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Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Both the Middle and Upper Schools divisions at CSS utilize a 1:1 technology integration program known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). As part of the program, students are expected to have access to an electronic device in each of their classes on a daily basis.

The BYOD program allows Middle and Upper School students and teachers the flexibility to create and collaborate at a moment’s notice. When students have access to powerful, networked devices in every class, there are no barriers to accessing research databases, digital notes and documents, and collaborative projects. Learning in a “connected” environment is great preparation for the fast-paced and highly networked academic environments students will encounter in college and beyond.

Device capacities

At the most basic level, student devices must:

  • Connect to the Internet wirelessly
  • Run apps (either on a hard drive or in the cloud) to create word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations
  • Log-in to the Google Apps suite
  • Capture photos, video and audio

Below is a range of acceptable devices – in order from least to most expensive. If you desire specific recommendations, please refer to the CSS BYOD Handbook website or contact Joe Thomas from the CSS technology team.

Note: with significant advance notice, students can lease Chromebooks from CSS for a nominal yearly fee, including insurance.

  • Tablets with External Keyboards: limited in their capacities, but meet basic technological requirements
  • Chromebooks: restricted in their capacity to download and run complicated applications but also meet minimum BYOD standards. A Chromebook is defined as a thin, client laptop that is configured with the Chrome operating system (Chrome OS). The only software application that Chrome OS can run locally is the Google Chrome browser. For this reason, the Chromebook is often described as a "browser-in-a-box."
  • Netbook: smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omit certain features (e.g. the optical drive), have smaller screens and keyboards, and offer reduced computing power when compared to full-sized laptop devices.
  • Recent Windows and Mac laptops: represent the highest level of memory, processing speed, and power, and therefore the highest level of native graphics, and photo/video manipulation. While these devices are beyond the minimum requirements, they are the most flexible and powerful.