by Ally Jensen
The Hudson school district has provided students in grades eight, nine, and ten a personal chromebook free of charge this year.
Students have been actively using these new devices in classes, and many teachers have been beginning to use less paper and more technology.
“Most of the time I get to choose to take my notes online or on paper, but homework has changed because in my classes there is a lot more online work,” says freshman Audrey Dezutter. But not only are the computers useful for notes, classwork can also be managed online.
“On Day 1 [of each 7-day cycle] I’ll have my freshmen write a practice paragraph on Google Classroom, and then I can just go online and make notes or corrections. What I like about Google Classroom is that it allows you to see all the mistakes and also the corrections, so you can still see the error,” says English teacher Jennifer Wallingford. “I usually have them use the chromebooks at least once every seven-day cycle.”
Some teachers have used Google Classroom for a while now, but with the release of the Chromebooks even more teachers are using it. Now teachers have been more up to date with assignments and can even post lessons ahead of time, which allows students to get to see what the upcoming work will look like.
In addition to having access to future assignments, having classwork posted online makes it easier for students who were absent to catch up on missed work. This makes students more responsible for their own education in new ways.
“If they’re not checking Google Classroom, then they might not remember to do the work,” Wallingford says. “I think there’s still a certain amount of diligence required if you’re looking in your planner or on Google Classroom.”
Students are now more in charge of their work because they have new ways to reach it outside of the classroom. One of the most important factors of the Chromebook distribution is the expansion of learning methods and the new way to personalize each student’s education, and now all students with these devices are given equal opportunities.