Since the introduction of the devices, Google Chromebooks have found a place in the classroom thanks to their affordable price, practical design, and easy straight-forward device management, according to an article on THEJournal.com.

When just looking at the numbers, Chromebooks already have iPads beat in the classroom by a small margin. "Official numbers from market research firm IDC confirmed the news last December when the company announced that while Apple had shipped 702,000 iPads to educational buyers in the third quarter, Google partners had shipped 715,000 Chromebooks," the article said.

Thanks to the reasonable price, schools are able to without issue offer Chromebooks at a one-to-one ratio for its students across grade levels, something that is very difficult to do for school budgets using Apple's iPads alone.

Additionally, "[i]n the most recent buying round, teachers gravitated to HP-built Chromebooks for several reasons. First, they wanted to use Google Apps for Education, the free suite of online applications for word processing, spreadsheet work and presentations. Chromebooks are almost purpose-built for those programs," according to the article.

In Norwalk, CT, when it was time for the district to expand its inventory of student devices, the IT team had to chose between Google Apps for Education or Microsoft 365. "Since most of the teachers were already using Google 'in their own little pockets...[I]t was the easiest tool to move forward with,'" said Ralph Valenzisi, chief of technology, innovation and partnerships, according to the article.

At the end of the day, it was the "ease of management" that solidified Norwalk's choice of Chromebooks, as is often the case with school districts nationwide.

The reasons behind educators choosing Chromebooks over iPads mirrors many of the reasons why one consultant believes iPads need improvement to be continuously relied on in classrooms. Improvement certainly might be the direction iPads need to go in to become a solidified educational tool. 

Read the full article here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

04/21/2015