eLearning and BYOD

Digital technologies will be used at Kāpiti College to:

Enable anywhere, anytime learning

Ensure personalised learning for all ākonga by providing flexibility and choice that meets individual learning needs

Encourage ākonga to be creators and innovators in the 21st century through effective use of digital tools

Empower all ākonga to participate in digital environments in a purposeful, responsible and meaningful way

Extend learning beyond the classroom to foster curiosity, engagement and enjoyment of learning

Why BYOD

The New Zealand Curriculum specifically references the value of e-learning for our students, with digital fluency being a current Ministry of Education priority. At Kāpiti College we recognise the benefits that access to technology affords our students with their learning.

BYOD enables student to access their learning anytime, anywhere. It helps to support the continuity of learning between home and school as students can access class resources and support beyond the school gates. In addition to this, it provides increased opportunity for enriched learning experiences, with increased access to a huge range of electronic resources, as well as increased opportunity for collaborative learning to occur between peers.

Importantly, the use of technology in the classroom helps to prepare our students for future study and work environments.

BYOD at Kāpiti College

We recommend students to bring a device such as a chromebook or laptop.  We expect that all Y9 and Y10 students have their own device. A small number of chromebooks are available at school for daily borrowing from the library. We do not require you to purchase a specific model or from a specific retailer. However, one of the many realities in a school environment is that students require a chromebook or laptop that have the following specifications. Please note; cell phones, ipads (without a keyboard) and tablets (without a keyboard) are not appropriate:

• Battery life: should last 5-8 hours to be able to get through the day without recharging

• Weight: Light enough to be carried around throughout the day

• Dual Band Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n (5.0 Ghz) – this allows a more stable connection to our network.

• RAM: should be 4GB or more, so that programs can run fairly quickly (for Windows computers we recommend 8GB of RAM if possible)

• Screen size: 11” or bigger

• Insurance: the school cannot be responsible for damage or loss of electronic devices, so please make sure this is covered on your own policy

• Warranty: having a good 2 year or 3 year warranty is important as students who are using a device will want faults fixed quickly.

Kāpiti College is a Google Workspace for Education school. We use a variety of Google Apps such as Drive, Classroom and Docs. 

We don't recommend any particular service for doing this, but the following options from Apple, Google and Microsoft are free and built in:

• If you are using an Apple Device (iPad, iPhone, Mac), they have a built in screen time functionality... more details here: https://support.apple.com/en-nz/HT201304

• If you are using an android device or chromebook Google has a program called Family Link: https://families.google/familylink/

• And if you are using a microsoft / windows device Microsoft has Microsoft Family Safety: https://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/microsoft-365/family-safety

All of these tools are free, and built in, and will provide most of the functionality that you should need. There are paid apps out there that offer "more", but in general the free options do everything that is needed.