Department of Technology in Education - Primary Sector - Admin

Support Initiatives

Circulars / Memos

Software

Staff Development

Software

The following information is also available in the ICT Administrative Policies document distributed to Primary State School head teachers in May 2003. A copy of the full document is available in PDF format in the Documents for download section.

Inventory	Responsibility
Lost or stolen software	Software and SEN pupils
Un/installing Department software	Installing additional software
Software and student teachers	Microsoft Office

Refer also to

Inventory

A. The school administration should have an up-to-date inventory of all software titles distributed by the Department, including the following items per software:

i. Title

ii. Number of copies per classroom (including any teachers’ copies originally distributed with the laptops)

iii. Number of copies kept in the office, resource centre or store (if any)

iv. Number of copies of Teacher’s Notes/Resource packs (where applicable)

B. The Department may need to consult this inventory occasionally.

C. The Department will issue a Software Inventory Form to be used for a class-by-class inventory. A copy of these sheets should be kept by the school administration and another will be collected by the ICT Peripatetic teacher during the first few weeks of the scholastic year.

Responsibility

A. The school administration is responsible for all software distributed by the Department. Transferred or retiring teachers must leave all the software (including jewel case and manuals/teacher’s notes where applicable) at the school. This software may then be handed over to the replacing teacher. The inventory must be updated accordingly.

B. Under no circumstances should school software be loaned to parents for use at home.

Lost or stolen software

A. Note that the Department cannot replace lost or stolen software. This will have to be replaced at the school’s expense. The Department can only provide new software where this is required for a new classroom or year group.

Software and Special Needs pupils

A. Facilitators may feel the need to ask for software to be used by SEN pupils which is not currently part of the set available in the particular year group. For example, a facilitator in Year 5 may ask for the installation of Kid Pix Deluxe (not available on Year 5 computers) for a particular SEN child. Please note that this is not always possible, for a number of reasons:

i. The software license may restrict the installation to one computer per copy;

ii. The software may not necessarily have been specifically designed for special needs cases.

B. Individual computer sessions for SEN pupils may be possible if a computer is available anywhere else in the school with the required software properly installed, for instance:

i. The school’s resource centre or library;

ii. Any other classroom which may be free during a particular time of the day (due to PE lessons, excursions, etc.)

C. Arrangements for the access of such equipment and premises will be made by the facilitator with the administration or teacher concerned.

D. If a facilitator would like to propose the introduction of a particular software package for exclusive use by SEN pupils, the administration may arrange to purchase the software. In this case the same recommendations for the purchase of other software applies (see Installing Additional Software below).

Un/Installing Department Software

A. In the case where equipment will be used by a year group different from the previous scholastic year, the existing software may need to be uninstalled to make room for the software to be used by the new year group and to comply with the software licensing agreement. Where this is necessary, the school should inform the ICT Centre by mail or e-mail at the start of the scholastic year, giving the following details:

i. The number of computers needing replacement of software

ii. The year group previously using the computers

iii. The new year group using the computers

B. The ICT Peripatetic Teacher/s assigned to the school will un/install the software as necessary.

C. This also applies to software installed on laptops.

Installing Additional Software

A. Schools may wish to install additional software which they deem relevant for the curriculum. They may do this at the consent of the ICT Centre and on the following conditions:

i. The software must be educational in nature and must have clear curriculum relevance

ii. The CD-ROM used for the installation is an original copy and is the property of the school

iii. The software is installed after clear consent by the ICT Centre

iv.Request for this consent must go through the school administration

B. The request can be sent by mail or e-mail or can be handed over to the ICT Peripatetic Teacher/s assigned to the school, and should include the following information:

i. The title of the software

ii. The software manufacturer

iii. The year group to whom it is intended

iv. The intended curriculum targets to be covered by this software

C. Installation of the software should be carried out by the Peripatetic Teacher/s assigned to the school.

D. Note: It is the school administration’s responsibility to ensure that no copyright is infringed through the installation of such software. School administrators should make sure that the License Agreement included with the software is strictly adhered to prior to installation of the software on one or more computers. NO PIRATED SOFTWARE SHOULD BE INSTALLED ON ANY OFFICE OR CLASSROOM COMPUTER.

i. A SINGLE LICENSE permits the installation of the software on ONE COMPUTER ONLY per copy.

ii. SITE or SCHOOL LICENSES permit the installation of the software on a number of computers, depending on the particular software license, from a single copy.

iii. A NETWORK LICENSE permits the installation of the software on a network server, to be shared by all computers in the network.

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Software and student teachers

A. Software can be loaned to student teachers for use on their home computers on the following recommendations.

i. The School may reserve the right not to loan or to limit the period of perusal of software of which only a limited number of copies is available in class.

ii. Software must be returned not later than one week after the student’s Teaching Practice/School Experience period expires.

iii. Every individual student is entitled to only ONE copy per software title.

B. For record purposes, it is also recommended that the school administration should issue a loan sheet listing the items loaned and including the above conditions. Format of this loan sheet is at the administration’s discretion.

C. Condition A(i) above specifically refers to software of which there is only one copy available in the classroom. For obvious reasons this may not be loaned to student teachers. The school administration may arrange to loan this kind of software only over weekends on the condition that items should be returned for classroom use on Mondays.

D. Arrangements for software loan should be made through a member of the school administration, not through the classroom teacher.

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Microsoft Office

A. No part of Microsoft Office can be installed on any classroom computer, even if the school owns original copies of the software.

i. Microsoft Office is intended for use by teachers, and is therefore legally installed on teachers’ laptops.

ii. The Department’s current policy is to intentionally have pupils use other alternative software for word processing and desktop publishing, including Book Workshop, Primary Writer and the various versions of The Print Shop.

B. Illegal installation of Microsoft Office and any other type of software, is especially prohibited. This also applies in the case of office computers.

C. Schools interested in purchasing software or setting up Internet access for the office can contact Mr. Edward Caruana at the Education Division (CIMU).