Chromebooks in Education

Here is the ChromeBook! It is crazy light, crazy thin and crazy inexpensive ($250). We show the Samsung version here tonight. ChromeBook is essentially a screen on a keyboard with a web browser. That's all it is but that's all it needs to be. Some schools in Utah are looking to ChromeBook as online testing devices. They work pretty slick with no internal servers necessary. It's just one big browser with a couple of apps that come with it. Those apps can be managed with software Google provides. As far as a cheap highly focused device it's really good and it's pretty fast too. It loads instantly and powers up fast thanks to a solid-state drive and the ChromeBook OS. Managing a slew of these is also pretty easy. We did experience considerable difficulty initially setting them up but once set up they are dependable. An added plus is that technology specialists can manage everything from the Google apps back end.

In the past we've talked a lot about iPads. What are the ChromeBook's strengths and weaknesses when compared to an iPad?

First It has a keyboard. You can't have a typing class on an iPad. Super messy. There are some plug in keyboards for the iPad but it’s not intended for that. The ChromeBook was intended to have a keyboard. Similar to the MacBook Pro keyboard but cheaper.

A lot of these devices are built to do a particular thing. You can kind of stretch them..like an iPad you can add a keyboard...but only so far. The ChromeBook is super simple as far as what it does...jump right into the Internet browser with no exceptions to capacity.

There are also a nice bunch of apps you can add to it. A world of additional features and functions you can add to the ChromeBook. Seemed decent for the $250.

In light of the aforementioned positives, the downsides fade away pretty quickly...especially for the price. You can get a lot more ChromeBooks into student's hands for $250 than you can iPads.

It goes without saying than these ChromeBooks like any device is simply a glorified paperweight if an Internet connection isn't available.

We're all used to the dock at the bottom of our screen. ChromeBook's is similar. It has basic services like Gmail, Google Docs, Spread Sheets, Word, Music Services, Power Point, and additional apps. It's nothing close to the iPad ecosystem but the basics are there. If you get into the ChromeBook ecosystem you can share in powerful collaborative ways.

Once you buy into that it works the same on any Chrome browser no matter the device be it Apple or PC. That is a very nice feature we think.

So what are some of the drawbacks? The power plug doesn't seem too durable especially when considering large-scale student use. The finish is nice but scratches easily and shows wear and tear rapidly. Turning it over to students for use for a year will certainly show the wear and tear. If it does get damaged or broken there are not a lot of things you can do to repair it. They are almost a consumable. This certainly isn't something to deter folks from considering them for use...it's just something we feel we need to bring up so folks aren't shocked and surprised afterwards when it happens.

One district we know has deployed 1,000 and they will certainly be used for online testing down the road. Funny little things like finding carts to hold 40 devices (Utah class sizes are not the norm across the country) have held up the deployment. The carts are the "dumbest" thing in the process but can cause a slow down. The value of having 40 of these in a classroom makes them worth securing.

Lenovo makes a really high quality ChromeBook. It's as close to a tank as you can make a laptop. There is a wide range of quality in the devices on the market. 5 years ago we had the Netbook fiasco. Is this ChromeBook another Netbook? Yes and No. It depends on the buyer's expectations. If they expect a web browser they'll be pleased. If they expect something more they'll be disappointed. Netbooks were underpowered; battery life was minimal; they had a slower processor; getting things configured and standardized was a problem. None of these issues are currently evident with ChromeBook. Netbooks also have a very slow boot up but not so ChromeBook. Like we said earlier, it's lightning speed.

You should anticipate some required learning curve if you're handing these ChromeBook devices (which are PC devices) to people who only know Apple. This sometimes creates a little struggle. If people are a dedicated Safari user then Chrome will work differently as a browser. To tech people we say, "how hard can it be?" but if you're herding 30-40 kids in their use it can be harder than we think.

Plenty of professional development is needed. What niche would a ChromeBook fill? Typing, writing, and business...a touch screen is lacking. Typing is not going to go away. Tapping the screen is awesome and fun but getting a job that requires the skill of typing at 60 WPM isn't going to go away.

In the aforementioned district that's deploying 1,000 ChromeBooks, the Google Apps was one of the primary thing they wanted in kids hands plus Canvas for homework and also for online testing. These were the three biggest reasons for going with ChromeBook… that and cost, of course.

In college we can remember assignments that were group projects. You all picked little pieces and when finished tried to mash all our individual parts back into the final piece. Then one poor person gets stuck refining the results. Google Apps facilitates this so nicely. They have several people working on the same document at the same time. How this capacity enhances more collaboration can't be overstated. It's incredibly powerful. There's a creative flow. This is great in school but also in the work environment these collaborative skills are powerful for kids to take with them out into the work force.

It's hard to separate the power of Google Apps from the ChromeBook. They aren't necessary dependent on each other by any means, but together they are powerful.

How about deployment? What are the processes required? It's both very simple and not so simple. Assuming you have your Google Apps infrastructure set up (takes a certain amount of set up first) it's simple. The Apps infrastructure is the hard part. It's just a matter of a keyboard short cut then type in Google apps password and done. That's as complicated as it is.   It's the updates that have caused a lot of heartaches.

A lot failed in the initial purchase of these we made but now with the Chrome OS version it's smoother. We've not had many other sample experiences to compare to. Didn't stop us but required us to slow down and address.

There is actually less work involved in deploying the ChromeBooks than what we face when deploying an equal number of PCs or Macs.

When all is said and done; the ChromeBook is a feisty device. It performs very well in the niche for which it was created....a web browser with a screen and keyboard. The inexpensive price and ease of set up are a plus that can't be ignored.