Page 23 - ARUBA TODAY

A23
TECHNOLOGY Monday 13 February 2017

Tech Talk: How Google Chromebooks conquered schools

ANICK JESDANUN account, and a student’s to let multiple people use a
AP Technology Writer apps and documents in- single tablet and manage-
NEW YORK (AP) — The stantly appear. ment tools for tech-support
Google Chromebook, a Teachers also have online staff. A new Classroom app
type of stripped-down lap- tools to lock down what lets teachers control what
top, isn’t a practical mobile apps and sites students apps students run and
device for many people — can use. track their progress.
mostly because it basically And with models available Apple also provides class-
turns into an expensive for less than $200, schools room tools for teachers
paperweight whenever it can get a few Chrome- and students. Free e-books
can’t find a Wi-Fi connec- books for the price of an offer teachers step-by-step
tion. iPad or a rival laptop. guides on using iPad apps
Yet Chromebooks have “It allows us to put more de- and curriculum suggestions
defied expectations and vices in students’ hands,” for everyday subjects. A
made major inroads in an said Aaron Slutsky, chief separate app lets kids learn
unexpected environment A Google Chromebook displays Candy Crush Saga in New York. technology officer for Mc- programming using the
— U.S. schools. Google Chromebook laptops are impractical for many people Dowell County Schools in same language develop-
In retrospect, that shouldn’t because they’re little more than expensive paperweights when North Carolina. ers use to build iPad apps.
be too surprising. Chrome- they’re out of range of an internet connection. Yet they’ve de- Meanwhile, Microsoft an-
books are cheap and fied expectations and made tremendous inroads in one of the RIVALS COMEBACK nounced last month new
least likely places: U.S. schools.
easy to manage, making (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) Last year, Apple gave online apps and manage-
them popular with budget- iPads in schools some ment tools for schools,
constrained schools with Chromebook-like features along with Windows
limited tech-support staff. 40 percent in 2015 and 9 sumer expectations right unavailable to the general PCs priced similarly to
And Wi-Fi is now common percent in 2013, according off the bat,” IDC analyst public. That includes ways Chromebooks.q
enough in U.S. schools and to IDC figures released this Linn Huang said.
homes to make an inter- week. Online storage for pho-
net-dependent device But education accounts tos and documents online
practical for students. for just 14 percent of the was much less common
Google doesn’t want to 110 million devices shipped in 2011 when Chrome-
stop there. It’s releasing in the U.S. last year — and books launched , so their
new models in partner- Chromebooks make up just limited local storage was
ship with Samsung that 9 percent of that broader initially unappealing. And
are designed to appeal to total. Their numbers are the few apps available for
a broader range of con- also low abroad, even in Chromebooks didn’t work
sumers. They have several schools. offline, at least at the time.
tablet-like features, includ- The Chromebook’s popu-
ing a stylus, touch controls larity in U.S. education DIFFERING NEEDS
and a 360-degree hinge is also largely limited to But what constrains con-
that allows you to turn the grades K-12, analysts say. sumers can actually be lib-
screen faceup. One starts Macs and Windows lap- erating in education. Most
selling Sunday for $449; tops are still dominant on kids don’t need laptops on
a more powerful version college campuses. the bus or other locations
comes out in April for $100 where they can’t connect
more. ROUGH START to Wi-Fi. And they don’t
Google and its manufac- Chromebooks use a light- miss business software like
turing partners are trying weight operating system Microsoft Office; Google’s
to shed the Chromebook’s designed to get people online apps for documents
perception as underper- online faster, without hav- and spreadsheets do just
forming budget devices. ing to wait around for fine for homework.
But even with premium the computer to start up. “What surprised us was how
models, expanding be- Much of the heavy lift- quickly it took off in edu-
yond U.S. schools won’t be ing on Chromebooks gets cation,” said Kan Liu, who
easy. done on Google’s remote oversees Chromebooks at
servers, so Chromebooks Google.
GETTING SCHOOLED themselves don’t need fast Apple’s iPad was hot at
For personal comput- chips or lots of storage. the time, but Google sold
ers and tablets, Chrome- Early on, though, that the Chromebook on con-
book’s share of the U.S. made Chromebooks seem venience. They’re easier
education market was 49 cheap and underpow- for classrooms to share;
percent last year, up from ered, which “soured con- just sign in with a Google