BY SABRINA MONTEIRO & JOSANDY JEUNE
The freshmen class of 2020 have all been taking the new use of Chromebooks differently. It’s safe to say that they all have positive views on the new use of technology.
The first ever Chromebook rollout was to the class of 2018 who are now juniors back in late March of 2015. The Chromebooks were a generous gift from Sprint and Softbank. MHS was given about $1 million dollars to invest in the Chromebooks, get the school Google licenses, and train to help the teachers in the distribution.
Sean Walsh, one of the leading teachers involved in the Chromebook process, said that he has heard from other teachers and staff that the freshman class of 2020 have jumped right into the Chromebook process, and there has been quite a rush among the students to get it out there.
Walsh’s role with the Chromebook process is overseeing the purchasing of any devices or parts. The Chromebooks have been very successful over the past years. Walsh has contributed that the success of the Chromebooks have came due to the fact that accessing technology in the classroom is now much easier. Teachers are able to easily share documents and the email system is great.
Freshmen Nilcianny Ortiz, Shruti Pokharel, and Julian Munoz were all very excited when they heard the news on how they were receiving Chromebooks. Ortiz’s first initial thoughts were that it was great that she could finally work with a functioning laptop.
At first Ortiz was intimidated by the Chromebooks seeing that it was hard to maneuver and handle, but once she started to understand the functions of the Chromebook it made life a whole lot easier for her. Examples of which are contacting her teachers and classmates via email are becoming more convenient.
Despite the upsides there are a few downsides Ortiz stated. She prefers handwritten notes opposed to it being typed on the computer. Ortiz said that figuring out the layout is a whole lot easier for her on paper than by the computer.
All in all, Ortiz thinks the Chromebook is good for certain aspects of the class such as homework. She says that it helps when you have everything on your computer and don’t have to worry about losing anything whereas with handwritten homework, if you misplace the paper you get a zero for that assignment. That won’t happen with the Chromebook.
Pokharel’s point of view on the Chromebooks is very similar to Ortiz’s. It is very convenient to her in the aspect where she doesn’t have to carry a lot of heavy books and binders around. The Chromebook saves her from some extra pounds that she would have to carry around. Like Ortiz, she believes that doing work on the Chromebook is a good thing because she doesn’t have to worry about losing the assignment because it is stored in the Cloud forever.
Julian Munoz says his first initial thoughts on the Chromebooks were both excited and afraid. Munoz was afraid that once he received his Chromebook, that his backpack would be filled with other materials for his classes. He was also a little nervous about it getting stolen and/or losing it because it is an expensive computer.
After getting his Chromebook he stated how “it’s a time saver, plus, you go around and it’s just a multi-tasker.” He believes the Chromebook is much easier, rather than writing all the work on paper. Munoz also believes that the Chromebook has benefited him in many ways, one being that we’ll have more experiences in the near future with computers and new technology.
Munoz and his friends have also had a few conversations about the Chromebooks and his friends would agree that it is trouble-free in the aspect of transportation, and that the students are able to excel in the classroom.
Natalia Brennan is also very involved in the Chromebook process. She manages everything from people giving her their AUP’s and money to inventory and managing all of the devices. Over the summer, she was at the school fixing the Chromebooks that need to be fixed so they would be ready for the freshman. Organizing them in the bins so that it could be handed to the freshman, and making sure that they were ready for the upperclassmen.
Brennan believes that the Chromebooks have helped students become more responsible in terms of that the students now knowing it is is their responsibility to check Google Classroom and find the homework assignments.
Teachers and students alike the Chromebooks have also benefited the teachers in the classroom as well. Both Brennan and Walsh incorporate the Chromebooks in their classroom. Brennan prefers to use the chromebooks in her classroom for research and typing essays, this also includes taking notes.
Meanwhile, Walsh engages his students to use the Chromebooks in order for it to be much easier to communicate amongst the students, but sometimes he decides not to use them because he wants his students to use pen and paper..
All things considered, the Chromebooks have impacted the school and new incoming class so far positively.
