In most cases, your child will not be assigned to play games and will not be engaged with social media for school work. Instead, you should expect to see lessons and exercises related to the courses that your child has been assigned.

Remember -- The school laptop does not limit your child to school-assigned websites. An application is installed on the computer that filters known offensive and dangerous sites, but it does not necessarily block gaming sites or safe social media sites. In addition, applications can be installed on the laptop. That means your child can surf to almost any website and can use any application that is installed on the computer.

If your child says he or she is completing assigned lessons, look for the Canvas website address (uview.instructure.com) in the address field of the browser window. However, keep in mind that your child might be completing an assignment at a math or reading intervention website, Khan Academy, Edgenuity, Zearn, IXL.com, or another website that is related to a course. Familiarize yourself with the websites that are associated with your child's courses.

There are times when it is useful for a computer user to have multiple web pages open to toggle between the pages more easily. To access multiple web pages quickly, a separate browser window can be opened for each page or several pages can be opened in one browser window to reduce the number of individual browser windows that are open. (Learn how to split a browser window into multiple windows here.)

Take a look at each browser tab, and switch to view a tab if you suspect it might be a distraction from school work. Have your child close the tab(s) that you determine should not be open at that time, and discuss your expectations with your child.

Browser windows can be minimized (removed from view without closing them). Minimizing windows allows a computer user to reduce clutter when viewing active windows. However, it is also a technique that can be used to "hide" windows so that people are not aware of a window's content.

Minimized windows are on the taskbar at the bottom of a Windows PC. They are located on the Dock of a Mac, which is usually located at the bottom of the window unless system preferences have been changed to move it to the side or to hide it from view until the cursor is moved to the docking area.

When you are looking at your child's computer, be sure to look at all windows -- minimized and active.

Checking the browser history of your child's computer can be informative if the browser's history has not been cleared. To examine the browser's history, click the History menu from the browser's menu bar. When viewing the history, look for websites that could be distractions for your child during "school time", and have a discussion with your child, if required.

Applications can be installed on the school-issued laptop at home. Although we do not prohibit the installation of additional applications, we do encourage you to monitor the use of applications that were installed on the school's device at home. Some of those applications might be easy distractions for a student who is struggling to stay focused on school.

Click the following link to read Tips to Check for Distracting Applications on a MacBook Air

Click the following link to read Tips to Check for Distracting Applications on a PC (Lenovo) Laptop