iPads @ Southport High

​​​​Introduction

Students who are new to the junior school (years 7, 8, 9) will need to bring their own suitable iPad. Be sure to check the technology specifications before purchasing an iPad.

An important part of our vision at Southport State High School is to continuously improve student learning and educational outcomes. To support this we regularly review our facilities and systems to identify the best possible combinations to support learning.

During our most recent review we confirmed our commitment to delivering the junior school curriculum via iPads and the eLearning platform.

Our research has indicated that iPads provide multiple opportunities for students to engage in diverse and highly engaging learning experiences. The device is also a portal to a world of interactive learning tools and Apps.

Please browse through this page to familiarise yourself with the Southport State High iPad program, or go directly to a topic for specific advice.

When students are using the iPad on campus they have access to:

• School network, web browsing and email.
• File servers and access to files stored in their personal folder, common student folders and specific year level folders.
• Smart printing system. Students can collect printouts using their student ID smartcard from several locations around the school.
• The eLearn website that gives access to all their course information and for uploading assessment for their course.
  

When away from school, students are able to continue their education by accessing a home WiFi network or any free public WiFi service.

Parents are encouraged to set up and maintain an Apple ID account on behalf of students. It is recommended that you do this without using your credit card. Follow the instructions for setting up an account without a credit card. Start with the guide for doing this on an iPad. If that doesn't work then try the guide for doing it on a computer using Apple ID.

For more information on setting up an iPad and a child Apple ID, click here.

File Management on iPads

Tips for file management for students on iPads can be found here.

In 2013, students in years 7 and 8 participated in the 1:1 iPad pilot. Year 9 joined the program in 2014 and there are currently around 1000 iPads in use across the school. Teachers of all year levels are engaged in the iPad program and are using the devices in many innovative ways to enhance teaching and learning.

iPads are capable of running a wide range of classroom apps and tools as part of our ever-evolving digital platform for learning. Students have access to a rich combination of resources that are available 24/7. Innovative teaching and learning tools and materials are being developed and will continue to be released as we move forward.

Apple have published useful guides on the basics of operating iPads, including backing up your data. As with all technology things can and do go wrong at times. Whilst the iPad is a reliable and sturdy device it is always a good idea to maintain a backup of its content and settings. Please take a few moments to familiarise yourself with the various help topics offered by Apple. Click this link to access the guides published by Apple.

We recommend a weekly backup of data, apps and settings. Follow the appropriate guide and do this by using iTunes on your home computer. Photos and videos are accessed differently and separately from the backup process. Read this separate guide for more details on how to access and backup your photos and videos.

Should you experience problems with your iPad the best thing to do is bring it in to the school IT Service Centre. If it is a school-based iPad we'll get it back up and running again. If it's a BYO iPad, we can assist with minor problems, connection to the Wi-Fi and password resets. For anything more than that, or for warranty service, such as the charger has stopped working or the battery doesn't hold enough charge, the best thing is to take the iPad, charger and cable to a local Apple service agent. If you're not sure what's wrong, you can always bring it in to us and we'll take a look for you and suggest the best course of action.

If you have a BYO iPad, go to this page to check on the status of your warranty. You'll need the serial number from the back of the iPad, or it can be copied from the General Settings page on the iPad.

The iPad battery is capable of running all day while at school without being recharged. We suggest leaving the charger and cable at home and recharge the iPad each night so that you can bring it to school fully charged. Unless you have a Bluetooth keyboard, go into Settings and turn off Bluetooth. This will extend the battery operating time.

In 2013 Southport State High installed smart printers around the school and introduced smart student ID cards. Printing can now be accessed from anywhere around the school within the Wi-Fi transmission area and the print job will be held in a queue until students swipe their ID smartcard at one of the print stations.

When printing from an iPad there's one additional step required and that is to log in to the PaperCut printing system. All iPads at the school have this shortcut pre-installed. If it's gone missing from your iPad drop in to the IT Service Centre and we'll show you how to restore the shortcut.

Junior students with iPads receive a quota of internet credit per month. Our past experience with take-home technology programs shows that this amount of credit is more than adequate provided that it is used for educational purposes.

To avoid using up your monthly internet credit follow these rules:

• Don’t listen to internet music for example Spotify.
• Don't download apps or games while at school. This can burn your monthly credit in a single day.
• Don't play games while at school. Many games access the Game Centre and have embedded ads, both of which can quickly consume internet credit.
• Close unnecessary apps when you're not using them. Some apps access the internet in the background even when you're not actively using them. This will also help conserve battery life.
  

Should internet credit be consumed before the end of the month, additional credit will need to be purchased from the school payment window.

The junior school curriculum is being packaged into multimedia based eLearn courses to complement other learning materials such as paper and electronic textbooks.

Students will receive instructions from their teachers about enrolling in the necessary eLearn courses and accessing other resources. This initiative provides on-demand access to a wide range of resources whether in the classroom or at home.