1:1 Chromebooks in Primary?

[edmokeski]

Hi there,

 

I've been advising a single-form primary who have decided they want to go 1:1 (starting with one or two years in KS2), and have settled on Chromebooks as the device for them (specifically they seem fairly set on the cheap LGFL Lenovo 300e ones). I know plenty of secondaries that have gone down this route, but haven't been able to directly connect them to any other primaries. So, stab in the dark, anyone out there with or familiar with a primary that's opted for 1:1 Chromebooks in at least KS2, who'd be happy to chat with the Assistant Head? Anyone out there have first-hand experience with these particular devices and happy to share some feedback? Bonus points if London-based.

 

Thanks!

[dhicks]

Anyone out there have first-hand experience with these particular devices and happy to share some feedback? Bonus points if London-based.

 

We're a prep school, we have a 1:1 Chromebook provision for our Year 4s upwards. We've just purchased the slightly swishier Lenovo 500e for our Y7 / Y8 / Y9 pupils, complete with built-in stylus - we've only had them in place for a week, no problems reported so far, we'll see how we get on but I think we're pretty impressed with them so far. I think another school we know bought the 300e - check the supply before you order, they had issues actually getting the devices delivered.

 

We have our devices charged in form classrooms in school, children don't take them home. All the devices we have are full-flip style ones, so you can bend the screen right back to use the device as a tablet. That doesn't seem to have caused any problems - we did wonder if it meant that we'd be getting lots of devices with damaged hinges, but we don't seem to have done so. The main damage has been to edges of screens, and our best guess is that children are picking the devices up from a storage unit with tubs of devics in and bashing the edges as they lift the Chromebook out - we prefer storage units with individual shelves. The newer devices we've bought have also had world-facing cameras for use in tablet mode, which I think is important for a modern "tablet" device to have.

 

I'd be happy to talk to the deputy head, or I could probably put them in touch with our IT consultant (who deals with several schools and might be able to give you a wider overview) or possibly our head. We're in central London (just round the back of Harrods) and are open again for parent tours so we should be able to accomodate visits if wanted.

[Sanchez]

We've been running a Chromebook scheme (not 1:1) for a few years in our secondary school. We have a few different device models including the 300e (both intel and amd versions of the 2nd gen), overall very happy with them. No hardware faults with the 400 we have (up to two years old) main accidental damage is broken screens (not gorilla glass like some of our Chromebooks) but they are covered by zero excess insurance so not too much to worry about for us.

[TwistedHelixis]

One of the primary schools I look after has 1 to 1 Chromebooks in KS2, years 5 & 6.

 

It's been a great success and some were even taken home during lockdown.

[localzuk]

We have Chromebooks 1:1 for all our year 5 & 6 children, plus a number of other children across the Trust (based on need).

 

Roughly 1000 devices out in use in total.

 

It has been a big success all in all. We have good buy in from teachers, parents (on the whole) have been supportive and children use them well.

[edmokeski]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for telling me about your 1:1 programs. Given the cheap-as-chips price through LGFL, I was a bit worried about the 300e, but glad to hear that those who have had them haven't had too much trouble. I'm in a 1:1 school myself, but it is more or less the opposite of the school in question -- we're independent, they're voluntary aided; we're secondary, they're primary; we've gone iPad, they've opted for Chromebooks -- the biggest common denominator we have is G Suite (and, you know, that whole teaching and learning business). If any of you would be happy to speak to the school's Assistant Head directly about your experiences, or introduce him to someone else at your school who could, it would be great if you could DM me your contact details and I can put him in touch with you.

Thanks!

[localzuk]

Note - we didn't go with the 300e, we went with the Acer Spin 311. So my comments are more general, rather than about that specific device.