New, fresh and current are three adjectives that describe both East Meck’s freshmen and East Meck’s brand new chromebooks.
Gone with the slow, dated chromebooks, in with the clean touch screen laptops. The switch to these new chromebooks was a sudden, but welcome change to East Meck’s Technology department, brought on as a $4 million upgrade by CMS to further the “1:1 device take home initiative.” This initiative was created as a way to allow each student a chromebook for themselves. According to the 1:1 device initiative, students’ ability to bring their chrombooks home with them is crucial to student learning, which makes the upgrade to the previous chromebooks exciting.
In February CMS announced that they would be providing the new Chromebooks exclusively to freshman. CMS is attempting to filter them into all middle and high schools. With other 144,000 students in CMS, this is no small feat. So, CMS had decided to give only ninth and sixth grade students chromebooks every year.
“They chose sixth and ninth grade as the two composite groups, because those are the ones that are most emerging.” Technology Coordinator Christopher Henley said. This means by the 28-29 school year, every East student will have one of the new chromebooks.
With the money spent on the devices, significant changes should be expected. Off the bat, students will experience new touchscreen and foldable technology which gives a more personalized and interactive experience to fit individual needs. The loading speed is also significantly faster, allowing for more efficient and higher quality work.
In addition to speed, the quality of the graphics gives space for detailed projects and allows students to easily read large bodies of texts. They also have increased longevity. “This [new] one is supposed to last four years,” Henley said. “Depending on the wear and tear the old one could last, but, it’s gonna get broken [eventually], and need more repairs than this [new] one right here.
Undoubtedly the new chromebooks are an upgrade, but for freshman Lilly O’Daniel, they are a part of her daily routine. When describing her initial reaction, O’Daniel said “I thought, what the heck is this?”
O’Daniel was not only impressed with the adaptability of the new chromebooks, but the increased speed. An important part of the upgrade initiative is the ability to take the new chromebooks home. O’Daniel agrees stating the initiative, “will help us keep track of our stuff.”
She also has plans of using the chromebook for outside activities, explaining she will be applying to jobs and creating resumes to keep herself busy over the summer. But being part of the first group to get one of the new chromebooks comes with its downfalls. O’Daniel expresses guilt for the upperclassmen.
“I felt bad for the other grades that didn’t get a chromebook,” O’Daniel said.
O’Daniel’s concern for the chromebooks stem from a common discussion amongst the school: What about the sophomores? They have another three years at East and are never receiving new chromebooks, stuck with the older model.
She’s also concerned about the integrity of students, and if they can take care of their chromebooks. Dropping, spilling water and even running over the chromebook are just a couple of ways students have found ways to destroy them. O’Daniel says that giving the freshman new chromebooks “could go either really bad or really good.”
With faster loading speeds and higher quality graphics, a change in learning is bound to happen. As East grows older and time changes, technology will change with it, and East will blossom through it.
