Day 34: Chromebooks

November 16, 2015

A few weeks ago I talked about getting the school's iPads set up and ready to be able to download apps. Today I decided to take on the task of setting up the new, unused school's Chromebooks. My co-op and I had talked about different ideas of integrating the Chromebooks but it never would be able to happen if they weren't set up. I brought enough Chromebook's into the classroom to have one for each student, charged them, connected them to the wifi (after going on a mission to unveil the wifi password) and began familiarizing myself with how they worked and what all they were capable of. On Google Drive I created a folder for each student to keep all of their documents and materials. My co-op and I also spent some time researching "apps" and ways to use them in the classroom. I think we were just as excited about beginning to use them as the students were about seeing them in the classroom. I set up a table in the room to use a holding/charging station for all of the Chromebooks and the iPads. We decided to number each device so each student would have their own to use/be responsible for charging. Tomorrow I will be doing a small lesson to teach the students how to use them, charge them and access the materials we (myself and my co-op) will add to their Google Drive folders.

The 7th and 8th grade English teacher heard about the integration of the Chromebooks and he wanted to begin using them too. He recruited me to come up to his room and set up a set of Chromebooks for his classes to use. The current lesson he was doing was perfectly primed for the Chromebooks. The 8th grade students were collaboratively writing a script. Using Google Drive, each student can access and contribute to one single word document containing the script. Each student had their own device and it was evident that the technology really enhanced the learning going on.

I don't have a strong opinion yet on the Chromebooks, I haven't used them enough to decide if I like them or not. However, I have made an interesting conclusion on how to classify them. They are more than a tablet, but lack all of the capabilities of a laptop. The best way for me to describe them would be tablets with keyboards. I'll share my thoughts in a later post after spending more time using them and observing the students use them during instruction.