On Jan. 31, WCHS juniors were met with the unexpected announcement of a Chromebook swap the following Monday. Although most students welcomed the idea of getting an upgrade on their devices, many who had either broken their devices or had lost their chargers were worried. Because of the quick turn-around of the device swap, many juniors were scrambling to find lost chargers, leading to many showing up without them.
Students would swap Chromebooks they had since freshman year for the Lenovo 500e Gen 3 Chromebook. Initially, only students who had lost or broken their computers were given a newer version which caused uneven distribution across the school. The school first integrated the new chargers and then notified students to exchange their devices. Although the swap may have been beneficial for efficiency and aligned with the county’s technology plan, the swap was wholly unorganized. Students were given a weekend to prepare with many not seeing the email. If a student was absent on Monday, they would effectively “skate by” without swapping their Chromebooks, leading to some juniors still having the older versions. For lost chargers, students were charged $40, a steep price.
Following the swap, teachers were also given new chargers to store in their classrooms. Many sophomores, who will be in WCHS for another two years, were not given new Chromebooks. And because of the charger exchange, students with the older Chromebook version were unable to charge their computers during school if they forgot their personal chargers. Adding onto that point, in the two weeks leading up to the swap, students were already being told that their teachers, unfortunately, did not have the correct chargers for the old version, causing problems even before the majority of the Junior class had swapped.
The new Chromebooks have notable physical differences: rounded edges, only one power output and a privacy shutter. Similarities include the ability to fold into tablet mode and having similar power and volume button placements. However, the new Chromebooks feature a grainy dot design, which was a debatable design choice.
Aside from the rounded edges and aesthetic choices, the new Chromebook contains the same measurements as its last two generations with an 11.6-inch screen. The first-generation Lenovo Chromebooks have the same amount of memory (4 GB RAM) and storage (32 GB). Another surprising, and unwelcoming change is the weight of the Chromebook, which is now heavier at 3.1 pounds.
A question the new Chromebooks raised was the fact that many students were aware of the county’s current budget problem, and a complete overhaul of the junior class’ technology devices seemed unnecessary. Aside from aesthetic changes, the new Chromebooks do not feel or provide a different experience from the older versions: no change in battery life (still 10 hours), no increased size to make up for the weight, and no noticeable operating differences. With only negligible changes to the new Chromebooks, WCHS is better off investing money in fixing our current infrastructure/technology such as the frequently faulty copiers or better yet the sound systems in many of the classrooms’ projectors.
Though the Chromebooks are advertised to have a better processor and are more resilient, both improvements are overlooked, especially considering that no student is running, or permitted to run, intense programs on their Chromebooks that require the performance it advertises. This does not even account for the fact that many upperclassmen have begun disregarding their Chromebooks entirely, whether new or old, in favor of laptops and personal devices. Although ensuring all students have access to dependable technology is important, WCHS’ administration needs to consider timing, student needs, and convenience for the student body.
