Friday, December 5, 2014
Tech Refresh
At my school, I am the technology contact for our district. We are beginning the process for a technology refresh at our school. In other words every few years we a re given a budget to replace tech at our school, with newer and better machines. While tech refreshes for the last 10 years have all focused on replacing desktop computers in labs, things are starting to change. We are going through a process to try and figure out how we can integrate strategies to get more technology into the building. Currently we have 4 computer labs that are available for teacher use, and about 4 carts of 30 or so chromebooks. The question right now, is if we want to replace some of the lab computers with chromebooks so that we can get more devices into student's hands. While we think this is beneficial, it brings up concerns about what software programs we are using that require a hard drive. We are also mildly concerned about the durability of these personal devices. If any of you have been through a similar process I would love to hear your input. Have you had issues with the durability of devices? Have you found that there is anything you cannot do on a chromebook? Let me know! Thanks.
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Hi Brian, I am incredibly jealous of your school’s tech refresh initiative. I work at a school where we are still trying to move beyond 20 laptops and two computer labs; but on the bright side, they say it will only be 3-5 years before we can make a change to our current technology. Despite the lackluster attitude of administration to provide more technology, the staff has been discussing what we want to great extent. Unfortunately, it seems there is no perfect fit. We have talked about ipads, but the lack of flash is a major drawback for many websites. Chromebooks seem like a great alternative, but they don’t run the complete Microsoft Office suite. I know they are reworking some things and there is now Office Online instead of just google docs, but I have not had the opportunity of trying it out. It just drives me crazy having watered down versions of Office programs. As far as durability of chrome books, I can’t testify; however, for IBM Thinkpad laptops, they have held up well for the last 3 years. Some of the typical software issues, but no wear and tear problems. Good luck in the decision making process.
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