School-Issued Laptops
Many school districts provide a laptop computer for every student in middle and high school that is used for learning. Students can take the laptop home so they can continue to learn and do homework after school hours. Some elementary schools also give a laptop to every student, but they usually cannot bring them home. Some middle school students have to leave their laptops at school, too. Your school will let you know their policies. If you are not sure, ask your child’s guidance counselor.
Some districts charge a laptop fee or an insurance fee so your child can have their own laptop. Students and parents usually sign a form when they get the laptop. The form says that students will take care of the laptop and the charging cable. There may also be fees parents have to pay if their child damages a laptop on purpose. The laptop belongs to the school, not the child or your family.
Schools that provide a laptop to every child keep the majority of their content online. Your child may not have many textbooks. Their books and resources are online. The books and resources live in a Learning Management System (LMS).
Students must have their laptops at school every day. It's a learning tool for schoolwork, homework, research, and online lessons.
It is important for students to stay safe when they are using their laptops. Schools will help your child understand how to be safe online. When they are at home, you must help them stay safe. Go to the digital literacy tab for learning about how to stay safe online.
The district manages and controls these laptops. There are rules about what your child can do on the laptop. Students are not allowed to do certain things on them.
They can’t install applications.
Students cannot use them to play games or visit bad websites.
Laptops have filters that keep students from going to sites that may be harmful to them.
It’s important for students and parents to know what students can and cannot do on their laptops. Schools can see what students do on the computer by monitoring the laptop. They can also look at the laptop's history. The history tells them the sites the student visits. Parents can look at the history, too.
Schools issue three types of laptops:
Chromebooks- a laptop that runs Chrome OS and uses Google Apps for Education. Everything lives in the cloud. Chrome OS is the same software that is on an Android phone.
Macs: Macbook Airs are thin, lightweight laptops that run MacOS. The software is like an iPhone.
PCs: a laptop that runs Windows software
Google for Education
Many schools use Google for Education. Each school has a private Google for Education site. Only the students in that district can use the Google for Education site. It protects your students. Google for Education provides your students with everything they need for their courses:
Word processing (Google Docs)
Spreadsheet (Google Sheets)
Presentation Software (Google Slides)
File storage system (Google Drive)
Forms (Google Forms)
Drawings (Google Drawings)
Maps (Google My Maps)
Websites ((Google Sites)
All Google products are housed in the cloud. You can access them from any laptop, Chromebook, or computer, but you need an Internet connection.
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