All schools have their decision process. I’ll state my school’s process here. Maybe a new perspective for some.

Our technology committee looked at the technology tools making the most impact in careers today. They deducted Chromebooks exist in two bubbles, schools and landfills. Major companies and most industries are investing in highly portable devices. This is why Amazon, Microsoft, and yes Apple see touchscreen tablets and smart phones major building blocks of the current world around us. From nearly every service worker in all industries, to NFL coaches, to doctors and lawyers we see highly portable devices common place. Chromebooks are not used but in rare situations outside of schools. MS Windows is even losing grip in many industries.

Then it comes down to tools. We can’t look purely at the tools many of us grew up on. Namely MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Many teachers today are part of an information generation. We saw the internet become the world’s library of data. However, our children grew up living in the internet. It’s more social, it’s more expressive, it’s far more video and livestream. Much if not all of the marketing and business revenue is now starting with content not created in things like Google Docs/G-Suite/Workspace/ or it’s Future Identity. No, it’s video editing, photo and graphics design, livestream mixing, and other creative trades. Look at SnapChat, TikTok, Instagram, they are huge places of not just memes and cat photos. But they have Gurus, Brands, and businesses moved in as a bedrock for millions of careers. Our children already know this because they consume it. That ignores the world of coding and programming which is also a struggle on Chromebooks. Let’s be real schools can’t afford full fledged surface devices or MacBooks for all students. But our committee completely agreed that for now iPad gave students and teachers the best blend of many many tools out of the box for a smaller price.

And as for the hundreds of keyboards our school opted to get for those documents you spoke of. The keyboards are the least used pieces of tech in the school. Some use them sure, but the vast greater number touch type right on the glass like a beast. Shocked almost all of us adults.

At any rate, Chromebooks are not evil. But they are disadvantaged in their own ways. Let’s not pretend they are the future of education when compared to other options, as many of us see them as an attachment to the past.