New in 2022 - Google for Education Chromebooks

It’s that time again! Google for Education has announced new features rolling out in 2022. They are described below to help you decide whether these features will benefit your school.

Chromebook Choice

Even though devices are usually bought at the district level, individual schools and classrooms have different needs. While the Chromebook is inherently a versatile device, there are different models being released by a range of companies this year - Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung. Will high school or math classes benefit from having a stylus where students can write out their answers? How about having some Chromebooks that can be used for document scanning in a centralized space like a printing center or faculty room? If this is the first time your district is considering buying a 1:1 device, is considering a switch to Chromebooks, or is just looking to upgrade, you'll get to take advantage of these new and improved features. If you would like help deciding which Chromebooks are right for your district, contact us.

Benefit: Districts can mix and match devices and still manage all of them in the management console. Chromebooks have compatibility with auxiliary devices.

Environmental Sustainability

Chromebooks are built to be durable but damage is inevitable, especially if students are bringing their devices to and from school. Instead of replacing damaged devices with brand new ones, Google has launched a Chromebook repair program, where students and teachers can train themselves on how to repair the Chromebook devices. Google suggests starting a student-led IT program, where students fix devices during their free periods or after school. I’ve seen similar programs started by schools where students fix laptops and iPads and it works well if you allow hours spent doing IT work to contribute to mandatory volunteer hours. It builds students’ confidence to fix the devices on their own for others, and it provides an opportunity for them to learn job skills for the future. It also saves your school money because you don’t have to buy a new device or pay for costly insurance.

Benefit: Students build new career skills by helping others in their community and schools save money on costly repairs and/or extended insurance.

If you think these new features or programs may work well with your school, reach out to us! We have worked with hundreds of schools and we are happy to help you too.

Blanca E. Duarte, Chief Enablement Officer, LogicWing