Before purchasing a laptop or PC tablet, please review BCBE's "Laptop & PC Tablet Policy" and confer with your school's technician if you have any questions.  Per the policy, you are not allowed to connect a BCBE laptop or PC tablet to your home network/internet provider. 

To view your laptop and PC tablet options, you may visit Arey Jones' website for quotes on Lenovo and HP products.  IT Services is happy to help you determine the right fit for your need.  Remember, all laptop and tablet purchases must be approved by IT Services, regardless of the funding source.

Regardless of what funds you use, all technology-related purchases for hardware (laptops, PCs, projectors, interactive whiteboards, etc.) and software (network or non-standard software) must be approved by IT Services to ensure it is compatible with our network and standards.  Technology purchases for consumables (e.g., printer toner or ink) and simple external storage devices (e.g., thumbdrives, CDs and DVDs, diskettes, memory cards) do not need IT Services' approval. 

Follow these guidelines to determine if your purchase must come from a bid, how it must be routed, or any restrictions that might be related to your proposed funding source.  Go to the "Purchasing Guidance" page (available under "Resources" in the horizontal menu) to see a list of technology items currently on bid.

The cost of the PCs, laptops, and PC tablets listed on the BCBE website include several costs not accounted for when you purchase a computer from another source (Best Buy, Office Depot, on-line, etc.).  Among these costs are the following:

1. Five (5) year on-site warranty and maintenance on all PCs.  Three (3) year on-site warranty and maintenance on all laptops and PC tablets (the warranty can be further extended).
2. Licensing for Microsoft XP/7 Pro Operating System (OS).  Most laptops and PCs bought in stores or on-line come with a MS Home OS which is not compatible with our network environment and prohibited from connection.
3. Licensing for Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) as well as anti-virus protection for the life of the PC or laptop.

Please remember that all purchases of PCs and laptops, regardless of the funding source, must be routed through IT Services for approval.  Failure to do this can result in your PC or laptop being prohibited from use at your school or location.

Typically (i.e., 99% of the time), the response from IT Services is "thanks, but no thanks" with respect to donated computers and laptops due to a myriad of compatibility and performance related issues as well as hidden costs (e.g., OS license fee, MS Office license fee, anti-virus) and work (e.g., finding all the necessary drivers).

However, other less intrusive items (e.g., a printer, an interactive whiteboard) may possibly be approved if they meet all key criteria.  IT Services will work with the school to understand if these metrics are met and the costs involved in doing so.  The school's first step should be to alert IT Services to the potential donation and provide them with the quantity and type of item(s), and the proposed use(s) within the school.

Three things each Outlook user should be sure to do:
1. Keep your inbox relatively "clean".  Delete all SPAM e-mails and delete or file (if important) e-mails into archive folders if you don't have to follow-up on them.  Click here to watch a video on how to create folders. 
2. Delete "old" items (i.e., e-mails older than 60 days) in your "Sent" folder.  See the online video for detailed instructions. 
3. Delete "old" items (i.e., e-mails older than 60 days) in your "Deleted" folder.  Everything you delete from your inbox or sent folder doesn't go away until you delete it from your "Deleted Items" folder.  Thus, you do the same exercise as you did in #2 above to delete your deleted items.  Details are in the online video.

You should do these steps every week or two to keep your e-mail account size in check. 

Other important things to remember include:
1. Use your BCBE e-mail account for business-related communications.  Avoid forwarding or receiving humorous or personal videos, personal pictures, jokes, etc.  Set up a free e-mail account (e.g., hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc.) you can check from home and direct friends to send personal e-mails to that address.
2. If you receive an important document via e-mail, save the doc to your computer and then delete the e-mail.  This way, you have the document on your PC, but it is not taking up space on the e-mail server.
3. If you are e-mailing a document/picture/video that is on a website, just e-mail the link to that document/picture/video instead of e-mailing the document/picture/video itself.

The school technology coordinator (STC) or school office employee typically submits requests for e-mail/network account additions or changes (e.g., a last name change) required at that school.  Please note, the individual teachers needing the accounts are not the ones who should submit.  Click here to go to the E-mail/Network Account Request website (you MUST be on the BCBE network to access the website).  A confirmation e-mail will be sent to the requester for each submission.  For any questions on this process or a request, you may contact Mike Giardina.

Click here to launch a PDF detailing how our internet content filter works and how to request a site be blocked or unblocked.

Click here to launch a PDF detailing how the content filter works and how to request a site be blocked or unblocked.

The vast majority of SPAM comes from random e-mail addresses and should simply be deleted.  However, if you receive SPAM consistently from a particular e-mail address or domain (the domain is what follows the @ in an e-mail address), please e-mail the sender's domain or exact e-mail address to Mike Giardina of IT Services along with a sample of the type message you receive.  The sender may then be placed on the district's blacklist and will no longer be able to e-mail any BCBE users.

Read more information about dealing with SPAM and hoax email

Please be wise in your use of e-mail and abide by the terms outlined in the Acceptable Use Policy and the Administrative Workstation Policy.  You should avoid sending e-mails to recipients who don't know you or don't have a need or desire to receive your correspondence, including chain e-mails, political, religious or humorous e-mails.

It is important you save all files and spreadsheets to the "My Documents" folder or subfolders within it so you can back up all your work with one single action (i.e., backing up this single folder).

To back up "My Documents": Click on "My Documents" on your desktop or right mouse on "Start", choose "Explore" and then choose the "My Documents" folder.  Select any/all files and folders you want to backup.  Right mouse and choose "Copy" (or "Send To").  Click on your storage drive and choose "Paste" (if using "Send To", choose your storage device from the list of options).  It is recommended you back up your "My Documents" folder weekly if you save documents to your PC. 

To backup "Internet Favorites" (bookmarks):  Right mouse on "Start", choose "Explore" and then choose the "Favorites" folder displayed under the folder bearing your name.  Choose "Copy" to back up all links to your storage device or double click on favorites and highlight only those links you wish to save.  Choose "Copy", click on your storage drive, and choose "Paste".

However, IT Services is not able to configure/support personal/non-BCBE mobile smart devices.  The owner should contact his/her service provider (AT&T, Nextel, Alltel, etc.) and ask for assistance setting up the device.  Most service providers are willing to help customers setup their devices to receive email from a third party service like BCBE email.  To configure most mobile smart devices, the e-mail server name is usually required (typically called the inbound, outbound, POP, or SMTP server name).  The BCBE server name is pop.bcbe.org.  All other information required should be easily known by the user (e.g., username and password).  

Most devices come with a comprehensive device manual that explains the steps on how to setup the device to receive email from a third party.  Also, most major mobile smart device manufacturers have technical support web pages that offer guidance on setting up personal email (e.g., iPhone support and BlackBerry support - from the BBerry page, you must pick your model).

While not all devices will follow the exact same steps/procedures, you can click here to view the basic steps required to access the BCBE guest network (in schools with wireless access).  PLEASE NOTE: This access provides Internet browsing only and does not provide access to BCBE network resources (e.g., e-mail, INow, A+, Compass, etc.).

In certain models, the board malfunctions when metal items, such as the mounting screws, touch the back of the board. The following link will explain the problem in more detail and give some solutions to the problem:  http://www2.smarttech.com/kbdoc/1418
 

The Baldwin County Public School System has partnered with E-academy and is excited to offer you the opportunity to purchase Microsoft and Adobe software titles at substantial savings (up to 90% off retail price).  This program is available to all registered students and employees of Baldwin County Public Schools via the system’s participation in the Student Select Program. Many of the software titles such as Windows 7 and Microsoft Office products are available by download immediately. This will allow you to receive discounted software instantaneously with no shipping fees, or delivery wait times, while contributing towards a reduction on environmental waste.

Please note:

• The software titles on the site are strictly for home or personal computers only.  The software titles from this site are not to be installed on any BCBE computer or laptop.  (Employees, to order software for your work computer, you would follow the process outlined on our website under “Purchasing Guidance”; you would not use E-academy.) 
• Furthermore, this opportunity is between the buyer (you) and E-academy.  The school system is not responsible for the software purchased or installed.  Please contact the vendor with any questions, problems or issues with the purchase, support, installation, or licensing requirements of the software.

To take advantage of these significant discounts and to see the full list of discounted software available to you, please visit http://bcbe.onthehub.com.

Once on the site, you will need to create an account and verify your status as an active student or employee to order the software. Parents/students will need to show a current report card, schedule, or BCBE student ID and employees will need to provide validation by using a bcbe.org e-mail address or pay stub.

If you need help with the process, you can contact E-academy at the numbers provided on the website.