Do you carry your laptops to your school(s)? Do you carry an USB? Or do you use an iPad with a converter?
I currently have a 2016 laptop that’s very heavy and was considering buying a newer laptop if I were to use for work. Other than being heavy, it’s perfectly fine and would leave it at the apartment if I were not to use it.
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I did and brought my own adapter for the projectors. It was just easier to make presentations on my own device and I didn’t mind. It was a MacBook though so pretty light.
I’d first ask your pred about what you need and if you’re allowed to bring or use your own laptop. In my case, in my first year one of my schools didn’t want me to use my own laptop (they’re very…backwards thinking at the time about why we’d use our own laptops on the school network). And no one knew the network password so I couldn’t even get on the internet without either my own wifi or tethering.
At my base school I use a student laptop that’s just kind of permanently mine. It doesn’t have the same restrictions that the desktop PCs here do (basically everything is blocked on the desktops). So I don’t bring my own laptop. I also don’t need a USB, I just mail things between emails so I can access them where I need to. I only use USB for printing at 7-11 or something.
As someone else mentioned you’re really going to have to ask your pred/school what’s available.
My school gave me a dinosaur laptop that is extremely slow but it’s the only way I can print things out or access the school’s intranet page. So I bring my own personal laptop to use the majority of the time and connect to the wifi that’s fortunately available at school. I have a flash drive, but mostly I just store things on google drive so that when I go on the old computer to print things out I can just download it from there. It’s also handy because my school somewhat uses google accounts and google classroom.
However, at my school none of the classrooms have built in projectors or screens. If I want to use a presentation, I have to carry a projector in and set it up. I also have to carry these magnetic screens in and attach it to the blackboard. I bought my own converter so my MacBook could connect to HDMI (it’s been useful to just keep in my bag with me).
I’ve learned to mostly just go without presentations on a day to day basis, but if I have a self intro or the occasional fun/game day, then I’ll go through the hassle of getting it all set up. It’s been an adjustment for sure, but it’s not really a hill I want to die on. I just have to be flexible!
This is something that has changed a lot in the last couple of years so take experiences of former JETs with a grain of salt! Basically when corona hit, the government *majorly* ramped up their GIGASchool program which provided money for increasing tech in schools. A lot of schools have undergone mini technological revolutions in the past couple of years.
For example, when I arrived in 2018, most of my school had TVs in the classroom that were connected to (very old) laptops. I brought any powerpoints etc on a thumb drive and plugged that into the classroom computer. Students didn’t have access to computers for class work and only had typing classes once or twice a year. I had a computer at the boe, but I wasn’t allowed to take it to class and stubbornly refused to bring my own, so I didn’t have access to a computer at the schools
Now, all students and teachers at my schools are issued tablets. Teachers have the tablets in addition to their laptop. The classrooms have gotten giant smart TVs that allow for you to annotate on top of whatever’s displayed on them. All classrooms have Apple TV and Microsoft whateveritscalled so you can beam things from your tablet up to the TV with the click of a button. Cloud based storage allows teachers to easily edit documents between their computer and their tablet. I still can’t take my computer out of the boe, but since I have tablet now, it’s a non-issue
Ask your pred what the set up at your school is when you get in contact with them
I bring my own laptop and I have a usb. The schools never gave me a laptop, I never asked, and I like being able to do whatever I want. It’s easier since I go to multiple schools but have all the things I made on one laptop.
When the schools did eventually place a laptop on my desk, it couldn’t even load Word. All I wanted was to print a simple bingo sheet and I couldn’t even get it to open a blank document. That dinosaur was a waste of time and even when they ‘fixed’ it, it’s still slower than my 2015 laptop.
(I have heard some schools give everyone an iPad but nowhere in my prefecture haha. This is from a friend in a different prefecture.)
I use my own ipad. My own meaning my personal device. Not one that was school issue.
Almost every JET in my placement brings their own laptop to school, and we use our own cellular data from our phones. One JET immediately pushed for her schools to give her tech (a laptop at each school) and amazingly both schools complied.
That being said, all of us complained to the BOE that even though they were asking us to do more with technology in the classroom, without our own personal devices, we actually can’t work. So, we’ll be getting ipads in the coming months. So, I think on one hand it depends on your pred but also what you ask for right away.
I have a giant ancient HP laptop that all the teachers have which only connects to ethernet and a Microsoft Surface tablet thing that all the teachers are given as well. The internet is excruciatingly slow through the ethernet cord, so I only use my tablet unless I am printing something. I also take my tablet from my base school to the visit schools, since it connects to the school wifi.
I have a Macbook, but I would rather not use my personal laptop at work if I have the choice.
Ask your BOE contact on how things like that are handled. This is very much an ESID. At my school they gave me a Chromebook at my main, but I’m left to my own devices at my elementary schools. I also don’t get access to Wi-Fi on my own devices, so hotspot is a friend.
Some schools won’t trust your USB. My schools do. But one of my classes can’t even use a usb so Google docs is honestly the safest way to go.
You’ll likely not be able to connect to internet using your personal devices. It’s a security reason so, if they have something for you to use, you will use theirs. I was given a chrome book to use…the laptops available were not working. Of course you might be given a laptop or you might not…depends on your school and how you are allowed to use it while at work. I would ask your predecessor about this or your supervisor (the one in contact with you).
I have a Surface Pro so it’s not very heavy, and I just chuck it in my bag to bring to school every day. No access to school WiFi so I tether off my phone (gotta love Rakuten Mobile and their unlimited data, clocked in 30GB so far this month and no slowdown) I actually also have an iPad but it’s a few generations old and shows its age so the Surface gets a lot more use (in fact, I might sell it if I can find a good promo on a new iPad and migrate everything over).
I brought my laptop, my own HDMI cable, 2 USBs (just in case), and a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter. It makes creating PowerPoints and playing language games with students significantly easier. I highly recommend it. Especially because there are gonna be days where you’ll be desk warming for hours at a time before it’s your time to clock out for the day.
I was given a school laptop to use but it’s ancient and painfully slow. Also, the keyboard layout is different because it’s a Japanese laptop (obviously). I bring my own laptop to work to put together lessons, do research, etc. If I need to print something out, I transfer the file to the work laptop via thumb drive. For the Internet, I have pocket wifi and while it’s kind of expensive, it’s been worth it for me. I had a lot of deskwarming in my early days and it was nice to be able to browse the Internet or study online on my own (fast) laptop during my extensive downtime.
I wasn’t given a computer at my visit school but I brought my laptop on the first day, so I’m not sure if they would have issued me one eventually.
I have two laptops at my BOE, but that’s where they stay. I have a personal laptop that’s heavy, and that stays at home. I bought a cheap laptop (small, lightweight, lasts all day without charging) that I use when going between schools so I can work on materials, and I am sososo glad I have it. I use a USB whenever I make in-class presentations. My personal laptop is allowed on the open school wireless, but is not allowed on the closed wired school networks. This is very, very important.
Data access is a whole thing in Japan.
One of my laptops at the BOE is on a closed network. It has access to all the printers, servers, etc. I literally cannot take anything off of it using a USB, unless I use the special BOE password-protected USBs, and have to get permission to even be able to email an out-of-work address. It’s also ancient and slow (the students at least get new ones!).
You’ll probably want to wait until you arrive to decide what will work best for you. Or ask you pred if you’re in contact.
My school gave me a laptop to use. It’s big and slow, but I bike to school so I wouldn’t want to bring my personal laptop back and forth every day. It’s also only connected to the ethernet and not to my school’s wifi, so I typically download all my presentations and videos to show in class. However I can request to borrow a school ipad that is connected to the wifi, so I’ll do that sometimes (all the classrooms have hdmi to lightning cable adapters for the projectors).
I’ve also occasionally used my phone to show videos or play music, although it’s probably not the best thing to do haha.