A key part of our educational strategy at Stowe is to make extensive use of technology to enhance the education of Stoics. Our use of laptops has gone hand-in-hand with the development of a wireless network in classrooms and hard-wiring of all boarding Houses. All pupils have their own network socket in house. To complement this, we have been developing our network resources and integrating these in to the way we teach. Academic Departments have developed their sites on our Intranet which is now an important part of the teaching and delivery of material to pupils. That said, the use of IT is carefully managed in conjunction with more traditional teaching to fully engage the pupil in their studies. There are over 350 computers at Stowe, about half of which are available for pupils to use in computer rooms, Academic Departments and Boarding Houses. These are on a server-based network allowing pupils to access their work, email and online resources, no matter which computer they are on. All pupils sign the School's acceptable usage policy on an annual basis to remind them of the need to use the School's network and computer systems in a responsible way. The policy informs them of what they are permitted to do and what they are not.
Stowe's Laptop Scheme To enable all Stoics to utilise the full potential of the resources available to them, whether in class or working in their own study areas, there is considerable benefit and advantage in all Stoics having their own laptop. We have also found that pupils without laptops find it harder to take full advantage of email and online notice boards.
Purchasing a laptop - 2007/8 update: Our non-profit making laptop scheme, launched in September 2004, was set up to give parents the chance to purchase a laptop that was fully supported by our ICT Department, taking full advantage of bulk purchase pricing and preferential school licensing agreements. We have recently switched to an alternative supplier for laptops so please contact James Tearle, Stowe's Head of ICT, for the latest details.
Non-scheme or pre-existing laptops: Stowe will, of course, do its best to help students with laptops not purchased through the scheme to connect to the School network. This is however only possible for laptops running an English version of Windows XP Professional as the operating system. Unfortunately, it will not be possible for our ICT Department to support computers that are not on the scheme and they will not be able to access all programs and resources available on scheme laptops. The full range of programmes provided with the Stowe Laptop Scheme and the online resources that are made available to Stoics will help to appreciate why we advise that Stoics should have a laptop, preferably one purchased through our scheme. Should you have any further questions about scheme laptops, please contact First Technology directly on +44 (0)1844 215 100; for questions about non-scheme laptops, please contact Stowe's ICT Department via our main School Reception telephone number: +44 (0)1280 818000.
Remote Access Pupils can remotely connect to the School's computer network from outside Stowe via the Internet. Remote access allows pupils to use their School email, the intranet and gives access to their "My Documents" stored on the network. The remote access portal link is given on the School's main website menu and can also be entered directly at https://remote.stowe.co.uk On entering the site, pupils log on with their network credentials to gain secure access to the network.
