Chromebooks and Google Apps for Education: Is it time to go all out on the web?

About six months ago, Google gave me a prototype version of a netbook computer running its new (at the time) Chrome OS to test. It’s called a Chromebook (1). It’s basically a laptop running an installed app, the Chrome web browser. It starts off incredibly fast; from zero to navigation in about 8 seconds. It has a solid state drive so it’s really light and the battery lasts all day (it actually lasts me several days). Once you’re up and running, the idea is to use web apps like Google Apps to get your work done, rather than installing desktop apps like Microsoft Office. To help users find web apps (and to help web developers find users), Google created the Chrome web store (2). Makes it easy to find and “install” web applications.

For the last six months, while using the Chromebook, I was always being asked “why do I need this?”. Now, I’m not saying I didn’t like the Chromebook. It’s really nice to have a lightweight netbook that boots up so fast. Plus, it comes with a 3G cellular modem that includes 100MB of free data per month, so if I know I’ll be somewhere where I won’t have WiFi, then I’ll take the Chromebook. But in terms of basic functionality, I can do everything I do with the Chromebook on a standard netbook.

So as a consumer, do I need a Chromebook? On Wednesday at its annual developer conference, Google IO, Google gave me the answer; I don’t need it (although it’s nice), but schools do. Google announced the first two commercially available Chromebooks, one from Samsung and one from Acer. More importantly, they announced a hardware ‘subscription’ model that allows a large customer to pay a monthly fee for the Chromebook, warranty, and support. This includes the ability to centrally manage all of these Chromebooks and their software. Google is clearly positioning the Chromebook as a secure, manageable and portable productivity tool for large organizations that are interested in low cost of ownership. While that’s not so good for typical consumers, it’s great for schools.

Schools face challenges on many, many fronts, and many people are looking to technology to solve school problems and increase student achievement. However, implementing and maintaining the technology is complex and very expensive. Managing and securing large groups of computers and keeping their software up to date requires a highly skilled IT staff. Such people are not cheap. Google cited a figure suggesting that it costs large companies about $3,000 a year per user to maintain each traditional PC and its applications. ZDNet puts it closer to $1,900 per year per user. Schools try to make it even cheaper. For example, schools often extend upgrade cycles to 5 years, but that leaves them with a lot of older, slower machines that tend to crash more often. Schools also try to share some computers among many students, but that only limits students’ access to the benefits of educational technology. Even with these compromises, sustaining edtech remains expensive and challenging. This is where Chromebook and Google Apps for Education come into play; Google announced at Google IO that it will provide Chromebooks to schools for $20 per month, per computer. Google Apps for Education is free. Google expects schools to sign up for 3 years, but that $240 per year per computer includes a warranty on the hardware, which is critical in a school setting.

Importantly, all of this is designed to be centrally managed. The web-based administration interface allows an IT administrator to create and manage groups, customize spam filtering rules, and grant access to applications and documents. This is a clear distinction between Chromebooks and iPads (or even Android tablets).

How can this be so cheap? Well, for one, you don’t need antivirus software. The Chromebook is built from the ground up for security. All data on the solid state drive is encrypted, so if a Chromebook is lost, the data is still safe. Additionally, the hardware and BIOS contain routines that detect tampering every time the Chromebook starts up. You don’t need Microsoft Office. Google Apps for Education contains word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, drawing software, and website creation software. You don’t need Microsoft Exchange Server (or the server computers it requires). Google Apps for Education includes email accounts and a web-based GMail interface for all of its users. You can also save the time and money associated with creating and deploying new disk images each year; the management console allows IT administrators to determine which users get which applications, and all applications, because they are web applications, are automatically updated.

For those users who must have access to desktop apps, you can use your Citrix and VMWare to provide virtualized desktops on Chromebooks (or simply provide a subset of users with more traditional laptops). Assessment tools, curriculum, and software are important for schools. Therefore, you will need to evaluate your current software and look for web-provided versions or alternatives. This is much easier than it used to be. Many K-12 educational technology companies offer web versions of their products. For example, if your school or district uses Kidspiration or Inspiration, you can use Webspiration with your Chromebook. Talking Fingers, Inc has created a web version of their great phonics product, Read, Write, Write!

All your old computers, whether they’re Mac or Windows machines (or even the occasional Linux machine), can run the Chrome web browser and Google apps, so you can deploy Google Apps for Education for everyone and start saving money right away. . You don’t have to commit to Chromebooks for all users at once. You can add Chromebooks as part of your upgrade cycle.

So, is it time to go all-in on the web? Each district must answer that question for itself, based on its own requirements. But now, it is clearly possible to say yes.

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