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Second Step Digital Product Technical Requirements

Internet Connection

Second Step® Streaming Lesson Media and Second Step® Middle School 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 Streaming Lesson Media and the lessons, professional learning, advisory activities, and Principal Toolkit in the Middle School Program. (Some Second Step Middle School resources are offered as downloadable PDFs.)

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 Speedtest.net to check your internet speed.

Supported Devices, Operating Systems, and Web Browsers

Streaming Lesson Media and the Middle School Program 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 7, 8, or 10
    Web browsers: Chrome 60 or higher, Firefox 54 or higher, or Edge 40 or higher
  • Mac desktop or laptop
    Operating system: Mac OS 10 or higher
    Web browsers: Safari 10 or higher, Firefox 54 or higher, or Chrome 60 or higher
  • iPad
    Operating system: Mac iOS 10 or higher
    Web browsers: Safari 10 or higher, Chrome 60 or higher, or Firefox 54 or higher
  • Android tablet or Chromebook
    Operating system: Android OS 6 or higher
    Web browser: Chrome 59 or higher
About Mobile Phones

Streaming Lesson Media and the Middle School Program work 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 Streaming Lesson Media and the Middle School lessons 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 individual version of the Middle School Professional Learning modules, but we recommend testing this on your phone first. It may be difficult for you to print the accompanying participant guides to the facilitator-led version of the Professional Learning.

Supported mobile phones and their operating systems and browsers are:

  • iPhone
    Operating system: Mac iOS 10 or higher
    Web browsers: Safari, Chrome, or Firefox
  • Android phone
    Operating system: Android OS 6 or higher
    Web browser: Chrome
Older Operating Systems and Web Browsers

Streaming Lesson Media and the Middle School Program 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 Streaming Lesson Media or Middle School lessons with students in the classroom, try playing the videos and songs and accessing the images using the internet in each building where Streaming Lesson Media or the Middle School Program is 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.

Computer Monitor
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

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:

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.