Chromebooks are rapidly increasing its influence in America's K-12 classrooms when it comes to personal computing devices, an analyst revealed to Education Week.

"More than one-sixth of teachers and students will receive a new computer in K-12 schools this year, according to Futuresource Consulting. In the second quarter of 2015, a record 49 percent of those devices were Chromebooks," the article said.

Thanks to the increased need and desire for personal computers in the K-12 settings, prices for devices have gone down and Chromebooks are becoming more and more affordable, with many options for between $200 and $300.

In fact, Chromebooks are becoming such a favored choice by K-12 school systems that many experts are calling it the Chromebooks' niche. According to Education Week, 60 percent of the entirety of Chromebook sales are in the education sector.

And the personal computers are even gaining traction against the stronghold iPads have in the classroom: "Last year, about 3.9 million Chromebooks were shipped in the education sector, an increase in unit sales of more than 310 percent compared with the previous year, IDC said. By contrast, iPad unit sales for education fell last year to 2.7 million devices, compared to 2.9 million in 2013, according to IDC data," The New York Times said.

Interestingly enough, the increase of online standardized testing in the U.S. could have a lot to do with Chromebooks' increasing popularity.

"...outside of the U.S., Chromebooks have not been adopted at the same rate. In fact, the U.S. accounts for 91 percent of Chromebook sales overall, according to Futuresource. [ Phil Maddocks, a Futuresource research analyst] attributes Chromebooks' lack of popularity outside of the U.S. to less of a taste for online assessment in other countries, and less awareness and adoption of cloud-based options in devices," the article said.

Read the full story here and comment with your thoughts below. Note: Education Week is available through a tiered-subscription model. 

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

09/09/2015