Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the first edition of TECH TALK, brought to you John Eagle and Paul Lawrence.

THIS WEEK: what's the plan for next year's 1-to-1 initiative?

John: We are planning to roll out devices to students grades 5-12.  Students in grades 5-8 will receive iPads, and students in the high schools will receive Chromebooks.  Paul why are the students in high schools getting Chromebooks?

Paul: Good question John. Chromebooks are a laptop - with a keyboard - running Google's Chrome operating system.  They are really easy to use, very durable, can be used by multiple students when necessary, and we have seen huge success with them in our pilots conducted here as well as in full-blown deployments in divisions across the state and the country.  That said, why aren't we giving Chromebooks to all students?

John: Another good question.  Frankly Chromebooks very well might replace the iPads altogether at some point, but iPads might be more appropriate for the lower grade levels too.  Either way, we still have an investment in the iPads we have already purchased that we need to fully capitalize on before we replace them.  In other words, we need to be frugal with both our time and money.   

Paul: I hear that!  

John: FYI the iPad 2s we bought almost 4 years ago in our first deployment will be retired this summer.  

Paul: I hear that too.  Technology changes quickly.  To support Chromebooks, I know we are offering a lot of professional development this summer.  More details can be found at the Summer Learning Playbook.

John: And we are also working on the details for deployments.  Schools will be happy to hear that we are planning to handle most of the deployments next year and that devices won't need to be setup in advance for a specific student.

Paul: You mean I'll be able to just pull an iPad or Chromebook out of the box and hand it to a student?

John: Yes!  Each year the manufacturers get better at developing products for K12.  We are seeing enormous growth with resources available online for students in all grade levels.  The Internet is having a very big impact on education!

Paul: Yes, but is it making difference?

John: I think we just got our first segue to next week's episode!  LOL!

Paul: Stay tuned folks!