Technology
Although much of Putney’s education focuses on hands-on experiential learning, we use technology for the many things it can do for us. Most of our students bring computers, and there are plenty around school for the use of those who do not. All buildings as well as some outside areas have wireless access. The Instructional Technology Center (ITC) is located next to the library. The ITC serves as a central site for teachers and students to learn new technologies and to improve their skills on the programs they already use. The center provides the equipment and facilities so that students can create with and incorporate technology into an assignment. Among the equipment housed in the ITC there is equipment for use in the center as well as equipment that will be available for loan. Here is a partial list: video production equipment, digital video cameras, digital still cameras,laptops,scanners,and color and black and white printers. The computers in the ITC have a variety of software titles suited for video production, web page design, graphics, digital photography, video conferencing, document scanning and publishing. Acceptable Use PolicyThe computer network at The Putney School provides resources and information to the community, but also places a major responsibility on all users. All school expectations about honesty and respect apply to network use, but students should pay particular attention to the school's policies and expectations regarding academic dishonesty, harassment, and respect for privacy and personal property. The school's network is maintained for the educational use of students and faculty. Any use of this facility for profit, illegal copying, downloading, or distribution of protected materials is prohibited. The Internet itself is an electronic community that has its own expectations of consideration and courtesy. You are on a virtual field trip when on the Internet; we expect students and faculty to maintain the highest standards of integrity and scholarship when using it. A student's permission to use the network or his or her computer while at the school is contingent upon acceptance of these principles. 1. Improper use or distribution of information is prohibited. This includes copyright violations such as software piracy and plagiarism. Students must cite material that is downloaded or referenced from electronic databases just as they must cite quotations, ideas, or content that they find in print material. Students have an obligation to protect their own personal information: It is not a good idea—and it is highly unsafe—to publicize personal data, including an address and phone number, on the Internet. Internet sites aimed at social networking (myspace.com etc) are accessible to future employers and college admissions offices. 2. Seeking or gaining access to the accounts, e-mail, and files of others is prohibited. This rule protects the basic right of privacy of all users on the network. Taking advantage of someone who inadvertently leaves a computer without logging out is no different than entering an un-locked room and stealing, reading a personal letter, or destroying personal property. Once accounts have been established, students must not share their network or e-mail account passwords with anyone. 3. Attempts to subvert network security, to impair functionality of the network, to bypass restrictions set by administrators, to capture passwords or network traffic data, and to download or to possess software that attempts to do these actions are serious offenses, which could lead to expulsion from the school. Assisting others in violating these rules is likewise punishable. 4. Wasteful use of time and resources is not permitted. Just as TVs, VCRs, and video games are not allowed at Putney, using a computer to perform these tasks is restricted. While there are small amounts of time during the week when students may run software of their choice on personal computers, games are never allowed on any school computers. Use of computers for entertainment is not permitted during the academic day, during study hours, or after 11 p.m. on school nights. Instant messaging services are similarly restricted to non-academic time and should never interfere with homework 5. Use of First Class to communicate is a privilege, not a right, and entries made on Community Comments or any other conference must be consistent with our expectations of respect. Civil discourse must be maintained; any statement that would be deemed offensive or inappropriate when spoken in a public forum is equally unacceptable on an internet conference. Profanity, obscenity, harassment, or abusive language are prohibited. Violations may result in loss of internet account privileges and disciplinary consequences. Violations of Vermont and/or federal law may have consequences reaching outside of the school. 6. The school's computers and network are property of The Putney School and are subject to access and inspection by network administrators. Users do not have an absolute right of privacy, and entries made within our network are subject to inspection and response whether the user was on or off campus at the time. Day students using their accounts from home, or boarding students when on vacation, must respect acceptable use expectations. The Putney School will follow, when possible, the same protocol in conducting such a search of a personal account as it would in conducting a search of physical property (room search). The user will be notified and present during the inspection of the account, and will be accompanied by a community member of his/her choice. 7. Students must have explicit permission to install any programs or to make any significant unauthorized change on any school computer. Academic users of the network always take precedence over casual users. Word-processing and e-mail users may not commandeer more powerful machines to the detriment of academic users who require use of these machines for their software. Common courtesy and respect for academic needs must always prevail. 8. Students are expected to reduce waste caused by unnecessary printing and paper usage. Students and faculty should make every effort to minimize paper use through electronic communication. Printing large documents from the web should be limited. Use of recycled paper is encouraged. The Putney School reserves the right to suspend network access if the expectations of this acceptable-use policy are not met. Likewise, a student using his or her own computer in ways contrary to the mission and purposes of the school may have the computer confiscated. More serious offenses will result in disciplinary action. FIRSTCLASSWelcome to FirstClass, our Email and Conferencing system! A user account has been set up for you, and you can try to access this on your own or wait until you get to Putney for some training and explanation. If you’ve used e-mail before, you can probably figure out many features of this system just by exploring. While you can access FirstClass directly through our website (http://fc.putneyschool.org/), it is faster and easier to use the FirstClass client software, which you can download onto your computer and install. Below are instructions on how to download the FirstClass client as well as how to access the system through the Internet. Your username will be the first letter of your first name and your whole last name. Example: Amy Barone = abarone Your password will have been mailed to you with your introduction packet of information. If you cannot locate that information use the contact information below to contact a member of the Tech Team. Your email address will be: username@putneyschool.org After you log on the first time you should change your password! You will want to make your password something that you will remember but not something obvious to others. It is a good practice to put at least one piece of punctuation or a symbol in your password ie: @myb@r0ne! instead of amybarone To change your password: * If you log in through the web interface click on the “Preferences” tab (left side of window) and then the “Change Password” tab (left side of window). * If you download and install the client you will change your password using the “Collaborate” drop-down menu. Putney faculty and students at the school may be contacted via email using the general format: first name initial and last name @putneyschool.org Instructions for downloading FirstClass client. Before accessing the full features of FirstClass you must first download the client.
Logging into a server You need to make one change to the “settings” tab on the login screen. When you Double-click on the FirstClass program icon it takes you to the login screen. There is a button called “Setup” there.
* Click on “Setup” If you have any difficulty with the client setup you can contact us for help, or wait until you arrive on campus. If you are successful, try sending an email to Jane and Michael, to say hello and ask any questions you may have! Technical Requirements For PutneyIt is not necessary to bring a computer to Putney. We have an Instructional Technology Center which houses seven high end multimedia machines as well as a laptop cart with Macs for loan throughout the day. Every common room has at least one computer and there are four more computers available in the library. Should you choose to bring a computer to school we do recommend the following minimum specifications. You will probably get the best use out of a laptop. We are not platform dependent so mac or pc or linux is fine with us. You will want your computer to have a wireless card installed. The hard drive capacity you will need depends on what you will be doing with your computer. Graphics and video use lots of storage so a larger hard drive would be good. If you are doing basic internet use and using a productivity suite like Microsoft’s Office a smaller hard drive will do. Almost all computers come with at least 128mg ram and that will be fine for your school work. If you want specific recommendations we suggest the following. On the Mac side, anything from an iBook to a MacBook Pro will do. On the PC side, any machine that meets the above requirements will be fine. For Linux, there is a very nice little laptop called the ASUS Eee PC that has a 7in screen, for under $300.00. Whatever you decide to bring the Tech Team will be glad to get you up and running when you arrive on campus! If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call:
Mark Gunkel
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