J+-+Cliff+View+Room+-What+have+we+learned+about+Chromebooks?

Host: Sean Dagony-Clark (Riverdale Country School) sdc@riverdale.edu @dagonyclark Bill Waldman, AKA wwaldman (at) kingschoolct dot org


 * Chromebooks **

Chromebook [drop] testing! + results at Riverdale:
 * Samsung Chromebook Plus (Pro): dropped 40x, device is still functional with little damage.
 * US:
 * Piloted with faculty and several classes in the Upper School in 1 or 2 classes/day
 * 1% hardware failure (eg. “phantom touch” b/c LCD is failing)
 * MS:
 * Purchased 730; 1:1; grades 3-5 (stays at school), grades 6-8 (goes home)
 * Little physical damage, but lots of repair. MS uses Chromebooks the most.
 * 25% hardware failure (eg. “phantom touch” b/c LCD is failing)
 * LS:
 * 1% hardware failure (eg. “phantom touch” b/c LCD is failing)

Software limitations and how you deal with it?
 * Chromebooks will handle 95% of everything that students/teachers need. For those graphics-intensive assignments/projects, have laptops and iPads available via a laptop cart.

Communication and Professional Development recommendations (Teacher & Students):
 * Pilot: teacher / student pilot using Chromebook device
 * Announce: faculty meeting; Division Head to present
 * Demo: run small training sessions and demos

Chromebook models (quick review):
 * Acer 720C - sturdy; no stylus
 * Acer C740
 * Asus - no stylus
 * Samsung Chromebook Pro - fast, stable
 * Samsung Chromebook Plus - gets bogged down with multiple tabs and apps
 * Dell (touch screen) - easy repair process
 * Toshiba -
 * Lenovo -

Apps / Extensions:
 * Kami - functions in a browser to edit; PDF markup; integrates with Google Docs (open doc directly from Haiku into Kami); costs $
 * Office 365 - looks and works great with Microsoft (for those teachers who “need” Word/Spreadsheet)
 * [|Canva] - layout
 * [|Wevideo] - video editing
 * [|Code-it]

Classroom Management + Security:
 * [|DYKnow] - web platform; gives teacher a snapshot of each students’ screen every 60 sec; allows teachers to push to student screens and lock down students to a particular website (enables authoritarian teaching)
 * DYKnow vs. Securly vs. [|GoGuardian]:
 * DYKnow functions as web filters + alerts as harmful behavior and sends notifications. Allows school to send a customized message to a student when a student views something defined as ‘harmful’ or whatever filter(s) you set; notification can be sent to a number of people (eg. Advisor, Dean, Head, Counselor). GoGuardian is installed on all Chromebooks.
 * Use [|Centipede] to support enrollment process

Benefits of moving from iPad 1:1 to Chromebook 1:1 (eg. grades 6-8)
 * Keyboard / Mouse
 * For a school that is Google Apps for Edu, Chromebooks are a no-brainer
 * Cost