What is a Chromebook?

Roosevelt 5th graders are using their Chromebooks for various assignments.

Right now at Roosevelt we have three fifth grade teachers who are on week 4 of having a class set of chromebooks in their classroom all day every day.  This "one to one" pilot is rotating through grades 3-5 over the course of the school year.   Each intermediate class gets to use the chromebooks for a six week period where they are devoted to their classroom.  You may be asking, what is a chromebook?  The video below explains this great computer that runs on the Google Chrome operating system.

Students and teachers have been using the Chromebooks over the past four weeks in a variety of different ways.  A lot of work the students do on the Chromebooks is in their Google Drive.   Their Google Drive have access to a variety of applications similar to the Microsoft Office Suite.  The nice thing about Google Drive is that not only can you access your work anywhere with computer access, but you can also collaborate with peers in real time on a document, presentation, etc.   Having the Chromebooks in the classroom all day every day (for six weeks) allows students access to online learning tools anytime, instead of teachers having to check out a computer cart to use it.   Teachers so far are reporting that students are able to use the Chromebooks more than traditional laptops, and both the students and teachers are loving this instant access to information.   I know that the three fifth grade classes are not looking to giving up the Chromebooks at the end of the month, however, two 3rd grade classes and one 5th grade class is very excited for this new addition in their classrooms.   We are excited for these to be traveling around the school, and have an additional cart of Chromebooks for teachers to be checking out and using as well.  We are hoping that one to one learning is something that we will see in the future at Roosevelt School.   Look at what Sal Khan has to say about the possible future of education in this clip from 60 Minutes below.   Do you see going one to one as a good idea in your child's classroom?  I'd love to hear your comments  by you posting below!