In many schools all around the United States, there has been an implementation of various technologies in learning. It exercises convenience, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and serves many more benefits within the classrooms. During the process of attempting to further extend the use of technology in schools, students are given school-oriented laptops.
These electronic devices are usually Chromebooks, Google’s own personal laptop made with its own operating system, which alone has many limited abilities. In recent years, many school districts, including the Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD), have implemented Chromebooks into their learning palette for students.
It has proven to be a beneficial addition for students, as it is a whole device that can access the internet and makes it easier to get work done. It has become integrated into a major part of academic learning. Although this may seem like a big plus for education, there is a hefty price tag that goes along with it. There are many flaws that can be pointed out when using Chromebooks for education.
Chromebooks are becoming less powerful.
As technology starts to grow stronger, newer models of Chromebooks will be released, which will most likely lead to the eventual replacement of older technology. This, however, creates a marginally different experience between the students who have newer laptops and older laptops.
Older laptops have become slower at doing tasks compared to the newer versions, which could annoy and hinder the student’s ability to work, while the new laptops would have no problem. The only way to fix this is to provide the user with a brand-new laptop model or “resetting the cache” on the Chromebook, which takes a lengthy amount of time.
Chromebooks aren’t very durable.
Since they are laptops, almost all laptops come with the inevitable problem of breaking, especially spontaneously. Chromebooks are known to be damaged pretty easily, with their relatively cheap casing to protect the laptops.
It’s most likely due to the large number of students in the district that must access a cheaper form of laptop so that many more students can have access to a district Chromebook at all costs, which is a fair tradeoff.
Chromebooks are costly to repair or replace.
Even though it may be on the cheaper end, it is still an expensive piece of technology that costs the school hundreds of dollars. Students, being entrusted with this technology, are definitely putting a risk on the school, as there is a possibility that the Chromebooks could break or malfunction.
But this is all at the student’s expense as well. Losing not only the Chromebook, but also the other essentials, being the charger and stylus, could really inhibit the experience in learning, as there are now obstacles that students have to deal with.
