This school year has been the first year that the entire student body has been granted the privilege of owning Chromebooks. This advancement is key to becoming an even greater school and here is why:

Chromebooks offer much better mobility for students: they provide students who may face financial struggles a chance to do work outside of class. They also allow teachers an easier time assigning classwork and homework.

Since the start of personal Chromebooks at Sage Creek, students have been able to keep better track of their work and take their work with them everywhere they go. Chromebooks can be used anywhere, as long as they are connected to the internet.

Chromebooks have opened the eyes of many teachers. Every teacher now has access to Google Classroom and other sites that facilitate work. Along with making homework and classwork easier to navigate, there is less paper being used. With the district exceeding 11,000 students, according to Cartridge World, our campus population is typically expected to use over 28 million sheets of paper a year. With Chromebooks, the number can be reduced drastically.

Because Chromebooks are cheap, costing around $249 the school is able to provide one for every one of the 1,151 of students. According to Data USA the average annual income of Carlsbad is $102,722. While this is higher than the overall average of the USA, there is still a 6.65% poverty rate. The school can spend more money supporting students who need extra financial support instead of spending it on paper and ink.

With this advancement comes another responsibility that many students don’t want to take on: charging the Chromebooks. Previously, teachers had to spend the time plugging in Chromebooks when students had forgotten to. With access to Chromebooks of their own, students have now learned how to be responsible. Instructional Assistant of Technology RoniSue Player checks out around 25 one-day use Chromebooks on average, because students don’t charge their Chromebooks. More often than not, students forget to charge their Chromebooks during long breaks. This causes a lot of stress for tech support and library staff. Ways to remember to keep the Chromebooks charged and ready for school the next day is to set an alarm that says to remember to charge the Chromebook. Additionally, keeping a Chromebook charger next to where the phone is charged will act as a reminder to charge the Chromebook before sleeping.

Now that the school year is more than halfway through, valid opinions can be formed about their benefits. The Chromebooks are extremely beneficial for the school and are key to bettering the school even further.