eMINTS equipment

Equipment purchased for use in eMINTS classrooms may be either PC or Mac platform and must meet minimum specifications. Official eMINTS classrooms FY08 specifications (hardware & software) Additional required technology resources eMINTS software policy FY08 installation timeline (PDF 21 KB)   eMINTS4All classrooms FY08 specifications   PD4ETS program participants FY08 specifications   Technical support information Basic troubleshooting flowcharts

FY08 equipment & software specifications

Official eMINTS classrooms

Official eMINTS classrooms must be provided with the full suite of hardware and software as specified by the eMINTS National Center.

Instructional functionality is key in an eMINTS classroom. To achieve the desired level of instructional functionality, specific Internet and equipment connectivity requirements must be met. Connectivity requirements may be met using either wired or wireless connectivity configurations or may be a combination of the two. In addition to Internet connectivity, equipment may need to be upgraded to include VGA or serial ports to achieve the following instructional functionality:

• Teacher workstation connects to interactive whiteboard
• Teacher workstation image appears on teacher monitor and interactive whiteboard
• Student work can be displayed on interactive whiteboard through a shared folder system or server

When pricing equipment, it may be more cost efficient to see what is available instead of giving the specifications. Many times, it will cost more to find machines to meet the specs exactly than current market machines that will exceed these specifications.

Minimum specifications

Equipment purchased for official eMINTS classrooms may be either PC or Mac platform and must meet minimum specifications. Minimum specifications for each piece of FY08 equipment purchased by participating organizations are accessible from the list below. Each organization is responsible for purchasing equipment and establishing technical support on its own.

• Teacher laptop (docking station recommended)
• Teacher workstation
• Interactive whiteboard
• Projector
• Printer and scanner
• Digital camera
• Student desktop (for 2:1 deployment in grades 3-12)
• Student laptop (for 2:1 deployment in grades 3-12)
• Student laptop 2 (for 1:1 deployment in grades 5-12)
• Student workstation (for grades K-2 only)

FY08 equipment installation timeline (PDF 23 KB)

eMINTS thin client alternative

Additional equipment

Flash drive - If sufficient funding can be found within a grant or at the district level, it is requested that each eMINTS and eMINTS4All teacher be provided with a 1 GB flash drive that is USB connected (can plug in directly to the USB port or may include cord to use USB port)

Acceptable additional software

Due to the needs of classes in specific grade levels, additional equipment may be acceptable. These are not mandatory or required for an eMINTS classroom but may be included without seeking permission from the eMINTS National Center. All other additional software must be pre-approved by the eMINTS National Center prior to purchase or installation. See eMINTS software policy.

• Microphones or headsets with microphone capabilities
• Web cams
• Speech-to-text and voice recognition software
• Scientific probes (computer enabled)
• Microscopes (computer enabled)
• Graphing calculators (computer enabled)
• Geometer Sketchpad^®
• Tech4Learning products
  • Frames^®
  • ImageBlender^®
  • MediaBlender^®
  • Pixie^®
  • Twist^®
  • WebBlender^®
  • Clay Animation Kit
• Teacher resources (teacher laptop/workstation only): student information system (SIS), district grading/reporting software

eMINTS4All classrooms

Equipment and software placed in classrooms in the grades above and below the official eMINTS classrooms must also meet eMINTS specifications if teachers assigned to those classrooms will be participating in the eMINTS4All professional development program. The equipment may be may be either PC or Mac platform and must meet minimum specifications.This will insure that the eMINTS implementation is consistent across the school and that professional development sessions for teachers are meaningful.

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PD4ETS program participants

Each school district or educational organization is required to provide PD4ETS participants with a laptop that meets current specifications for the two years the specialist is in the program.

More information

Contact the eMINTS National Center office at (573) 884-7202 or emints-info@emints.org.

Reviewed October 8, 2008.