Introduction to BYOD
Student laptops at KPS need to be provided by students/parent/guardians who will be responsible for the care and repair of these personal devices. Below is a list of the minimum recommended specifications to ensure that processor intensive applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator will work during their use in Art lessons and other similar creative endeavours.
KPS provide software and settings via an application called Company Portal by Microsoft. This software is free for your duration at KPS. Using the information on the IT welcome documentation with your unique KPS email address and password (current students already know this as it is their current credentials) you will be able to download and install this application which automatically adds such software as Microsoft Office and the Adobe Creative Cloud (PC only*) as well as necessary security certificates to connect to the internet once in school.
If you do not install this software and bring in a device without it the student must have access to an admin account on the device so we can join the school wi-fi network and install the web-filter certificate.
BYOD is in two parts: 1) Device and 2) Software
1) Device: What kind of device do I need?
Because we use desktop application suites such as Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Office we need your devices to have a full desktop operating system such as Windows or MacOS.
Android or iOS devices such as iPads are not 100% suitable but if you are aware of this shortfall they do still work with our network and the Microsoft 365 online versions of the Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint for example will work. The Adobe suite of programs are not licensed for Android or iOS devices though.
Minimum recommended specifications
Please make sure the devices use English as their operating language so so our IT dept can help with issues
PC Laptop or Tablet device (Windows)
- i5 processor (or greater) or equivalent
- 8GB RAM
- 256 GB SSD hard drive
- Windows 10 Pro, or Education version 1607, or later (NOT Home version, although the KPS IT dept can upgrade the Home Edition OS to the Education version if this is the case)
- Wireless 802.11b or greater with 5GHz support
Mac Laptop (MacOS)
- i5 or M1 and above processor
- 8GB RAM
- 256 GB SSD hard drive
- MacOS Catalina or greater
- Wireless 802.11b or greater with 5GHz support
2) Software: Automatic application installation via Microsoft Company Portal
Once you have your acquired your device you need to install Microsoft Company Portal and authenticate using your student KPS email credentials. Please follow the relevant links below for links and instructions. N.B. this system is for current students only for a single device and the ability to download and use this software should only be used in one instance per student, sharing this ability to install software with anyone else is not allowed and could lead to disciplinary action once detected. The students must have admin privileges on their computer account so Company Portal can be installed.
- Mac*
*On the date of creating this page it is not yet possible for the Adobe Creative Cloud Software to be installed for Macintosh computers via Microsoft Company Portal, therefore please download and install the Adobe Creative Cloud for Macs (download, unzip by double-clicking on the file then run the xxxx_install.pkg file you will find in the Build folder once it unzips) and authenticate using your KPS email credentials. You can then choose applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator or Acrobat for example and self-install them on your Mac. You can always come see John Maxfield in Room B4 for help with this.