District to roll out Chromebooks for Grades 10-12
Beginning this fall, Herkimer High School students in grades 10, 11 and 12 will each receive their own Chromebook laptop to use in school and at home, and any student will have the chance to “check out” a mobile Internet hot spot.
Chromebooks are designed to be quick and easy to use. The model chosen for Herkimer students is a convertible style that can be used as a traditional laptop, or flipped around to be used like a tablet. Students can even use a No. 2 pencil as a stylus to “write” on the computer’s screen.
The devices are designed to be rugged and lightweight, with a long battery life. At Herkimer, they fit right in with the Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) of educational programs used throughout the district.
No Internet? No problem
But what happens when students want to take home their Chromebooks — which run best with an Internet connection — when there’s no Internet at home?
This year, the district has expanded a program to allow students at all grade levels to check out mobile “hot spot” devices from the school libraries at Herkimer Elementary and Herkimer Jr./Sr. High School. These “hot spots” will provide limited Internet access for students and their families to use at home for up to two weeks at a time.
The “hot spots” have a limited amount of data, and are filtered to prevent students from accessing inappropriate content.
The district piloted the program with just a few devices during the 2017-18 school year. In 2018-19, the program will be expanded to 24 “hot spots” so that more Herkimer CSD households can take advantage of this service.