Throughout their school years, children have been taught to share as it is proper etiquette, but when it comes to having their own Chromebook, it is now one to one at Mt. Olive High School.
This school year, all 1,515 students at MOHS have been gifted a free Chromebook to use during the school year. Students are expected to bring their device to school every day and are encouraged to bring them home to complete homework, study, and research.
The new 1:1 Initiative provides all students the tools and resources for success in the classes, keeps up with technology and offers a matching platform such as using Google classroom.
“We are very excited about this initiative,” says MOHS Principal Kevin Stansberry. “The Mt. Olive School District has always been on the cutting edge. We’ve been recognized by the N.J. Department of Education as a future ready school. Using 21st century technology, we continue to build on those invaluable experiences.”
Stansberry says one of the district’s goals has been to make sure all students are college ready. Providing Chromebooks gives students an advantage to being ready for that next stage in their education.
“All students, whatever pathway they choose, they are equipped to be successful,” Stansberry explains.
“We have a high-end product for our students,” says Stansberry. “They are very appreciative of the opportunity to have access of our systems; it’s been a very positive roll out.”
Dollars Worth Spending
The idea to purchase new Chromebooks for all students was brought to the Mt. Olive Twp. Board of Education during last year’s budget preparation, says Stansberry.
It was during that time frame when Stansberry was looking at the current Chromebooks that were being provided within the school classrooms and realized “the number that were end of life,” he explains. End of life, he explains, is when the device approaches its four- and five-year cycle.
“We have a five-year plan for technology,” explains Stansberry. Devices are “used very heavily 180 days a year; batteries start to go.” So they rotate them in and out every five years.
Stansberry wanted “access to the 21st century to enhance the learning process,” he explains, so why not allow students to bring the devices to and from school?
“We wanted to make sure technology was in the schools and outside the schools,” says Stansberry, so all students can “keep up with various tasks,” and provide “equal access to technology” to all students.
Dr. Robert Zywicki, superintendent of Mt. Olive School District, made the recommendation to the board at that time to purchase new Chromebooks.
The school board unanimously approved the purchase of 1,540 Hewlett Packard Chromebooks as part of their budget presentation last March. Although there are 1,515 students, extras were ordered in case new students moved to the district, he explains.
Total cost came to $186,000, says Zywicki, after the discounted price. Each Chromebook is valued at $230, he says.
Good news is there was “no increase in the technology budget,” says Zywicki, since it came from the end of life budget, and the technology budget was down from the previous year.
There was “no increase in the technology budget,” he says, and therefore, “did not increase taxes at all.”
Easy Roll Out
While most of the Chromebooks were picked up this summer before the school year began, some students are still picking theirs up, says Stansberry.
“Distribution was rather smooth,” says Stansberry. “We had five to six days to distribute.”
Students and their parents were required to sign a Mobile Use and Security Policy Student Release Form for their Chromebook.
Technological support for the Chromebooks is provided at the school through district personnel, says Stansberry. There has been some sensitivity with the touch pads, but no major issues with the devices so far, he says.
“Students have been very responsible taking them home or bringing them every day,” says Stansberry.
According to the security policy release form, “families will be assessed a $50 fee for the first non-accidental repair and will be responsible for the full cost of the non-accidental repair for additional declarations of device negligence.”
Families will not be charged the fee if it breaks under the warranty, Zywicki explains. If there is no warranty, then the $50 fee will apply.
The “vast majority” of issues are “insured by Hewlett Packard,” says Zywicki.
The old Chromebooks have been repurposed throughout the district, school officials say.
With the 1:1 Initiative students take care of the Chromebooks, making sure they are charged, and brought to and from school with care, says Stansberry.
The “Hewlett Packard Chromebooks are very functional, very flexible, very powerful,” says Stansberry.
The computers are formatted to feature primarily Google Bundle, says Stansberry. The school has been using Google Suite for the past five or six years, he says, such as Google Classroom for assignments. Students can access their Chromebooks for links for resources and can turn in all their work digitally.
“Teachers can use other applications,” he adds.
To make sure all teachers are trained, Zywicki did offer training during the school year last year as well as over the summer for level one and level two certification to help teachers throughout the district navigate through Google Suite inside and outside the classroom, says Stansberry.
The plan is to have students keep the Chromebooks for three or four years. So freshmen who received their Chromebooks this year may get new ones their senior year, he says. Students who leave the district and graduating seniors will have to return their Chromebooks, he adds.
Happy Students
Having their own Chromebook has been a positive experience so far.
Besides having something else to remember to bring to school in overstuffed backpacks, students are happy with their new devices.
Senior student Madison Whitlock of Budd Lake says she has had “No issues; the internet at school is extremely fast. The only issue that I have is that during the school day, being able to access some things that are school appropriate, some things are blocked, but that’s understandable; but some things, like the online text books, makes it difficult in school to access.”
She adds, “I love that it’s our ‘own.’ No germs of others, it’s yours. Your responsibility. You don’t have to open a Chromebook with keys missing or anything like that. It’s how you take care of it and how the school is putting trust in students, I think, is great.
“I use my Chromebook every day in school,” adds Whitlock. “I would say day to day at least five/six (not including lunch) blocks I use it. It comes in handy when I’m working on things in the most common used websites, the google classroom, docs, slides. It gives me the ability to turn to the internet assisting me on lessons and the teachers use those things and let us connect with what we are learning.
“It’s made my life easier by having, like I said before, something in my reach,” continues Whitlock. “Some kids who do not have computers at home and have had no way to check, you know like, homework or access notes without a computer, now they have the ability to do that.”
Ninth grader Zoe Rogan of Budd Lake says "I haven't had any problems with my Chromebook. I like that we get to take it home and have our own individual one so other people don't accidentally mess something up on my account.
"I use my Chromebook every day, " says Rogan. "it's made doing homework and schoolwork in general a lot easier, everything is all on the Chromebook."
Her brother, Cole Rogan, agrees.
“I have not had any problems with my Chromebook,” says Cole Rogan, a 10th grader. “I like how there is never a problem with it, it is very reliable. I also like that it holds charge for multiple days if not the whole week.
“I use my Chromebook every day for homework and class work,” he adds. “It has made my life easier because I can take neat notes and never lose them on the Chromebook.”
Eleventh grader Brianna Evans of Flanders says, "I haven't had any issues with my Chromebook I just don't like how we can't customize it to our own liking such as our wallpaper or make any of our own adjustments.
"I like that I now have a laptop that I can take home with me and use for homework because before it was such a problem to do work online without my own laptop," she says.
"I use my Chromebook every block at school and as soon as I get home because I also like to use it for Netflix and homework," she laughs. "It's made my life easier when it comes to grades because now I have easy access to get my work done and now I don't procrastinate as much."
Tenth grader Haroon Mahmood says "they've worked pretty well; the only issue is it does not print.
"I like the battery and how it lasts for a long time plus it's pretty fast/new so it's in good condition," adds Mahmood, who uses it "every day at home and school. I always have it so it's very convenient and I can get things done whenever I need to."
