Digital Literacy Q and A Part IV

How will damage, repair, and loss/theft of laptops be handled?

All of the details for proper care of the laptops and what to do if there is a problem from either normal use or an accident are described in the Student Laptop Agreement. This is a critical document and must be thoroughly understood by both students and parents. These computers will have warrantee coverage for hardware/software problems not related to accident or negligence. College Community is providing additional insurance coverage for these devices, too. So, if the computer is well maintained, there will be no cost to families or students.

However, if there is negligent damage to the laptop, appropriate fines, as described in the Student Laptop Agreement, will be given. Here is the fine structure in brief: up to $100 for the 1st incident, up to $250 for the 2nd incident, and full cost or replacement value for the 3rd incident. Incidents will span school years. The district's insurance policy does not cover accidental loss. Students and families will be responsible for replacement costs of a lost computer.

However, many renters and home owner's policies will cover this contingency. Parents should check with their home owner's or renter's insurance provider to see what steps, if any, they should take to get this device covered. In the event of a theft, immediately contact the building's office and file a police report within 48 hours of the incident. If both of these criteria are met, families will owe a $250 deductible.

Does the computer take the place of the textbook?

While we are evaluating electronic textbooks that may be used in place of printed ones, we cannot at this time say if all textbooks will be replaced. We do believe that this is a future trend and with a 1:1 laptop learning program, Prairie will be well positioned to take advantage of the cost savings, flexibility, ability to customize, and other advantages to having electronic textbooks.

Can students load software, music, pictures, etc... on the laptop?

The laptop is for academic use. Guidelines for installation of software peripheral devices, or other media are given in the student laptop agreement. Students must ask permission before installing programs or devices. However, students will be allowed to maintain a personal iTunes account on this device. Students will need to budget their hard drive space. Personal or non-academic related files may be deleted by district technology staff if disk space runs low. Students need to read and understand the student laptop agreement.