E-Learning Philosophy

At MBS we believe that our students benefit from elearning as a tool to create engagement and allow differentiation. It is also prepares them with essential ICT skills for College and beyond e.g

Learning to

• Access and evaluate information from the internet
• Use various tools for presenting information
• Collaborating with others on work
• Sharing work with family and friends
• Be good digital citizens

What device?

As a school we prefer students to have chromebooks, however students can also bring a small notebook, laptop or ipad with the following features:

• Wifi capability
• Minimum 6 hours of battery life
• Minimum screen size of 7.9 inches
• Ability to capture photos or videos
• Headset for privacy when engaging in some work
• Google chrome

For all year 2 students moving into year 3 the expectation is for your child to have a chromebook. For students currently in year 3-8 with an existing device that is not a chromebook this is not a problem.

Where to get your device?

Our prefered supplier is PBTech and we have a school portal through them. PBTech are the biggest supplier of technology in NZ and consistently offer the best prices and the best support for parents buying devices

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/edu/maraetaibeach

Guidelines for BYOD

• Devices must come to school fully charged
• Devices must be put into the lockbox by 9am
• The lock box is locked at 9am and is only opened by the teacher when devices are going to be used
• Devices are not to be used at morning tea or lunch unless teacher permission is gained
• Students can only visit sites that have been agreed by the teacher- these sites are banned: facebook, snapchat, viber, kick, instagram and other social media , if students are caught on these then you will be asked to come for a meeting and your child may lose the right to have a device
• Devices must only have the child’s school email
• Devices other than chromebooks must be set up at home
• All internet access will be through the MBS student wifi
• The device is covered by your own insurance- the school takes no liability for loss of or damage to devices

So You Got Your child a Device?

How do you make sure it is setup ok and will work for them?

What software/ apps will my child need?

Maraetai Beach School uses Google Apps for Education as our learning management system. This works on all devices and is free of charge. Microsoft Office is not required as Google Apps provides word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and email tools that can be accessed from any device, anywhere, anytime. This removes the need for students to purchase expensive software or apps. If your child is using a chromebook/ Macbook or other form of laptop these are already accessible to your child and you don’t need to do anything. You do however need to check that the device has Google Chrome on it as this Browsing platform works best with Google Apps for Education (GAfE)

If Your child will be using an ipad

You will need to go to the itunes app store and download onto your child’s device the apps for Google Apps for Education:

• Google Drive
• Google Docs
• Google Slides
• Google Spreadsheet
• Google classroom

We would also recommend you download these apps as they will be being used commonly in classroom programmes:

• Khan Academy
• Show Me
• Write About It
• Mathletics
• Skoolbo NZ

Getting your Apple device ready for the school year

Please install the APPs on the onto your child’s ipad. They need to be ready to use at the beginning of the year. Note: NO apps will be installed/deleted at school. We suggest that parents take full responsibility for the loading of any apps. Children should NOT be given any details of itunes accounts, as these are linked to your personal credit card- See the seperate handout for setting up Apple Devices

What will happen now?

At the start of 2016 your child will receive their email address- this is their secure login to their school account and accesses everything they will need e.g email, Google Apps- such as Google Docs, Slides, Khan Academy etc

During their first few weeks they will be doing some work in class on security, privacy and looking after their devices. The lessons used for these are also available for you from this link http://www.netsafe.org.nz/owls/

Over these weeks they will get used to using their devices and then they will start to use the different tools- I would imagine in a couple of weeks time they will be sharing documents with you so you can comment on their writing, and may even be starting to post things onto the class blogs.

As a school we thank you for being so supportive of elearning and helping the students to be able to differentiate their learning with ICT devices, it is hugely appreciated.