Technology Requirements

Second Step Digital Product Technical Requirements

Internet Connection

Second Step® K–12 digital program content and the classroom kits Streaming Lesson Media are accessed entirely from SecondStep.org. You’ll need to be connected to the internet to access all parts of the products, such as the videos, songs, and photos included in these programs.

Bandwidth

Our system is capable of determining how much bandwidth you have and scaling our products accordingly, so you should always be able to use them except in extreme cases. If your school has very low bandwidth, you may experience lower quality definition or buffering. Like all streaming products, ours will work best with more bandwidth. You will need 3 Mbps of bandwidth for each person for high definition and 1.5 Mbps for standard definition. So, for example, if you have 5 teachers using the program at the same time, you’d need 15 Mbps for high definition and 7 Mbps for standard definition.

Use fast.com to check your internet speed.

Transport Layer Security (TLS)

The IT or technical support team should ensure your systems are updated to TLS 1.3.

We require TLS 1.3 to provide your integration with faster handshake speeds and the highest level of data security.

Supported Devices, Operating Systems, and Web Browsers

Second Step® Program content will function best when used on a device with:

An up-to-date operating system
A common, up-to-date web browser
A browser width of at least 768 pixels

Supported desktop computers, laptops, and tablets and their operating systems and browsers are:

PC desktop or laptop
Operating system: Windows 10 or higher
Web browsers: Chrome 70 or higher is recommended; Firefox 63 or higher or Edge 79 or higher
Mac desktop or laptop
Operating system: Mac OS 13 or higher
Web browsers: Safari 14 or higher are recommended; Firefox 54 or higher
iPad
Operating system: Mac iOS 10 or higher
Web browsers: Chrome 70 or higher or Safari 13 or higher are recommended; Firefox 54 or higher
Android tablet or Chromebook
Operating system: Android OS 9 or higher
Web browser: Chrome 70 or higher

About Mobile Phones

Second Step® program content can be viewed on a mobile phone, but lesson content works best when viewed with a browser width of 768 pixels or more. Most computers, tablets, and Chromebooks meet this minimum, but most mobile phones don’t.

Although it’s possible to view lessons and media on a mobile phone, we don’t recommend trying to project lesson media or lessons from a phone for use in the classroom.
You may be able to use your phone to preview lesson media or lessons before teaching.
You may be able to use your phone to complete the training modules in the classroom kits, but we recommend testing this on your phone first.

Supported mobile phones and their operating systems and browsers are:

iPhone
Operating system: Mac iOS 14 or higher
Web browsers: Safari or Chrome are recommended; Firefox
Android phone
Operating system: Android OS 9 or higher
Web browser: Chrome

Older Operating Systems and Web Browsers

Second Step® Programs may run on an older operating system or web browser, but for full functionality we recommend you update to one of the operating systems or web browsers listed above. If you’re unsure how to determine what version you’re using or how to update, please speak with your school or district IT or technical support team.

License Administration

In order to receive important product notifications, work with your IT or technical support team to ensure that emails from support@secondstep.org to school staff aren’t blocked by school or district security systems. Setup Administrators assign licenses to schools; they then are automatically added as the first License Administrator. License Administrators can give staff access to the product either as another License Administrator or as a Teacher. They will also send emails that will originate from support@secondstep.org when they give new staff members access to the program.

Video, Audio, and Image Access

Many school districts have security measures to prevent students from accessing harmful online material, but sometimes these tools can also filter out content schools actually need. So before using Second Step® lessons with students in the classroom, try playing the videos and songs and accessing the images using the internet in each building where Second Step® Programs are going to be used—not just your home internet—to ensure they’re not being blocked by your school security system.

Test Your Connection and System Requirements

Before using our digital products in the classroom, try playing the videos and songs below to see if they work on your system.

Play a YouTube Video

Some of our videos are hosted on YouTube.com. Click the link below to ensure you can play our YouTube videos.

If You Have a Problem

If videos or songs have no sound or aren’t playing:

Double-check your equipment by playing a video or song on another site to make sure your speakers and computer are working properly
Confirm that your internet/Wi-Fi is running and has reasonable bandwidth

Safelisted URLs

If your computer and internet service appear to be working, but you’re still having a problem playing the videos or songs or accessing images, have your IT or technical support team:

1. Check to make sure you don’t have enabled tracker-blocker software—such as Ghostery or Disconnect—interfering with the videos, audio, or images

2. Add the following URLs to your school’s URL safelist to prevent videos, audio, and images from being blocked by your security system:

api.secondstep.org func-apps-contentful-func.secondstep.org login.secondstep.org learn.secondstep.org lms.secondstep.org video.secondstep.org code.jquery.com clientstream.launchdarkly.com events.launchdarkly.com app.launchdarkly.com amp.azure.net/images.ctfassets.net assets.ctfassets.net dc.services.visualstudio.com cdn.secondstep.org www.google-analytics.com resources.usersnap.com widget.usersnap.com cdn.pendo.io fonts.gstatic.com fonts.googleapis.com use.fontawesome.com use.typekit.net fonts.adobe.com *.sendgrid.com

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Technical Support

If the problem continues, and your IT or technical support team has determined the issue is not with your computer or the school security system, please contact us.