How to prepare for e-asTTle

For frequently asked questions about how to prepare for e-asTTle, please click on the links below.

• How can our school access e-asTTle?
• What steps should we take to prepare for e-asTTle?
• What technology do we need to run e-asTTle?
• What other technology is supported
• Will we have to get broadband?
• Why upload bandwidth is important
• Where can we find out about best practice use of the Internet to safeguard the privacy of our students?

How can our school access e-asTTle?

Any school wishing to access e-asTTle should click here. The Ministry of Education Contact Centre will advise details about whether your school can access e-asTTle, and, if so, provide further details such as how to apply for usernames and passwords, access training, etc.

e-asTTle teacher access

Currently the Ministry of Education is working on enhancements to e-asTTle, focused in two areas:

• Technology - Improving the reliability and robustness of the IT infrastructure
• Education - Enhancing the application to provide greater accuracy and feedback

The Ministry of Education is committed to ensuring all schools can access e-asTTle.
If you do not already have access to e-asTTle and want to be set up for teacher-only access please contact the Ministry via the Ministry of Education Contact Centre at moe.contactcentre@minedu.govt.nz.

e-asTTle for teachers only

Teachers will be able to create, assign and mark tests and generate reports (excluding adaptive tests). Students will sit the tests using pen and paper, with teachers marking and entering the scores into e-asTTle (as is currently done with asTTle version 4).

Please use the existing e-asTTle educator user manual and the external coordinator manual (excluding section 6,11 and 18 of the educator manual).

What steps should we take to prepare for e-asTTle?

Familiarise yourself with e-asTTle as much as possible:

• Check out the e-asTTle user manual, the e-asTTle training and support and the e-asTTle FAQ.
• Training, by way of self-paced learning modules, is available from the e-Admin Training website. Further details can be found on the Support page.

What technology do we need to run e-asTTle?

The following are the minimum system requirements for computers using e-asTTle. These are all things that are recommended for school computers and are not exclusive to e-asTTle.

What other technology is supported?

The Ministry of Education appreciates that there are always updated versions and new technologies being released. We endeavor to verify that e-asTTle is functional on these.
To this end, as at April 2010, e-asTTle was tested on the following:

Operating Systems

• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft XP prof SP3
• Microsoft Vista
• Microsoft Windows 7
• Macintosh 10.3 (panther)
• Macintosh 10.4 (tiger)
• Macintosh 10.5 (leopard)
• Macintosh 10.6 (snow leopard)

Browsers

• Internet Explorer 7.0
• Internet Explorer 8.0
• Mozilla Firefox 3.6.3
• Safari 4.0.5
• Opera 10.10
• Chrome 4.1
• Camino 2.0.2

Third Party Software

• Adobe acrobat 8.0
• Adobe acrobat 9.1
• Adobe (macromedia) flash v 7
• Adobe (macromedia) flash v 8
• Adobe (macromedia) flash v 9

Will we have to get broadband?

Yes. As all New Zealand schools have the capability to connect to broadband, it is strongly advisable to do so as connecting to broadband ensures your students have access to the growing opportunities that the Internet has to offer.

Why upload bandwidth is important

When using e-asTTle online testing functionality, the Upload bandwidth plays an important part of the process, as this is what transmits the data collected during the test back to the application. Without sufficient upload speed the results data sets e-asTTle sends for each page can be lost in transmission, or the application can time-out.

While logging back in can resume the test from the last save point, time is wasted, thus disadvantaging the student.

With sufficient bandwidth e-asTTle can run smoothly and present few errors to the students; with insufficient bandwidth the e-asTTle experience is usually poor.

Therefore for schools that currently have full access (teacher and student access) we recommend the symmetrical (upload and download) bandwidth of 2Mbps+ for a class of 30 students. As the number of students accessing e-asTTle at the same time increases the amount of bandwidth available must also increase.

Where can we find out about best practice use of the Internet to safeguard the privacy of our students?

You can get information about using the Internet safely from NetSafe, a programme offered by New Zealand's Internet Safety Group. This independent non-profit organisation is focused on 'cybersafety' education for all New Zealanders. It includes a section specifically for schools. Find out more at www.netsafe.org.nz or call 0508 NETSAFE (638 723).

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