not need a device for home use?

The Google platform can be used with any Chrome browser, therefore it is possible that Google assignments could be completed on any device. However, we do not guarantee that our digital learning tools, purchased to support our curriculum design, including Google, will perform consistently on devices that do not use the same OS and browser that is available on our district-issued Chromebook. Please also be aware that non-district issued devices are also not filtered through our district and could produce different search results in an assigned Internet research project. In the interest of the best educational experience for your child, we do not recommend using a non-district issued device to complete work outside of school.

My child would like to change his/her password. What is the process for doing this?

Student passwords can be changed at any time on any device by signing up for and using our North Penn Desktop. If for some reason your student is unable to access this portal and has an immediate security concern about their account, during the day, please coach them to let their teacher know so someone can assist them. If this concern occurs in the evening, please email npfamilytech@npenn.org.

What does my child do with his/her Chromebook at the end of the school year?

The protocol for summer is that ALL Chromebooks will be kept at home over the summer. Your child will use the same Chromebook the following school year. If you have a strong concern about storing your student's device over the summer, please fill out this Summer Storage Form and your request will be considered.

What if my child's Chromebook breaks over the summer?

Summer Chromebook repair will be coordinated through NP Family Tech. Chromebooks requiring repair will need to be dropped off at North Penn High School.

Is my child's Chromebook being monitored?

Yes. We have an Internet safety filter that is applied to all Chromebooks and in compliance with CIPA. Our filter is Linewize. There is a digital wellness app for parents and guardians called Qustodio. You can sign up to use the app through these directions. Please note you will need to use the same email that you have registered with the district in order to sign up for this app.

The district has also approved a product called Classwize to assist teachers with monitoring a student's Chromebook while they are in school. This tool allows teachers to see student's screens while they are working and also logs all tabs they have open at any given time during their class. The G Suite of applications also archives all email, docs and chats that are created by students. Access to the review of this data is only available to a select few administrators.

What are our children being taught about being safe online?

In addition to the Library curriculum that covers the topic of digital citizenship in grades K-7, all of our 6-12th graders will be going through an extra mini-course on Digital Citizenship. In this course they will focus on the topics of online safety, digital etiquette, information privacy, cyberbullying, plagiarism, and social networking. As an assessment of their learning, they will each created a Digital Passport in their Grade Level Google Classroom. See our Digital Citizenship tab above for additional resources for you to use with your child(ren) at home.

Is there a camera and can the district enable it remotely?

Yes there is a camera on the Chromebook and it is enabled for all students. The district does not have any software that is installed to remotely control the cameras.

Is my child allowed to install apps/extensions?

Apps and extensions that are approved for educational use are allowed to be installed. Teachers will communicate approved apps to students.

What resources do they have access to on their Chromebooks?

Students have access the suite of apps as listed in our GAFE letter. This includes email and chat, which for 13 and under, is restricted to internal accounts only. All chats and emails are archived. Additionally, students will have access to digital curriculum materials as approved by the district, the curriculum department, and/or teachers. This includes a restricted version of YouTube. The district has the ability to approve videos for use in the classroom and to flag inappropriate content if discovered.

Does insurance cover theft?

No, the insurance does not cover theft of the device. The device purchase price will be under most homeowners insurance deductibles. The initial purchase price through education volume discounts was $359. We are not tracking the devices by location. We will be spending time making sure students understand the importance of securing their devices at all time. Guidelines and Policies can be viewed here.
We would ask for your support in reminding your child(ren) about the responsibility of the device use when they are at home. Loss or intentional damage to the device will be addressed using the same guidelines that are in place for lost textbooks and/or discipline policies. In addition, if the Chromebook is stolen, a police report must be filed.

Is the Chromebook insurance fee refunded at the end of the year?

No, the fee is used to pay for the insurance over the life of the device. It is a yearly fee. This fee will be non-refundable 10 days after the issue date of the child's Chromebook.

I understand that Google Apps for Education is Free but doesn't Google really get something out of it?

Read about Google's trust policy and commitment to education here. We are working with a Google partner to provide staff development for our teachers. He shared with us that in his conversations with Google they continue to support that Google Apps for Education (GAFE) will always be free.

Should eye strain be a concern for students being on the Chromebooks for an extended amount of time?

In the classroom, students are not taught fully online. The Chromebooks will be used as an integrated tool for teachers to have students collaborate and participate in curriculum activities. This means that teachers will still be using paper and pencil, discussion and demonstration that will not have students working on the Chromebook.

Is the infrastructure and hardware capable of taking on so many laptops?

Yes. The district is upgraded wireless in all buildings and also is increasing our Internet bandwidth to 5 GB. This increased capacity will also include a load balanced connection between two providers to provide for redundancy in case of an outage with one of our providers. Additionally, we are using Google for the core productivity functions in our classrooms and administration. Google provides unlimited storage in our protected NPSD Google portal, which will eliminate the need for additional “in-house” storage.

Have you looked into using VMWare for students who already have access to a laptop or computer? We have looked into this option. However, the infrastructure needed to support VMWare would be more expensive than our current plan.