Technology

Just as technology is an integral part of our daily lives, it is an invaluable component of the Villa Joseph Marie experience. Villa's educators believe in the importance of a holistic education, and they make every effort to incorporate technological tools across the curriculum. Villa's Technology and Media staff work with our faculty to:

Help students pursue and achieve academic excellence by maintaining an environment that allows students to use current and emerging technologies effectively.
Support the community’s use of technology by selecting and obtaining appropriate hardware and software, providing staff development and training, and assisting with curricular development around technology.
Ensure safe, dependable access, so our community can connect to educational resources and information locally and globally.

Wireless Campus

WiFi-enabled classrooms, campus-wide network, and mobile wireless laptops

BYOD Policy

Bring Your Own Device policy for all students (laptops, tablets)

Canvas

Integrated learning management app with student grading, teacher web pages, online assignments, and more

Library & Media Center

Offering print and online materials, reference tools, and free searchable databases

Teaching & Learning Apps

Software for a wide variety of subject matter, providing contemporary analytical/problem solving applications

SMART Board

Interactive SMART Board technology in classrooms

TI-Nspire

Texas Instruments interactive calculator software

Responsible Use Policy

Safe, responsible use by the whole community

Wireless Campus

Villa maintains a modern, safe, robust technological environment capable of supporting present and anticipated future needs. The school has designed and implemented a wireless network accessible to a variety of devices throughout the campus. Each Villa student is provided with an individual network account with accompanying file storage space on our server. School policies and best practices are explained to all students, who commit to abide by acceptable use policies, and act with an understanding of ethical and professional norms.

BYOD Policy

Following the lead of post-secondary institutions, Villa requires students to bring a personal learning device (tablet, notebook, or laptop) to school every day. As a college-preparatory school, our goal is to provide as many opportunities for students to prepare for college as possible. As the preferred policy of colleges and universities, "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) is another way for us to achieve that.

BYOD allows students to utilize their own device as a learning tool while connected to a secure, wireless network with filtered Internet access. Students using their own device gain the advantage of easily storing their work, organizing their notes, and consistently accessing Canvas and other class web pages. During instructional periods, appropriate use of the device will be determined by the teacher. During non-instructional time, students are encouraged to use devices in common areas, such as the library, cafeteria, and student lounge. Students are always responsible for their own equipment.

Smartphones and mobile devices do not meet our minimum requirements, and they are not acceptable devices under Villa’s BYOD or cell phone policies, as outlined in the Student Handbook. Students and their parents can spend what they feel comfortable spending on a device. Rather than building money into the tuition, Villa Joseph Marie grants the families the option to choose what works best for them.

Recommendations gathered from current students regarding devices:

Device needs a keyboard or the student will have trouble keeping up with the class.
Devices should be lightweight and have a screen of 10+”.
A spare battery or charger in school is important.
Test older devices to ensure they meet the needs of the student for learning at Villa. Any device with a slow wireless card, slow processor, or poor battery life will experience problems.

Please see our Technology & Media FAQ tab below for more information on acceptable and recommended devices.

Canvas for Students

Refer to the handout you received from your homeroom teacher for Canvas student account instructions. If you have lost this information, please see Mrs. Hurlbert in Room 113.

To learn more about Canvas from a student perspective, see the resources below. A login account is not needed to access these training resources.

Accessing Canvas

Via App: Download the Canvas Student app from the App Store or Google Play.
On the Web: Browse directly to https://vjmhs.instructure.com. Consider bookmarking/saving this web address as a favorite in your browser.
From the Villa website: Drop down the Students' Quick Links menu, which appears on the top navigation bar of Villa’s website, and click on Canvas.

Canvas for Parents

For instructions on accessing Canvas, please click here.

Canvas is a learning management system (LMS) that allows teachers to provide instructional support, class calendars, assignments, and resources for students in a safe online environment. Canvas is an integral part of blended classroom instruction.

Canvas is a way to simplify teaching and learning by connecting all the digital tools teachers use in one easy place. Canvas tools were developed to be used online, on mobile, and on any device.

Reliability is paramount. That is why Canvas was developed as a true cloud-native solution, and hosted on the industry-leading Amazon Web Services. With a 99.9% uptime guarantee, you can depend on Canvas being available.

Villa piloted Canvas during the 2017–2018 school year and expanded schoolwide in 2018–2019. In 2019–2020, this system allowed our school to seamlessly transition to an online learning model during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Why Canvas?

Villa is following the lead of many high schools, colleges, and universities in adopting Canvas, which offers many benefits, including:

Strong support for Villa's pedagogical requirements and educational outcomes.
A clean modern interface for easy navigation.
Tools to assist faculty in creating opportunities for student collaboration, while facilitating deeper learning and the ability to build communities beyond the classroom.
Smooth transition from high school to today’s college/university online LMS environments.

Instructure Quick Facts

Founded in 2008
Launched Canvas in 2011
Launched Canvas Network in 2012
1,100+ employees
Used by more than 3,000 universities, school districts, and institutions around the world
Selected by Cisco Networking Academy to power “the world’s largest classroom”

Recommended Browsers

For optimal performance while using Canvas, use a recent version of Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Google Chrome. Internet Explorer is NOT recommended.

Library & Media Center

Library

The Villa Joseph Marie Library assists students in reaching their academic goals by exposing them to a wide variety of print and digital media. The primary aims are:

To provide students with library materials and services that are useful and meaningful in contributing to their intellectual, social, and spiritual growth.
To provide opportunities through library experiences for students to develop their personal interests and acquire desirable social attitudes.
To work with faculty in the selection and use of all types of library media materials that contribute to Villa's academic programs.
To help students become skillful and discriminating users of print and audio-visual materials, the Internet, search engines, and social media.

Media Center

Villa's media center is networked with Microsoft Server 2008 R2 and contains 24 state-of-the-art Intel Pentium desktops equipped with Windows 7 and Microsoft Office. Hard-wired and wireless network connections are available in every classroom, the cafeteria, Student Lounge, and throughout the entire campus. Our server downtime nears 0% on average.

Villa is committed to keeping its media center up-to-date by replacing student and teacher workstations every three years with new models. Operating systems and office suites are updated as well. Villa graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to be prepared for technology use in college and the workforce.

Library Media On-Line Resources

Through classroom projects and frequent exposure to a variety of technological tools and applications, Villa students attain 21st century skills, prepare for success, and achieve their goals in the competitive electronic age. Additionally, each Villa student is given an individual account for the following media resources, which feature extensive searchable databases ideal for research:

These accounts are free of charge and can be used on campus, on any personal device, and integrated into Canvas to further enrich and enhance learning opportunities.

SMART Board

Educational projection technology permeates Villa's learning environment. All classrooms are equipped with a SMART Board for both faculty and student presentations. Many teachers save their SMART Board notes as images and upload them into Canvas for additional student learning.

Villa’s faculty has begun “flipping” classroom lessons to further infuse content with technology. Villa is working to reconfigure learning spaces to create learning environments conducive to technology use.

TI-Nspire

Villa strongly recommends that every student purchase a TI-Nspire CX II calculator, by Texas Instruments, for use not only in math classes, but across the curriculum. The TI-Nspire CX II provides algebraic capability to symbolically solve equations, factor and expand variable expressions, complete the square, find antiderivatives, and more, making it a robust hands-on learning tool that satisfies math and science curriculum needs. Its power and versatility have enabled it to be used at Villa for such diverse applications as allowing students to edit each others' writing in English class and letting the entire school vote for Student Council officers in a matter of minutes.

Responsible Use Policy

Villa Joseph Marie maintains a Responsible Use Policy (RUP) for its Local Area Network, Internet, BYOD Program, and Wireless (Wi-Fi) Network. The Responsible Use Policy is intended to:

Provide students, employees, and Board of Directors members/affiliates with a resource that will help identify behaviors that are inconsistent with the school’s core values, as expressed through its Mission Statement, Philosophy, Objectives, and Standards of Conduct.
Provide the school with a basis for taking disciplinary and other remedial action against individuals whose behavior is inconsistent with the non-exclusive values of trust, kindness, and responsibility described in the Mission Statement, Philosophy, Objectives, and Standards of Conduct necessary for the maintenance of a sustaining educational community.

All students and parents/guardians are required to review and sign this form.

Technology & Media FAQ

Below are some Frequently Asked Questions regarding technology at Villa.

What is BYOD?

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a program that allows Villa students to use a personal device for Canvas, Microsoft Office 365®, on-line textbooks, and all other classroom academics in order to connect to the Internet and access instructional resources. Approved personal computing devices are devices that meet the below minimum hardware requirements.

Why Did VJMHS Choose BYOD over the 1 to 1 Program?

A 1 to 1 program is another type of school model that provides every student with the exact same device. This locks both VJMHS and the student into one specific computer model. The economic feasibility of maintaining a 1 to 1 program along with the school's technology infrastructure would ultimately increase tuition and add technology fees.

With a BYOD program, we can be assured that teachers and students are comfortable with their own device to accomplish all academic objectives. VJMHS’s BYOD model allows the focus to remain on the mission of developing critical thinking skills.

What are the benefits of a BYOD Program?

Fosters student ownership of their own learning
Gives students real-time access to information
Enables a smooth transition between home and school
Increases student access to online instructional materials
Allows for personalized learning
Supplements school resources and equipment

What hardware will be needed for my daughter’s computing device?

The device's operating system: Windows 10 and 11. However, previous operating systems are still compatible (Windows 7 (Service Pack 1), 8, 8.1)
Operating systems for Windows RT, Windows 10S, and Windows 11S are not accepted/supported
The device has at least 1 USB port
The device has a webcam
The device should have:
· A minimum of 8GB of RAM (Memory)
· A minimum of an Intel Core i5 processor or greater (or comparable)
VJMHS is a Windows-based infrastructure. MacBooks are acceptable, however the student needs to be proficient in transitioning between the school's Windows-based network and Mac OS
Chromebooks, Android tablets, iPads, Surface Go, Go2, Go3, and Surface Pro X are not supported
Supported browsers are Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox which must be used for Canvas, Canvas Conference and MS Office 3

If my daughter already owns a device, does she need a new one?

As long as the device is able to meet the above minimum hardware requirements, a student may use a device that she already owns.

Will students be able to recharge devices during the school day?

Yes. Students are permitted to charge devices at school, if permitted by the classroom teacher.

What if the devices battery runs out of power during the day?

Students are expected to come to school each day with their devices fully charged and are expected to use their devices in a way that conserves power.

Will technical support be provided to help students with their privately owned devices?

No. There are many types of devices that could be brought to school as part of the BYOD program. VJMHS recommends purchasing an extended warranty program for the device.

Microsoft 365 Student Account:

VJMHS provides every student with a free Microsoft 365 account. Every student is provided with an official @vjmhs.com Outlook e:mail account that will be used for all VJMHS communications and Canvas. Microsoft 365 account provides the following products: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, and several other utilities.

Canvas Account:

VJMHS provides every student with a free Canvas account. Canvas is a learning management system that allows teachers to provide instructional support, class calendars, assignments, and additional free VJMHS resources for students in a safe online environment. The entire Canvas platform was developed to be used online via the devices that meet the above listed hardware and browser requirements. Canvas is now an integral part of blended classroom instruction through the use of “Conference”. The Conference module is Canvas’s virtual online classroom.

Canvas and Microsoft 365 Integration:

Canvas supports full integration with the Microsoft Office 365 products. Therefore, every student’s @vjmhs.com e:mail account is integrated within each student’s Canvas account. This integration allows students to use, create, share, save, upload, and real-time collaborate with each other and their respective teachers via this integration between Office 365 and Canvas. Again, all official VJMHS communications will use each student’s @vjmhs.com e:mail account.

Are students allowed to use their devices before or after school? During lunch? In the library? In the Student Lounge?

Yes. However, if the use of the device causes disruption in any setting, as determined by a supervising Villa staff member, the student will be directed to put it away.

How do I consent to let my daughter use a privately owned device at school?

When you and your daughter sign the annual “Electronic Responsible Use Policy for Local Area Network, Internet, Wireless (Wi-Fi) Network, Bring Your Own Device, IoT Devices, & Smart Watches” through the FamilyID website at the beginning of the school year, you and your daughter agree to observe all guidelines established by VJMHS for device use.

Are the wireless and wired network connections filtered?

Yes, internet access is restricted to only academic and educational websites. VJMHS deploys a firewall to protect the network from threats and also manage appropriate content.

Is the wireless network available school-wide so that devices can connect easily?

Villa’s dedicated wireless network is visible to every user on the entire campus. Selecting it will initiate a prompt to enter a Wi-Fi password and to install a school-sanctioned certificate.

Are students allowed to print from their personal devices?

No. Students are not allowed to print from their privately owned devices at school. Students are provided with internal network accounts and passwords that are enabled to print to designated network printers.

How will theft, loss, or damage of a personally owned device be handled in school?

VJMHS is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged devices. We recommend that students bring devices in appropriate protective cases, have a plan for where the devices will be stored when they are not being used, and have a manufacturer’s maintenance plan on said device.

Can students use another student's device?

No. According to Villa’s policy, only the owner is allowed to use her device.

For questions or more information about technology at Villa, contact Karla Hurlbert, Director of Technology, at 215-357-8810 ext. 100, or khurlbert@vjmhs.org.