At the Florida Educational Technology Conference on Wednesday, Google Chromebook for business and education head Rajen Sheth announced three school districts have signed on to receive 27,000 of the browser-powered notebooks. The devices will be used by students in Iowa, Illinois and South Carolina. In addition, hundreds of schools in 41 states have at least one classroom with a Chromebook, Sheth added.
The notebooks are easy to set up for numerous users, as evidenced by their deployment at a Palo Alto library where they can be signed out. Users simply log into their web account for customized apps and settings. They also tout eight-second boot times and an 8.5-hour battery life.
The Chromebooks are also always updated, and schools don't have to shoulder the costs of updating costlier software, including the labor to deploy it and license fees, Sheth said.
The Richland School District Two in South Carolina plans to use 19,000 Chromebooks in a three-year program with students in grades from 3 to 12. Council Bluffs Community School District in Iowa said it will use 2,800 of the devices at its high schools and 1,500 in middle school. In the fall, the plan is to give one to every pupil.
