Laptops

ASL supports effective use of technology, not use of technology for technology’s sake. Consequently, the type and frequency of use will vary based on the curriculum, the teacher, and the student. The laptop will be used when it is the appropriate learning tool for a lesson or activity.

Much of the writing students do in Grade 5 is done using GoogleDocs, so students can easily access their work on their school laptop or a home computer. For other projects, in addition to Apple’s suite of multimedia software (Music, Photos, iMovie, and GarageBand), the laptops will also have educational applications as chosen by the teachers.

Laptops are school-owned computers for school-related use. Because the school owns the laptops, only software licensed by the school can be installed. Students won’t be allowed to install their own software, even if they own licenses for it.

Students are standard users on their laptops, which means that they won’t be able to do anything that requires an administrative password.

Grade 5 students will be making use of GoogleDrive to both back-up all of their files and as a way to access files at home. If students create multimedia projects that are too big to be stored on GoogleDrive, they will be encouraged to back up that work to a personal external hard drive or USB thumb drive.

Since Grade 5 laptops get charged during the day whenever they are stored in their cabinets, they shouldn't need to be charged during class time. In the event that a laptop does need to be plugged in during a class, chargers are available from the grade-level aides or the technology staff.

Although ASL is a safe environment, students are told that they must always have their laptop in their possession or keep it safe in the laptop cabinet.

ASL uses Gmail for students and faculty. Parents do not have ASL Gmail accounts. If you want or need to access your child’s account, you may ask your child for his/her password.

In addition to using the computers as part of their daily educational program, students will learn about technology. They will practice the importance of using passwords, safe file storage, careful use of equipment, and file naming strategies. They will learn about making good judgments when it comes to what they say in emails and what web sites they visit. They will be operating in an environment where privacy is respected and required.

Keyboarding is taught in the Lower School but there are no formal lessons in Middle School. ASL uses Typing Club, which is a web-based program that can be used at school and at home. Grade 5 students are welcome to log in to Typing Club using their Google login credentials. Any practice that students do at home will build upon work done in school.

Any middle school student can login using the Sign in with Google option at
https://www.typingclub.com/login.html
If given the choice, students should make sure to choose the Individual Edition and not the School edition. 

The very first lesson includes a video showing what the home row is and where to place each finger. Students can do as many or as few lessons as they want depending on how quickly they pick up each new lesson. 

Pro tip: if a student is not a total beginner and wants to move ahead to more challenging lessons or practice, they can do so even though there are little lock symbols on the lesson icons. Just click that lesson and it will let you in.

ASL does filter the Internet connection used at the school, blocking the categories of pornography, malware, phishing-and-other-frauds, hacking, proxy-avoidance-and-anonymizers, and online-gambling. To comply with UK "Keeping Children Safe in Education" guidance, ASL uses various web filtering and content monitoring platforms to scan students' school files and communications on G Suite as well as their internet activity for signs of serious issues.

In addition, games and social media sites are blocked for middle school students.

ASL may do spot checks of student browsing histories. If inappropriate sites are indicated, parents will be contacted. Students who inadvertently access an inappropriate site are advised to inform their parents and the Middle School Technology Coordinator, who will check and then clear the history. Students are able to delete browsing histories, but they are warned in advance that a blank history is a red flag that suggests misuse and will be followed up.

To comply with UK "Keeping Children Safe in Education" guidance, ASL uses various web filtering and content monitoring platforms to scan students' school files and communications on G Suite as well as their internet activity for signs of serious issues.

Digital Citizenship is covered in advisory and integrated into academic classes throughout the year. Health classes in all four middle school grades focus on issues of safety on the Internet as well as social interaction in person and online.

Parents may contact the Middle School Technology Coordinator, Colin Bridgewater, 020 7449-1442.

For repair / maintenance enquiries, parents may contact the Middle School Laptop Coordinator, Simon Plissi, 020 7449-1249.

Currently, ASL provides an Apple MacBook Air, one charger, and a protective laptop case.

One aspect of this program is that the laptop setup and support becomes a non-issue and that the laptop is used effectively and easily in the pursuit of education. To meet this goal, the package includes the laptop, maintenance contract, software, initial and ongoing support, labeling for security purposes, and wireless network infrastructure and servers. This will ensure that the laptop can be supported by the Technology Team efficiently. ASL will maintain loaner laptops for students whose machines need to be sent away for repair.

Even if a family already has a Mac or Windows computer at home, the key to our program is that the student has his or her own laptop and that the laptop is set up and maintained by the school with specific programs chosen by educators. This way each student has his or her own tool that can be used at school and at home, and is always available to them.

No. This is part of the educational program requirements of Grade 6, 7, and 8 in the middle school.

The cost of the laptop program is included as part of tuition.

A significant problem in many laptop programs is that the laptops become older and less capable as the students become older and more capable. To have a program that progressively builds on the strengths and abilities of students, it is best if students move toward using newer and more capable systems.

Thus, the newest laptops are given to Grade 8 students each year, and then that set of laptops moves to the Grade 7 students the following year. That laptop set is then used by Grade 6 the following year and then Grade 5 the year afterwards. That way, students in the middle school can always look forward to using newer laptops as they move up through the grades.

Under this model, tech support is less of an issue and, for the most part, not the responsibility of the parents. If a student laptop has technical problems, it will either get fixed on the same day or a loaner will be issued by the school. With a 1-1 laptop program, dealing with tech support for a broken computer is a stress and responsibility that parents don’t have to worry about.

ASL supports effective use of technology, not use of technology for technology’s sake. Consequently, the type and frequency of use will vary based on the curriculum, the teacher, and the student. The laptop will be used when it is the appropriate learning tool for a lesson or activity. Laptops are used frequently enough to necessitate students’ bringing the laptop to school daily.

In addition to Apple’s suite of multimedia software (Music, Photos, iMovie, and GarageBand), the laptops will also have educational applications as chosen by the teachers. Students will also use G-Suite applications (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms) for individual and collaborative work.

Laptops are school-owned computers for school-related use. Because the school owns the laptops, only software licensed by the school can be installed. Students won’t be allowed to install their own software, even if they own licenses for it.

Students are standard users on their laptops, which means that they won’t be able to do anything that requires an administrative password.

ASL has a “shared responsibility” program in that all non-warranty repairs to laptops under £100 will be covered by ASL, but repairs over £100 will be shared 50/50 with families. Hardware failures not caused by accidental damage are always covered by the Apple warranties.

An example would be the total loss or theft of a laptop, resulting in a £1,000 replacement cost, of which ASL will cover £500 and the family £500. For deliberate or repeated loss or damage, which is very rare, ASL will pass all costs to the family.

This “shared responsibility” plan is important to the program, and it reinforces how the laptop program is a three-way partnership between the school, students and parents. Other schools have tried “no responsibility” plans for school laptops, but they lead to much higher rates of damage and related problems

If the charger for the laptop is lost or damaged, the family will be responsible for purchasing a new one. Only Apple branded chargers should be purchased, as the cheaper ones do not offer the same electrical safety features built into Apple's chargers.

Currently, all students are issued an M1 MacBook Air laptop, and the charger and USB-C cable are separate purchases. If only the charger needs to be replaced, the correct model is the 30W USB-C Power Adapter. If only the USB-C cable needs to be replaced, the correct model is the USB-C Charge Cable (2m).

Students will be taught how to back-up their work as part of good operating practices so that data loss will be at a minimum in the event of damage or loss of the laptop. Currently, students are taught how to use Google Drive for desktop, which can back up all of their files continuously as long as the laptop is connected to WiFi. If students choose to do so, they can purchase an external hard drive so that they can use Apple's Time Machine to back up their laptop data.

Laptops should be able to make it through the day without needing to be plugged in as long as they have been fully charged the night before. In the event that any laptop does need to be plugged in during a class, chargers are able to be borrowed from each grade level aide in exchange for the student's ASL ID card.

Although ASL is a safe environment, students are told that they must always have their laptop in their possession or keep it locked in their locker.

ASL uses Gmail for students and faculty. Parents do not have school Gmail email accounts. If you want or need to access your child’s account, you may ask your child for his/her password.

In addition to using the computers as part of their daily educational program, students will learn about good practice when using technology. They will practice the importance of using passwords, safe file storage, careful use of equipment, and back-up and file naming strategies. They will learn about making good judgments when it comes to what they say in emails and what web sites they visit. They will be operating in an environment where privacy is respected and required.

Keyboarding is taught in the Lower School but there are no formal lessons in Middle School. ASL uses Typing Club, which is a web-based program that can be used at school and at home. Middle School students are welcome to log in to Typing Club using their Google login credentials. Any practice that students do at home will build upon work done in school.

Any middle school student can login using the Sign in with Google option at
https://www.typingclub.com/login.html
If given the choice, students should make sure to choose the Individual Edition and not the School edition. 

The very first lesson includes a video showing what the home row is and where to place each finger. Students can do as many or as few lessons as they want depending on how quickly they pick up each new lesson. 

Pro tip: if a student is not a total beginner and wants to move ahead to more challenging lessons or practice, they can do so even though there are little lock symbols on the lesson icons. Just click that lesson and it will let you in.

ASL does filter the Internet connection used at the school, blocking the categories of pornography, malware, phishing-and-other-frauds, hacking, proxy-avoidance-and-anonymizers, and online-gambling. To comply with UK "Keeping Children Safe in Education" guidance, ASL uses various web filtering and content monitoring platforms to scan students' school files and communications on G Suite as well as their internet activity for signs of serious issues. In addition, games and social media sites are blocked for middle school students.

When middle school students take their laptops out of the building, their connection will still go through the school servers; the filters are in effect regardless of how they are connected to the internet in and out of the building.

Although the school laptop's internet connection will go through the school's filter, technology is not a foolproof solution to stop all inappropriate content. Therefore, it is recommended that your child use their laptop in a public area of the home and not in a closed room. Honest discussions with your child about the Internet and other uses of technology are recommended. 

ASL laptops have anti-virus software installed which works both at school and at home.

In general, an administrator or the Middle School Technology Coordinator would only check a student's local laptop browsing history if there was a reason to do so.  Students who inadvertently access an inappropriate site are advised to inform their parents and the MS Technology Coordinator, who will check and then clear the history. Students are able to delete browsing histories, but they are warned in advance that a blank history is a red flag that suggests misuse and will be followed up. To comply with UK "Keeping Children Safe in Education" guidance, ASL uses various web filtering and content monitoring platforms to scan students' school files and communications on G Suite as well as their internet activity for signs of serious issues.

Issues of digital citizenship are covered in advisory and integrated into academic classes throughout the year. Health classes in all four middle school grades focus on issues of safety on the Internet as well as social interaction in person and online.

There are already hundreds of printer drivers installed on your child’s laptop. So, there is a good chance that your child’s laptop will be able to print to your home printer without needing any additional software installed. However, if you have tried to print at home and have discovered that additional drivers need to be installed, please contact the Middle School Laptop Coordinator for help.

Students have wireless access to multi-function printers that are located in strategic areas of the School. They use their school ID card at each printer to access their print jobs. 

Parents may contact the Middle School Technology Coordinator, Colin Bridgewater, 020 7449-1442.

For repair / maintenance enquiries, parents may contact the Middle School Laptop Coordinator, 020 7449-1249.