What are the system and software requirements for my website?

Minimum System Requirements

Web Browsers:

• For PC: Internet Explorer 8.x and 9.x; Firefox 3.x or higher; Chrome 3.x or higher
• For Macintosh: Safari 3.x or higher; Firefox 2.x or higher.
  
• Flash 10 or higher.
• JavaScript and Browser cookies must be enabled
• To get the most out of those parts of Scholastic.com that are rich in multimedia, we recommend a broadband connection. In addition to the technical specifications for an individual computer, it is important to have good Internet bandwidth in your school to access Scholastic News Interactive, which is packed with multimedia assets.
• Note that Scholastic.com no longer supports Mac OS 9 browsers, such as Internet Explorer for Macintosh.

Display Settings:

• 1024 × 768 pixels or higher resolution recommended.
• 256 or more colors.

Other Hardware:

• Speakers or headphones for audio content.

Required Plug-ins, Browser Settings, and Helper Applications:

• JavaScript must be enabled in your Web browser.
• Adobe Flash Player is required for all multimedia on Scholastic.com. Flash Player is a free download from Adobe. Although we do our best to support earlier versions of Flash, we recommend that you download the latest version whenever possible.
• Cookies must be enabled in your Web browser for personalized content.
• For PC: Adobe Reader is required for PDF and PDF Form documents. Adobe Reader is a free download from Adobe.
• For Macintosh: While most PDF documents can be opened directly in OSX, Adobe Reader is required for PDF Form documents and Scholastic Printables. Adobe Reader is a free download from Adobe.
• Scholastic.com occasionally makes use of pop-up windows to present important information such as Help screens. If you are using pop-up blocker software, you may not be able to view these screens. Consult the Help section of your pop-up blocker software to learn how to disable it or to specifically allow pop-up windows on Scholastic.com.

Some browsers are set to save PDFs in a temporary location, which may be hard to locate. To view the documents you download, change your browser’s “Download” settings or identify the folder to which your browser saves documents. It may be called “Downloads” in your “My Documents” folder. Once you have opened the PDF in your browser or Adobe Acrobat, you may choose to print the file.

Yes! Each month’s assets—remain available to you all year in your Magazine Archive. Simply click on the Magazine Archive button on the left side of your magazine’s logged-in home page. You will see a thumbnail image of each issue. You may search the archive by issue date or by keyword. Click on the thumbnail image to access the digital issue and all its related assets.

If you are using an interactive whiteboard, touch the screen above or below the pages to scroll the digital issues. Touching the left side of the screen, above or below the page icons, will scroll toward the left; touching the right side of the screen, above or below the page icons, will scroll toward the right.

Scholastic Classroom Magazines websites require that you enable pop-ups in your browser settings. If you see the message “Did You Notice the Information Bar?” use the pull-down menu and select “Always allow pop-ups from this site.”

Because your magazine’s digital resources are a supplement to your print subscription, pages from the digital issues are not printable. You may print skills sheets (“Printables”) as well as your Teacher’s Edition. Some magazines also offer alternate-level versions of certain articles within their digital issues. These alternate-level articles are printable.

You have the ability to save digital sticky notes within the digital issues of your magazine. Click the Digital Sticky Notes icon on the toolbar and type in a note. That note will be saved on your Profile page and in that issue. Click on “My Profile/Student Passwords.” You may hide your notes so they are not visible after you have saved them.

The loading time will vary depending on a user’s Internet connection and the number of teachers accessing the same issue simultaneously.

If your computer does not load all pages of an issue, select the “Show All Pages” icon in the toolbar and select any page of the digital issue. This icon is to the left of the “Home” icon. When you select a specific page, it will load that page more quickly and continue to load the rest of the digital issue.

Many school networks do not have enough bandwidth for many students to play the same video simultaneously. The video performance will vary depending on your Internet connection and the number of users accessing digital resources simultaneously.

If you are able to access your magazine’s website prior to teaching, you can load the video into the memory of your computer in advance. Simply click the video button and then press pause. The pause button is on the bottom left of the video-player toolbar. The pause button toggles between pause and play. When the video player is in the paused mode, the video will continue to load. When you are ready to begin your lesson, simply press play to begin the video.

You can load the video a few minutes prior to a lesson or hours in advance.

Click here for a printable guide on viewing the video successfully.