BYOD at Rathkeale College
Rathkeale College is committed to integrating innovation and technology into teaching across all levels. We encourage students to take ownership of their learning and choose how they deliver their content. Allowing students to bring their own device (BYOD) and have control over their own device gives them the flexibility to access their learning anywhere, anytime.
Minimum Requirements
A touch screen device with an ‘active’ stylus pen is highly recommended and is a requirement for Year 9 and 10 students. A stylus pen is extremely useful in subjects such as Science and Mathematics where students are dealing with symbols and diagrams on a regular basis. An ‘active’ stylus will detect the pen when writing and will prevent your palm from activating the touch screen. This allows for natural handwriting.
If you have an existing device, or intend on purchasing a device, that is not touch capable then we recommend that you purchase a USB digital drawing tablet that can be attached to the device so that it can accept a stylus pen input.
Example – Found Here
Minimum Specifications:
If you are considering purchasing a device independently, please ensure that it meets the following specifications:
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 / 8.1/ 10, Apple OS X 10.9+ |
| Processor | Mobile focused Intel Core i3 minimum, i5 recommended. AMD 64 |
| Main Memory/RAM | 2GB minimum (4GB recommended) |
| Hard Drive (SSD/HDD) | 64 GB or higher (SSD). Solid State Disk (SSD) instead of traditional Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is highly recommended (SSD are much faster and provide longer battery life) |
| Input | QWERTY keyboard, attached, detachable or Bluetooth |
| Screen size | 10.1″ minimum, 15″ maximum. Touch Screen and Active stylus pen |
| External Ports | 1 (or more) x Full size USB 2.0/3.0 (micro USB suitable with adapter) |
| Wireless Adapter | Wi-Fi compatible – Required Specification Wireless 802.11n/ac |
| Battery Life | Ideally six hours on a single charge |
| Microsoft Office | Microsoft Office is available for Rathkeale students to download for free. Information on how to access this is available on Rathkeale Online. |
| Anti-Virus software | Compulsory anti-virus for all devices. Note: New Windows 8/10 computers include Windows defender built in for free. This is a suitable anti-virus program. |
| Java | For web applications |
| Flash | For web applications (Although, this is being largely replaced by HTML 5) |
| Web Browser | Web browser – Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari |
