Students who rely on school-issued Chromebooks are about to get an upgrade.

   Students were issued Chromebooks through the one-to-one program on January 4, 2021 after returning from winter break. The one-to-one program allows each individual student access to a Chromebook in order to use all online resources from home. The computers are especially important in the winter when students have AMI days because all classwork is assigned digitally. 

   Many students make use of their Chromebooks multiple times throughout the school day, whether that be turning in homework assignments, looking up information, emailing a teacher, or taking part in dual credit courses.

   “I use my computer multiple times a day to turn in assignments for both my college and high school courses, but lately I have had trouble keeping the battery charged,” sophomore Adison Sherrill said.

   Unfortunately, all computers eventually reach an Auto Expiration Date and the Chromebooks assigned to the students in 2021 are about to reach theirs. 

   “When Chromebooks are built Google assigns them a date . . . when the Chromebook will no longer receive updates and security fixes from Google,” district technology coordinator Zachary Zimmer said.  

   Fortunately, the operating budgets the school has set in place to manage funds allowed the school to purchase new computers for the high school and middle school.

   Zimmer explained that the school purchased Dell 3100 Chromebooks in May of this year and they hope to have the Chromebooks assigned this coming January after everyone gets back after Christmas break.

   With the one-to-one program several teachers have started to take more of an online approach of learning rather than hard copy assignments.

   “Technology enables students to engage in virtual experiments and simulations that may not be feasible or safe to do in a traditional classroom setting. This allows students to explore scientific concepts in a hands-on and interactive manner,” Biology I and II teacher Mason Dunnaway said.

   Many students prefer online learning rather than textbooks and hard copy assignments and think they learn better with the use of technology.

   “Personally, I learn better with online assignments and  like them better than paper copy assignments because I’m likely to loose paper copy assignments,” sophomore Adrian Cook said.

   It is important for students to know how to use computers because they will use them in their adult life. 

   “Almost every job or career has computers involved in completing tasks. It is important for our students to learn how to use the tools that they will be using in the future,” Superintendent Scott Gemes said.