Lutheran is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environment. This means that students are invited to bring his or her own device to school to use during class for educational purposes and at the discretion of the teacher. Families are free to choose what device suits their student's needs best.
There are no formal recommendations for what devices students should be equipped with but here are some commonly used devices on campus:
- Smartphones - Smartphones are excellent for viewing course content on Canvas, quickly Googling something for class, and submitting assignments in Canvas using the camera. Creating and collaborating on digital content in the classroom is where smartphones struggle compared to a larger device due to a smaller display and the lack of a full size, physical keyboard. A Bluetooth keyboard can be paired with a smartphone to improve the typing experience.
- Chromebooks - This is largely considered to be the low cost option (there are expensive chromebooks). Chromebooks provide all the basic needs for a student at Lutheran High (viewing content on Canvas, creating and collaborating on presentations and documents, completing online assessments, etc.) Due to lower storage and processing speeds compared to traditional laptops, students wanting a device capable of running larger applications such as photo and video editing software would want to consider a different device.
- Spec recommendations: minimum 4 GB of RAM, at least 32 GB of storage, 11” display, and the newest processor that fits in your budget (i.e N5000 is better than N4020).
- iPad/Tablet - Tablets, when coupled with a stylus and keyboard (not usually included), offer students an educational experience uniquely built to meet the digital needs of nearly every educational environment. Tablets allow students to engage note taking, drawing, math problem solving and other activities normally accomplished with pen and paper in a digital space with the benefit of additional organizational features and storage all in one compact space. With the addition of a keyboard, students can accomplish tasks normally completed on a traditional computer using the same device. Finally, tablets equipped with a camera allow for quick document scanning and engaging in creative assignments requiring photo or video work. The main disadvantage of a tablet is the lack of a physical keyboard out of the box.
- Spec recommendations: minimum 9” display, at least 64 GB of storage, addition of a stylus and keyboard recommended.
- Laptop (Windows/Mac) - The most full featured of the four device types, laptops run a desktop class operating system, support the widest range of software (photo/video editing, 3d modeling/CAD, ect..), and are available in a wide range of form factors (touch screen, 2-in-1, small display, large display, ect..) Relative portability and cost are a laptop’s largest disadvantages compared to the other types of devices.
- Spec recommendations: display size of at least 13", minimum 8 GB (16 GB recommended) of RAM, good battery life (8 hours or more), and a 250 GB (or bigger) SSD(solid state drive). If the desired use case for the laptop is more substantial (3d modeling, video editing, or rendering), then better specs would be required, including a discrete GPU.