Laptop Program

Bring Your Own Device Program

We want to take this opportunity to reinforce the College’s Bring Your Own Device Program that is compulsory for all students attending Lyndale Secondary College.

While you are able to choose the device your child/children bring to school, Please be aware that there are many devices that do NOT adequately support learning in the classroom.

  • MOBILE PHONES – are not big enough for students to see content or conduct research. They cannot be used for Word Processing, Programming and Computer-Aided Design etc. and are often a huge distraction in class and are banned for Victorian State Schools from the beginning of 2020
  • TABLETS – do not enable students to upload their work onto Compass (which is a minimum requirement), are not ideal for Word Processing and are also not compatible with many of the software programs students are required to use, including Word Flyers and Edrolo.
  • LAPTOPS COMPUTERS – enable students to readily access Compass (our student management program), use common software and create work using Microsoft Office tools (as required). Edrolo, Word Flyers and PAT tests are all compatible with laptops

General recommendations for buying a laptop for the program.

  • For year 7, 8 and 9 students any laptop that is small in size and relatively cheap will do, since most of the classwork will be completed using Internet resources. A laptop running Windows 7 or newer is preferred. As students move up in years to VCE levels, electives which are based on future career choices become important – for example, many senior students choose to own an Apple Mac as they are intending to pursue a career in media or the arts.
  • A laptop that is either expensive or physically large is not always necessary. Smaller HP, Lenovo and Acer laptops are perfectly fine. Avoid the temptation to provide an Apple iPad – they are much less useful in a secondary school setting due to their lack of a keyboard and ability to save documents to the device or to print.
  • Check for retailers such as Harvey Norman and JB Hi‐Fi when they have sales on computers after Christmas.
  • You do NOT need to sign up for Office 365 or buy the Microsoft Office product. This software and many, many other software titles will be provided through the Department’s “EduStar” software catalogue.
  • The Microsoft Office suite is free for all students regardless of laptop or tablet it is run on. A laptop that has 4 gigabytes of RAM and a 750 gigabyte hard disk is not as useful as a laptop with 8 gigabytes of RAM and a 320 gigabyte hard disk. RAM is everything when assessing performance, followed by CPU ‘muscle’, battery life and finally internal disk capacity and type.
  • Make sure though that internal disk capacity is 128 gigabytes or more. Remember, small and light and use a protective carry bag as well.

Links

BYOD parent toolkit

Read More

Lyndale Secondary College – BYO device Setup instructions

Read More

NOTEBOOKS

RATIONALE

Lyndale Secondary College is committed to equipping students with the necessary knowledge and skills to thrive in the
digital era of the 21st century. We prioritize the provision of a top-notch education that prepares our students to become
accomplished individuals. To achieve this, we have implemented a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program that fosters
student empowerment and active engagement in utilizing technology for learning purposes. By facilitating individual
access to personal notebooks, we ensure that each student at Lyndale Secondary College receives the best contemporary
education tailored to their needs and preferences.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

At Lyndale Secondary College, parents and guardians have two options available for student notebook provision: the
College-Managed BYOD program and the Self-Managed BYOD program. The College will provide access to curriculum
software and the College’s wireless network to participants of both programs. Students are expected to bring their own
computing device

OPTION ONE: COLLEGE-MANAGED BYOD

WHAT IS COLLEGE-MANAGED BYOD?

Lyndale Secondary College has chosen LWT ( Learning With Technologies ) as our Managed BYOD partner. The College
selects devices offerings across a number of price points that meet our requirements, and reviews the devices offered
year-by-year. Device offerings are selected with durability in mind, and as of 2023 also include warranty and insurance
for peace of mind.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Parents and guardians purchase or lease devices through the LWT web portal, after which they are delivered to the
College for configuration.Orders can be placed through the Learning with Technologies school portal as below.

Click Here

Laptops will be delivered to the school, which will then install software on them before providing them to you.
Learning with Technologies provides onsite warranty. This means the chosen laptop can either be serviced at the school
during school operated times or in the home during term breaks if necessary. The IT team will look after insurance claims
and warranties. Make Sure you are purchasing 3-year onsite warranty and Lenovo 3 Year Accidental Damage Protection –
$100 excess – 3 Claims Over 3 Years.
LWT provides options to purchases devices on finance. Parents should carefully read the provided Product Disclosure
Statements regarding the financial terms provided. Purchasing plans advertised as “interest free” usually come with fees
and the interest free period may expire if paying the minimum monthly repayment.

WHAT SUPPORT DOES THE COLLEGE OFFER?

The College will provide support for hardware issues during the warranty period of the device. We strongly urge all
parents to purchase contents insurance for the notebook, the College will not be able to cover notebooks under any
school insurance policy. The College will lodge warranty and insurance jobs on behalf of students, but parents must pay
the excess of their insurance before jobs that fall under an insurance claim can be actioned. Repairs are performed onsite with a typical turnaround of 2-3 working days for warranty and 3-5 days for insurance once excess is paid. In the
event that repair takes longer than 3 days, the college it support team will provide a loan laptop (if available).
The College has a standard operating system that can be applied to College-Managed BYOD devices which includes
curriculum software, wireless and internet settings, and preconfigured access to various college resources including
printing, student’s home drive, etc. In the event of software issues, the College can restore the device to the standard
operating system within a school day.

OPTION TWO: SELF-MANAGED BYOD

WHAT IS SELF-MANAGED BYOD?

Parents and guardians can chose to source a computing device outside of the College’s Managed BYOD partner. Parents and guardians can purchase a new device, or bring an existing device from home, so long as the device meets the minimum requirements set out below. The College will not provide recommendations outside of this scope. A device that doesn’t meet the minimum requirements may not be compatible with our software or network, which could impact your child’s learning

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Before purchasing, it is important to ensure your device will meet our minimum requirements. The following are the
college’s requirements for devices:

Note – Chromebooks aren’t supported on our school network infrastructure.

HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS

  • Form factor: Laptop or convertible device with a physical keyboard.
  • Screen size: Minimum 10” with a maximum 15.6”
  • Operating system: Windows 10 , 11 macOS Caitalina or newer
  • Storage: A minimum of 128 GB
  • Battery life: Minimum of 6 hours
  • Network:The device must support WiFi

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS