Q_and_A

Questions & Answers

Q. I've downloaded and installed the monthly update but I'm still looking at last month's edition. What's up?

Q. What Internet browsers do you recommend?

Q. What plug-ins do you use?

Q. There are lots of websites out there that feature lists for students. Why should I use SL?

Q. Our board has a customized version of SL that contains local links. Won't downloading the monthly update wipe out our stuff?

Q: I know you have a place to report dead links, but what about sites that just don't seem very appropriate for my grade?

Q: I reported a dead link last month, but it's back again in this month's update. What's up?

Q: How long does the SL License agreement last?

Q: The free Starter Kit Package is a big hit! Can I get more hand-outs?

Q. Why do the Starter Kit pages have alternating wide borders?

Q: Any chance of a StudentLink Secondary?

Q. I've downloaded and installed the monthly update but I'm still looking at last month's edition. What's up?

A. Assuming you have installed the update correctly, confirm you're looking at the most recent edition. The date is displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the main menu. If you installed correctly but the date is incorrect, there's a good chance your browser is accessing an earlier version of SL kept in its "Temporary Internet Files" directory. Simply click on the "Refresh button" in your browser's menu bar or delete your temporary Internet files. If you're still having difficulty contact us here.

Q. What Internet browsers do you recommend?

A. We find that StudentLink works well with all browsers that are Javascript capable.

Q. What plug-ins does StudentLink use?

We recommend installing the following plug-ins to your browser for the full SL experience: Macromedia's Shockwave™ (with Flash), RealAudio's RealPlayer™, Quicktime™ for Windows, Adobe Acrobat Reader™. There are fast links to each plug-in on our tech support page.

Q. There are lots of websites out there that feature lists for students. Why should I use StudentLink?

A. For several reasons:

StudentLink resides on your local hard drive (workstation, school file server, or board web server) and therefore is guaranteed to always be available. No outages, no re-direction or dead ends, no lists leading to other lists, and no possibility of denial of service due to saturation.
While an outside website owes you nothing, SL is committed to bringing you the best available material by grade, subject and curriculum strand.
Most lists on the web are outdated. Web authors fail to keep their links current. The StudentLink team of teachers continually audits the SL database and publishes an update on a monthly basis.
Many lists on the web are not organized for easy use. StudentLink's navigation system was built for and tested by Ontario students in grades one to eight.
To assist you the teacher in the presentation of current events units, board-wide licenses of StudentLink are customized to include links to websites in your part of the province.
Most educational websites are actually aimed at teachers to assist them with lesson plans. SL goes straight to assisting the student with sites chosen based on grade appropriate vocabulary and reading comprehension level.
StudentLink Ontario maintains a library of free, teacher-created student activities available to all StudentLink users.
Lastly, we provide timely assistance for installation, and maintenance, as well as hand - out packages to get classes underway.

Q. Our board has a customized version of StudentLink that contains local links. Won't downloading the monthly update wipe out our stuff?

A. No. The monthly update will not affect your board link, student user policy, or local links in your current events pages.

Q: I know you have a place to report dead links, but what about sites that just don't seem very appropriate for my grade?

A: We definitely want to know about them too and appreciate your help in making SL better. Just drop us a note telling us about the inappropriate site here.

Q: I reported a dead link last month, but it's back again in this month's update. What's up?

A: We run a "dead link test" on suspicious sites on three different occasions before deleting them from the menu. We have found that some very good education sites shut down their servers for the summer, weekends, etc. Please be patient as we make the determination. If you find after several attempts on several days that the link is still dead, please don't hesitate to report it again.

Q: How long does the StudentLink License agreement last?

A: Each school board has negotiated the length of their license. When the license expires boards can purchase an additional year's worth of monthly updates calculated at $50.00 per school.

Q: The Start-Up Package is a big hit! Can I get more hand-outs?

A: A second package of SL hand-outs was combined with the first package in the summer of '03. It is updated annually and is freely available for downloading.
Why not build your own StudentLink lesson? Teachers can download the template we used to build the walkthroughs and create their own. The library of teacher-created lessons is available here.

Q: Why do the Starter Kit pages have alternating wide borders?

A: The pages are meant to be double-sided to save paper. It means the hole punches won't interfere with text. Yes, we do think of everything.

Q: Any chance of a StudentLink Secondary?

A: A java-based navigation system for StudentLink Secondary was completed in July of 2001. Work is presently underway to complete the content for grades nine and ten.