Large, soft cases are, in theory, a great way to keep Clearwater Schools' new Chromebooks from being destroyed. I've taught in a school with such cases, and there are some problems:
1. The cases are large, negating the awesomeness of small Chromebooks. 2. The cases need to be carried IN ADDITION to any books. This means students will either cram books into the cases, negating the awesomeness of the soft case, or students will leave their cases behind in classrooms because carrying two piles of stuff is cumbersome. 3. Students WILL take the computers out of the cases, making the cases virtually useless. Whether in the classroom, at home, or in order to cram the Chromebook in a school bag, if the Chromebooks can be removed from the cases, they will be removed. 4. Cases aren't cool. Sorry, case manufacturers, but your products have never been cool in any way, and kids like being cool. If Clearwater Schools want to protect Chromebooks in those cases, then the Cranium Chromebook Screen Protector and Whiteboard is the obvious choice. Looking for bulk orders or more information? Check out Educabana.com. Clinton City is lucky enough to have Chromebooks, students who are excited to use them, and teachers who are adept at teaching with the devices. The only thing missing is proper protection for the computers. A news report showing students using the Chromebooks also showed a student stuffing a flexible-screen Chromebook into a storage container. The best option for class sets of Chromebooks is the Cranium from Educabana. It protects the most fail-prone part of the Chromebook.
Another great featureis that the Cranium doubles as a whiteboard. Sure, it's cool to have students take quick surveys, but teachers do not always have time for such uses of technology. Sometimes, it's just better to have students write an answer on a whiteboard. Simple. Bulk orders? Contact Educabana. If you're looking for a website builder in Olathe, KS, then look no further than Passive Ninja. Read the full article about our relocation to Kansas here.
Jordan School District certainly has a catchy technology initiative, calling it PLANIT Jordan, which stands for Personalized Learning ANd Integrated Technology. While it may be a bit of an acronymic stretch, it's still clever. What's not clever is when all those new Chromebooks start having problems, so we hope Planit Jordan has assessed the risk in order to shield the Chromebooks from out-of-this-world threats.
With a slightly bendy screen, Chromebooks have a small flaw that can be exposed by inquisitive Planiteers. In order for the Chromebooks' forcefields to operate at full strength, these screens can be bolstered by the Cranium Hard Case Protector and White Board. Read more about the Cranium and why it makes sense here. For some ideas about how to use your Chromebooks, check this out. When Clayton County Public Schools (CCPS) gets Chromebooks in the hands of all 55,000 of its students and staff, the first question might be, "How long will this last?" As an educator who has worked in schools with laptops and Chromebooks for kids, I can tell you that the honeymoon phase never really exists. In fact, someone will have an issue on day one, and those issues will continue. Keep in mind that Chromebooks themselves are not the culprits. Not always. The network will be taxed. Power cords will be lost. Logins won't work. All that.
In order to make life just a little easier, CCPS should look at investing in a little insurance for the new Chromebooks. The machines are fairly sturdy, but they do have some screen flex, and that means that when a student "accidentally" picks on up by the screen (and this WILL happen), the screen could bend too much. Get the Cranium in order to limit stress on the screen. As a bonus, the Cranium is a white board, which could save a separate purchase for students. The Cranium cannot make sure students charge their Chromebooks, and it can't remember forgotten passwords, but if it saves screens from having to be replaced, then it does its job. More info at Educabana. Gwinnett County Public Schools took bids for Chromebooks in 2015, so 2016 should be the year students get their hands on the devices. Maybe not everyone at first, but some students. And then it's time to order more. And time to figure out how to keep them all up and running properly. Luckily, there are some options for protecting the Chromebooks that not everyone knows about, like the Cranium Hard Case Protector. Sine Chromebooks tend to have flexible screens, it makes sense to protect them with something, and the Cranium simply works better.
Find out more at Educabana. Over one million students. That's a big school district, and it's a lot of Chromebooks to service. New York City Schools would be the perfect testing ground for how durable the Chromebooks are. We know that the screens have some flex, but do the Chromebooks being used in New York City Schools tend to have screen problems? If you are a parent, teacher, taxpayer, or school board member, ask if the Chromebooks could use more protection.
Take a look at this article that discusses why the soft cases aren't perfect. Probably nothing is, but New York has the opportunity to use statistical evidence in order to figure out if more is needed to protect the Chromebooks in the district. It might also be nice to have a built-in whiteboard. If your Chromebooks need help staying in good shape AND you want each student to have a whiteboard, then the only option is the Cranium by Educabana. Granville County Public Schools in South Carolina are getting Lenovo Chromebooks, but what most school districts do not consider is what does not come along with the computers. The first missing piece is teaching teachers what to do with students who have the machines. Hopefully, Granville has that covered. If not, here’s a short list of goals.
The second part that many school districts miss entirely or get wrong is protecting the investment–Chromebook screens will bend and potentially break. Soft covers are bulky, and students take the computers out every chance they get. The Cranium is a permanent, inexpensive, and effective solution. Teachers in Alpena, Michigan, took delivery of Chromebooks this summer in preparation for using them with students in the fall. While it's a good idea to allow staff to familiarize themselves with what the students will be using, the students are the ones that ultimately will need training. However, students don't need training in how to use the Chromebooks, but in how to handle the devices.
Most students have tablets or smart phones available at home, or at least they've used these devices, which are relatively solid little screens without a keyboard. While Chromebooks behave quite a bit like these other devices, the Chromebook is really two pieces, and that makes them a bit more vulnerable to students used to solid, one-piece electronics. The screens are where problems happen most, when students pick the laptops up by the screen, not to be destructive, but out of habit. Cranium Chromebook Protectors can help eliminate problems from students not knowing the best way to handle Chromebooks properly. Plus, there's a built-in whiteboard. Read more here. The Homer 33C plan to provide Chromebooks or other laptops to students is a good one, partly because it's the first plan we've come across that actually tried to repurpose older computers. The computer I'm on right now is a 2008 HP running on Ubuntu, but other laptops like this one can be converted into virtual Chromebooks. The good news for Homer is that the older laptops are kind of disposable. The bad news is that newer Chromebooks are not always as sturdy as some of these old monsters. And the GOOD news is that Chromebooks can be outfitted with Cranium Hard Case Protectors in order to make them as sturdy as Elite Books.
We hope the Homer School District continues to make wise choices in the use of public funds to implement technology in education, and one of the wisest choices is to protect that investment. |
AuthorBrian Jaeger writes columns for respectable websites all over the kingdom. Archives
July 2019
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