Connecting your laptop
With an emphasis on anywhere, any time learning, your Computers for Teachers laptop will allow you to access the department's IT network in a variety of ways.
This gives you the freedom to take your laptop with you wherever you go and helps you conduct lessons outside the classroom.
Logging on from your school
If you experience difficulties connecting to the network contact your school's Orange Card holder.
They can help you connect your laptop to the department's IT network and will carry out a basic user setup and provide you with a DETE login ID (also known as a user name).
Logging on from home
If you want to access the department's intranet or MIS Portal from home, you must be registered as a teacher in the Managed Internet Service (MIS).
Your MIS registration should have been automatic when you began working for the department.
If you receive an error message when you try to log in, record the error message (including any numbers) and contact the Service Centre.
Find out more about establishing a VPN connection (PDF, 126k)
More information on establishing a VPN connection on a Dell laptop (PDF, 193k)
Logging on from another school
If you need to connect to the department's IT network from another school:
- make sure you have logged into the network at your base school at least once before you try logging on at another school.
You will be unable to access your school's G or H drives at another school.
If you have already logged on to the network at your base school and experience trouble logging onto the laptop from another school, you should:
- log onto your laptop before you plug a blue cable into the network
- make sure the wireless switch on your laptop is turned off while you do this.
Itinerant teachers may need assistance from an Orange Card holder to connect to G:/ drive. Additional advice on for itinerant teachers is available:
Connecting to a wireless network
The wireless network at schools complements the cabled network. It isn't a replacement for it.
Using a combination of wireless and cable connections can maximise the speed of data transfers and minimise the amount of wireless bandwidth required by teachers who need it.
Once you have initially logged onto your laptop at your base school, you will automatically gain access to the IT network at other schools when you are working at these schools.
A step-by-step guide on connecting a PC laptop to a wireless network at another school (PDF, 68k) is available.
Another guide on using a wireless connection on an Apple Macbook (PDF, 526k) can help Mac users.
Information for connecting a Dell laptop to a wireless network at another school (PDF, 99k) is also available.
