Chromebooks Replace Macbooks For Student Technology
Shari Hankins-Barnhart, Technology Director for the Oskaloosa School District presented the Oskaloosa School Board options for updating the technology that students use on a daily basis.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Technology in education is a key factor for student learning today. Pencils and paper and blackboards have been replaced by keyboards and touch screens.
Nearly five years ago, the Oskaloosa High School began with 725 13-inch Macbooks, and now that initial crop is in need of replacement.
Shari Hankins-Barnhart, Technology Director for the Oskaloosa School District presented the Oskaloosa School Board options for updating the technology that students use on a daily basis.
Apple Macbooks and Dell Chromebooks were a couple of the options provided to the board for assessment.
Chromebooks are different than typical laptops produced to run Windows or Apple’s OSX. It’s an operating system built around being primarily connected to the internet, in turn, retrieving the needed applications and data in a direct feed from the cloud.
This departure from traditional technology is indicative of how technology is moving forward. Chromebooks can run in offline mode, without an internet connection, but will sync to the cloud once a connection is available.
The Oskaloosa Middle School adopted Chromebooks for their 1-to-1 program last year.
For the high school, only one program used in a specific class would pose a challenge for the move to the Chromebook.
A Citrex server would provide an environment that students could use programs that only run natively on Windows or Apple computers, with the one exception. Citrex would also allow students to access programs normally only available in the classroom.
The Citrex solution would need to be connected at all times for a student to use.
“There comes a time when you have to look at what you’re doing. Is there something better?” Reiter said during the presentation in regards to the Chromebook 1-to-1 laptop solution.
The technology refresh for the district would include 230 Macbook Air 13 inch models for the staff.
For the students, 815 Dell 11 inch Chromebooks would be purchased for the elementary to replace 8 year-old Macbooks.
At the high school, 775 Dell Chromebooks will be utilized.
The specs for the Dell Chrombook include 4 gigabytes of RAM (random access memory), 16 gigabyte solid state hard drive, a 2.16 gigahertz processor and a 11.6 inch anti-glare screen.
There is the question of internet connectivity and rural students having the same level of access as other students. Board member Erik Edgren questioned if rural internet connections would be robust enough for the citrix solution.
Before the vote on updating technology in the elementary and high school, board member Carl Drost asked if the new technology would help move the district further along with student achievement. Oskaloosa School Superintendent Russ Reiter said that he believes the new technology will enable students to grow academically.
The board passed the measure with Erik Edgren as the lone dissenting vote.
