Chromebooks enhance classroom experience

Google Chromebooks are available as a learning tool on campus.

Photo courtesy of google.com/chrome

Google Chromebooks are available as a learning tool on campus.

As of spring 2015, the first Chromebook cart has been added to campus for all teachers to reserve for instructional use with their classes. Administration plans to eventually have up to five Chromebook carts available in the coming years.

School districts across America started adopting the new Google Chromebooks for use in classrooms in 2012. Chromebooks are laptops that serve all teachers. These laptops can be borrowed by any teacher all across the school to use instead of traveling to a lab.

“The Chromebooks can be used in various settings and are inexpensive over the long term, even though they have their limitations, too,” vice principal Dan Ma said. “We don’t have the capacity to expand or add another lab, which is vital as to continue to infuse technology into our twenty-first century classrooms.”

By purchasing these devices, the school saves money and allows more students to incorporate the use of computers inside their classrooms during everyday lessons. According to google.com/chromebooks, “Deploying Chromebooks can save schools, on average, over $5,200 per device over three years.”

“[When using Chromebooks] a teacher doesn’t have to waste his/her time transporting the entire class to a computer lab across campus,” science teacher Mike Antrim said when asked about the benefits of having access to Chromebooks.

In addition, the intention of using these portable devices is to allow students to do real time collaboration with other students, as well as use the chromebooks as a learning tool during lessons. They allow access to a vast array of educational sites and apps that promote learning, and even promote two of the “Six Cs” – collaboration and creativity.