Mobile Computing | News
Oakland Unified Rolling Out 8,000 Chromebooks
Oakland Unified School District
in California plans to implement more than 8,000 Chromebook laptops in
classrooms for grades 3 through 12.
According to Gary Yee, superintendent of OUSD, the
initial goal of the implementation was to "give all students access to a
reliable wireless device" and also to "meet the state requirements for online
assessment." California school districts are required to complete a
Smarter Balanced assessment field
test for students in grades 3 to 8 and grade 11 this spring, and the Chromebooks
meet the system requirements for the online assessments.
The district selected
Dell Chromebook 11
laptops, which feature an Intel Haswell 2955U 1.4 Ghz processor and 4 GB of DDR3
memory, as well as an 11.6-inch screen, stereo sound and a webcam. The laptops
run Google's Chrome operating system, and student files are stored in the cloud
so they can access them from anywhere on any device with a browser. According to
Yee, the Chromebooks will enable teachers to personalize learning for students.
Before delivering the Chromebooks, Dell will set them up on the OUSD
Google Apps for
Education domain, asset-tag them and laser etch them with the OUSD logo,
according information from the company. Once the devices are on site, Dell will
also test them to ensure they are configured correctly and can access the
wireless network. Dell will then hand-off management of the devices to OUSD
information technology staff, who will remotely manage the Chromebooks to
install updates, add or remove apps as needed and enforce safe-browsing
policies. The devices will be stored in secure charging carts in the schools.
The Chromebooks will be deployed throughout the district during the next few
weeks in preparation for the Smarter Balanced assessment field test, which must
be completed between April 7 and May 16, 2014.