What are the benefits of using an FCPSOn Device?

  1. Technology Support: Technology support will be available throughout the school year for all FCPSOn devices. Students will be provided with a loaner laptop for the duration of any repairs that cannot be addressed in a short visit. Neither technology support nor loaner laptops will be available for personally owned devices.
  2. Access to Curricular Software:Some instructional applications require local installation on FCPSOn devices. FCPS license agreements do not allow installation on personally owned devices. FCPSOn curricular software will be preloaded on FCPSOn laptops. Families who choose to use personally owned devices will be responsible for the cost and installation support of such instructional applications.
  3. Classroom Instructional Planning:Instructional staff will plan their lessons around the FCPSOn device's known capabilities. Using the FCPSOn device ensures that you/your student have access to all software needed for a given class period or assignment. Teachers will also be able to help students with FCPSOn devices, troubleshoot any student concerns, and assist in seeking additional support as needed.
  4. Cost to Repair and Replace Personal Devices:   If a student accidentally damages their FCPSOn device, on-site tech support specialists will repair the device and provide a loaner, ensuring learning is not interrupted by not having a working device.  Loaners will not be provided for any time when a student is without their personally owned device.  Bringing a personally owned device to school comes with the inherent danger of the device being damaged, lost, or possibly even stolen.  Since students bring their own devices to school at their discretion, the cost for repairing or replacing the device falls on the family, not the school.  The device selected for purchase for all of our high schools was chosen due to its durability, with the knowledge that it would be carried back and forth from home and school each day, along with between classes.  Even so, we recognize repairs may be needed, so we again have loaners on hand that will be provided to any student whose FCPS device is having an issue.
  5. Separation of School and Personal Information:  Having an FCPSOn device and a personal device provides a Digital Citizenship lesson. It teaches students to complete school work on their FCPS laptop and to do personal things, such as shop or play games on their personal device. This is the standard in the workplace and provides a good learning environment for students to develop the habits they will need later on in life.
  6. FCPS Laptops Are Needed for Testing: Some assessments given in class will require students to use an FCPSOn device and not a personal device. FCPS standardized assessments such as SOL testing and AP Testing (now digital or hybrid digital) must be done on a school-issued device. Students can walk into a testing environment ready to go with the FCPSOn device.  Students can take their assessments on devices they have been accustomed to working on throughout the year. Students working on their own devices, will still have to use the FCPSOn device, which would be unfamiliar to them. 
  7. Network Access: Network access will be preset to serve the needs of FCPS-owned devices. Only a small portion of our network is allotted to personally owned devices, which will lead to students on personally owned devices having much slower WiFi. Additionally, all FCPSOn devices can print at school, but personally owned devices will be unable to connect to FCPS printers.