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Pros and Cons of Our Chromebooks
With all the pros and cons to the use of chromebooks, there are yet unanswered questions about whether or not chromebooks truly make us more efficient and if they are more effective than paper and pen.
Blake use his chromebook on a warm day in class to power his portable fan.
Are Chromebooks Really Beneficial to Students?
BY ROSE CAVALLARO
About a year ago, the Coventry School District introduced chromebooks to the classrooms. Since then, our use of this new technology has increased as we learn more about Google Apps for Education. Students have the ability to use study tools, check grades, share documents with teachers and classmates, and even complete quizzes and tests online.
Teachers have recommended multiple chromebook apps that could provide their students with the extra help they might need. “Quizlet” seems to be one of the most effective applications available to students. It offers various studying methods, including classic flashcards. This app offers a very helpful “speller” tool. This feature gives the student many chances to spell the word or definition correctly, and, if they get the answer right two times, they can continue studying the remainder of the set until completed. Others prefer a challenge and use the race feature to try to type the definition or word as fast as possible.
Quizlet is only one of the interesting benefits of having these portable “thinking machines”. “Google Classroom” has pushed aside the standard pen and paper. Assigning work to the class has become effortless for teachers and determining when assignments are due allows students to be less flustered. Of course, this eliminates excuses like “I didn’t know,” but gives students a reason to hand work in on time and keep grades up.
Since Coventry Schools have turned to technology-based learning methods, the grading system has been enhanced. “Aspen” grants access to gradebooks to students and parents. Teachers have the ability to put grades online for students to see what they are doing strongly in and what they need to improve on. This is a breakthrough for Coventry students! Receiving the opportunity to check on grades gives students a chance to be proud of their work by the end of each quarter.
Since having a year’s experience with these devices, several initial concerns about the use of chromebooks have been clarified. Yet, many changes have been made that are frustrating to students and teachers, one being the blocking of a large amount of sources on the web. Although it is irritating, it isn’t unreasonable. Considering the amount of students that are online throughout the school day; if everyone was on busy web pages, the wifi connection could lag or even break down. Not to mention how many websites could be a distraction to students and possibly a disruption to class.
With all the pros and cons to the use of chromebooks, there are yet unanswered questions about whether or not chromebooks truly make us more efficient and if they are more effective than paper and pen. These questions are difficult to answer; administrators strongly believe that students will be prepared for college by practicing using laptops for educational purposes. Some professions involve interaction with technology and learning what to do at younger ages can help students succeed in the real world.
Will paper be completely out of the picture? Probably not, for a while at least, but we never know what the future holds. Schools have the opportunity to make the most of the technology we have in the 21st century and the main question is, shouldn’t we keep up with the rest of the world?