Did you know that ICT School Services can provide and support your school with the buying and set up of Chromebooks?
In a world where technology is now part of everyday life, it is important for pupils, and staff, to have access to relevant devices to encourage everybody to be “tech savvy”
The following information will give you insight into the types of devices available and the benefits they could bring to your school.
What are Chromebooks?
Though you can do many of the same sort of things on a Chromebook as you would do on a standard laptop, it functions in a different way. A Chromebook runs Google’s Chrome Operating System (OS) this is completely different to Windows 10 or Apple MacOS systems you may have used on other devices.
A Chromebook is an almost entirely web-based experience, and the physical device itself is merely an interface. You use it to access all your activities, tasks and documents through the Google Chrome browser. This means users do more-or-less everything via the web. You can install Android apps from the Google Play store (just like on your phone) which will physically reside on the device and may or may not require internet connectivity.
Are there different types?
Google are catering for a wide range of users and consequently Chrome devices come in a variety of different models. It’s important to note that all have exactly the same software features and end-user experience, the differences are all based on the hardware running the software. The models include:
- Chromebooks – typical laptop style, range in price based on manufacturer and hardware feature set (basic laptops to devices which can transform into tablets with touchscreens)
- Chrometab – tablet devices (these are new devices for 2020).
- Chromebox – Small device you can attach to an existing monitor, keyboard and mouse.
- Chromebase – An all-in-one device that just requires a keyboard and mouse.
What are the benefits?
- Significant cost saving against a Windows laptop, PC or an Apple tablet device
- User experience is the same across all devices (great for pupils)
- Quick start up – typically 6 seconds (from opening the lid to the login screen)
- Excellent battery life – one charge should see it last the entire school day (continuous usage)
- One-off management licence cost – no ongoing subscription, £19 covers you for the life of the device
- Automatic security updates ensure devices are always protected
- Easy to add more devices, simply unbox and enrol – the device can be in pupils’ hands in minutes.
- Access to the Google Play store to install Android Apps
- Lots of software providers have moved from traditional on-premise CD based installations to web versions of their popular software which is accessible directly through the browser which is perfect for a Chromebook as all you need is a shortcut – which cuts down on installation and configuration time typically undertaken by your shared engineer
- If a school has a DCC Smoothwall device, offsite filtering can be configured allowing devices to receive school level filtering at home.
- We are now rolling out SIMSID to schools which allows us to provide named accounts to pupils in schools that have a Learning Cloud Service SLA
- We configure Single Sign On (SSO) for Microsoft 365 schools so that pupils and staff can sign into a Chromebook with their existing 365 email and access all Microsoft programs including; Teams, Outlook, OneDrive and the cloud versions of Office. This means schools can have the benefits of both systems with one email address – there’s no separate Google account details for pupils or staff to remember.