Chromebooks at Heritage?

Ready to get your own Chromebook? Soon, Heritage High School will receive Chromebooks to distribute to all its students. Loudoun County Public Schools have recently been distributing Chromebooks to its middle and high schools. However, we have yet to receive ours. Heritage High School is scheduled to get its Chromebooks by the beginning of next year. In an interview, Mr Robey, our school’s Technology Instructional Facilitator, commented that “Loudoun County is on a three year plan; Heritage just happens to be on year 2 [of it].”

“The county did a roll out and that’s typically based upon finances and budgets of how many the county can purchase at one time during a fiscal year. They figured out based upon the age of the device, evaluated needs at different schools, and which schools they’d start with. So, they started a three year plan and we happen to be in year three.”
The Chromebooks could potentially change the way classrooms are run at Heritage. Depending on the teacher, the Chromebooks could be incorporated into the classroom and shape the way lessons are taught. They can also be used for taking notes as well as turning in assignments. The Chromebooks would also give computer access to students who previously had none in their households.

“They are touchscreen and they are pencil compatible, at least the current versions are. The question is, will the versions that come out next year still to have them?” added Mr. Robey.

The current version of the Chromebooks are able to take input from any pen or pencil and allow for the screens to be written on. Recently, Lenovo, the company distributing the Chromebooks, has been discussing getting rid of this feature.

“The county has been working with Lenovo on that not to get rid of it [The pencil compatibility]” Comments Mr. Robey.

The Chromebooks are Lenovo made and are model N23 Yoga. The Chromebooks have a battery life of up to ten hours of battery life. Interestingly, they can also be folded to be turned into a tablet. However, the Chromebooks are still regulated and have restrictions managed by LCPS.

“The Chromebooks are managed by Loudoun County’s google management software just like they are at Heritage. So basically the user experience will emulate the Chromebooks that you all use in the classroom. Different machine, Same inside environment. You can’t install any app you want or any extension you want. It has to be approved. The nice part is, is that everyone else already has experience with that on the classrooms Chromebooks. This is just a different piece hardware.”

The restrictions are almost the same as the Chromebooks we use in class. The difference lies in their features. Many students are annoyed with the capabilities and characteristics of the in-class Chromebooks; so you may be glad to hear the incoming Chromebooks are vastly different.

Senior Hollie Wilburn comments, “The current Dell Chromebooks are heavy, bulky and unattractive.”
The incoming Lenovo Chromebooks can be a great opportunity for students that can open up many new doors. Mr Robey says, “Any device [provided by the school] or anything like that is meant to help and assist. It doesn’t have to be utilized or it could be fully utilized.”