As the web becomes more powerful we start looking into Chromebooks as a complete replacement to often expensive, complicated computers. I have talked about this in the past and thought I feel like Chromebooks would make great education computers, I have my worries. Is the school system ready to move to the cloud-based Chrome OS? Some schools believe so!
Going through Google+ I came across some posts from a CCSD (Cherry Creek School District) worker who is documenting the progress on the district’s Chromebook adoption. The district just got 18,000 Chromebooks! The district has 60 schools, so we are not sure if they will need more, but 18,000 machines is no joke!
Now, here is the best part. The district got the Chromebooks on Wednesday and they were able to deliver 572 of them to one of the district’s middle schools! This is proof of how superior Chrome OS’ set-up process and simplicity is. There is no way a team could have put together almost 600 Windows/Mac computers in just one day, and have them ready for a whole school a day after shipment.
CCSD is not alone in this deployment. Chromebook influence continues to skyrocket in the education system and Google continues to improve support for said market. But even today, are Chromebooks really ready for prime time?
I say it still depends. Some students may need full programs like Photoshop or video editing software. Others may be happy with a word processor and a browser, which means most K-12 classrooms. I believe getting rid of the majority of Windows and Mac computers in campus will take a huge amount of weight off the school’s IT team, allowing them to focus more on other tasks and making them more efficient.
Chromebooks are safe (no virus worries), portable, simple, fast and most importantly, easy to manage. You can’t ask for a better deal when it comes to student computers. But what do you guys think? Would you like to see your kids (or yourself, if you are a student) using Chromebooks at school?
