Chromebooks

[Hiran]

We are looking at refreshing laptops for staff here. One of the options is to get Chromebooks as we are a Google based Academy already. In terms of day-to-day use, are they convenient?

Also, they would remotely connect to a terminal server(s) to use Windows-based applications. Please let me know if Chromebooks have/haven't worked for you.

[ShellfishClive]

I don't think they are a good option for a day to day alternative to a laptop. They are lightweight and easily portable however they have nowhere near the same features as a laptop does. You can use them for a remote connection to a terminal server however it will run far slower than on a standard laptop as the hardware in Chromebooks is made just to browse the web.

 

To put it in short terms, Chromebooks can do what Google Chrome can do and not much else. There is no local storage, if the user has no internet connection they won't be able to do anything.

[DalekSec]

If teachers has any special software, which most do! They will most likely not run on Chromebooks! Seeing as most of the software is so old chomebooks weren't around back then anyway!

[TechMonkey]

I don't think they are a good option for a day to day alternative to a laptop. They are lightweight and easily portable however they have nowhere near the same features as a laptop does. You can use them for a remote connection to a terminal server however it will run far slower than on a standard laptop as the hardware in Chromebooks is made just to browse the web.

 

Depends on what the use case is. For the majority of tasks Chromebooks are perfect for a day to day laptop. Day to day people word process, browse the internet, research, use spreadsheets, watch videos and maybe create a presentation. The only place they fall down is running Windows software, but there many alternatives if you aren't tied in, and doing intensive tasks like video editing, although there are higher specced Chromebooks that I imagine can handle this fine. Though to be fair, a lot of laptops will struggle with intensive tasks.

 

It's a change of mindset more than anything, if you want to do exactly the same things on a Chromebook as you do on a laptop in exactly the same way then it isn't for you. We are thinking of Chromebooks and a couple of IT labs, so pupils use IT where they are and then go to a specialised resource when they need to do a specialised task.

 

There is no local storage, if the user has no internet connection they won't be able to do anything.

 

I may be wrong but I think this is outdated. All the Chromebooks we have looked at have local storage and if you have already looked at a document you can work on it and it will be synced when you go back on. PRetty sure they have had this feature for a few years now.

[PrimaryNetMan]

I don't think they are a good option for a day to day alternative to a laptop. They are lightweight and easily portable however they have nowhere near the same features as a laptop does. You can use them for a remote connection to a terminal server however it will run far slower than on a standard laptop as the hardware in Chromebooks is made just to browse the web.

 

Use will depend on the environment. Yes if you use a lot of Windows based software they they won't be for you, however if you make use of G Suite and look at web/cloud based alternatives to your Windows software then they become an even better proposition. The "hardware just made to browse the web" line is old hat now. You can get Chromebooks with M7 processors and 16GB Ram, Acers soon to be released Spin 13 will come with 8th Gen Intel CPUs.

To put it in short terms, Chromebooks can do what Google Chrome can do and not much else. There is no local storage, if the user has no internet connection they won't be able to do anything.

 

Well with the advent of Android apps Chromebooks can indeed do more than Chrome, they do have local storage and G Suite works offline.

[PlantHead]

As already said, it is a mentality thing. If you switch to Chromebooks you need to promote it and encourage the teachers to use new applications. There is an alternative to pretty much any windows app available to be run with a Chromebook. If you think the teachers and school will be resistant to changing the way they work then don't go with Chromebooks.

We are currently moving away from Chromebooks because the teachers couldn't get on with them.

[mjk]

Do companies still make apps that only run on windows now for things other than specialist software?

almost everything educational is now released with a web and or android version that would work on a chromebook.

All our teachers have them instead of traditional laptops and they are fine.

 

The only point I'd make against chromebooks is the print options are a bit limited. With an RDP and secure shell I can run our entire network from a chromebook, so they are not exactly limited.

[PlantHead]

almost everything educational is now released with a web and or android version that would work on a chromebook.

 

.

 

GFX heavy applications mainly - Photography, creative media and music are the main problem apps.

[peej2k]

They will work perfectly well for the vast majority of tasks, especially now they support Android apps too.

The only place you'll have a problem is where a staff member truly insists on running that Windows 95 era software that even Windows 10 will turn down now.

 

Microsoft and Google are both moving towards PWAs as their future of application delivery. People need to evolve.

[peej2k]

I don't think they are a good option for a day to day alternative to a laptop. They are lightweight and easily portable however they have nowhere near the same features as a laptop does. You can use them for a remote connection to a terminal server however it will run far slower than on a standard laptop as the hardware in Chromebooks is made just to browse the web.

 

To put it in short terms, Chromebooks can do what Google Chrome can do and not much else. There is no local storage, if the user has no internet connection they won't be able to do anything.

 

Sorry, but that is just absolute pish.

[rogerdnixon]

We are 1:1 with Chromebooks for staff and students. The Chromebooks run all the web-based stuff and managed Android apps. So you can largely ditch Windows if you want. If you do you will have a much easier time managing 1000's of devices, your users will have startup and login time measured in a few seconds and for 95% of devices you unbox them, enroll them and the next time you lay hands on them is 5-6 years later when you refresh your devices. As fra as storage goes - all our users enjoy G Suites unlimited storage.

 

I'd not go back to Windows laptops in a million years and I don't think any of our teachers/students would either.

 

The key thing is your school needs to buy into working in the cloud and the GSuite eco-system and then nothing else makes much sense.

 

I manage IT in a MAT and locally in a secondary - I use a Chromebook and a Chromebox in my office/classroom - they just work.

[robjduk]

Don't listen to the dinosaurs here. If you can then go Chromebook 100% for staff unless you have to use Microsoft products.

[LargeWhippet]

Totally agree. Chromebooks and G Suite are dominant in the USA with 60% of students using them. Australia, New Zealand and Canada are on 1:1 drives.

There is a steady switchover going on in the UK to a different way of teaching and learning which is driven by Chromebooks and G Suite.

The world has moved on massively in the last 4 years and some schools have failed to notice.

Just this summer there has been a number of secondary schools starting their own Chromebook purchase schemes. It's gathering pace.

 

http://wke.lt/w/s/zpOTH

[mavhc]

Main problem is the teachers and the resources.

 

Taking your 10 years of stuff in your shared drive, copying it to a GDrive and that's it? Won't work.

 

Teach your teachers how to make Google Sites, use Google Classroom, Google Forms. Encourage students to collaborate.

 

Point out they can throw away their trolley for carrying home 10kg of paper to mark each weekend. But they'll have to change the way they work, if they're not excited to do that, you have a problem

 

Talk to all your resource providers, if they don't offer a GSuite version then fire them.

 

Sadly MS Word files are still the default, and even worse, PDFs

[FN-GM]

if the user has no internet connection they won't be able to do anything.

 

This statement is not correct.... You can have offline copies.