Alabama District Beefs up Tech with Chromebooks, iPad Minis

Alabama's Shelby County Schools are adopting Chromebooks and iPads in an effort to beef up technology options after upgrading its computer labs last year.

The 31-school district will provide 30 iPad Minis to each school with grades K-3 and 30 14-inch Chromebooks to all other schools. In total, the project comprises 140 iPads and 713 Chromebooks for a total cost of approximately $280,000.

Chromebooks were chosen for schools with older students to give them opportunities to work on keyboards and because they were more popular among students and staff than other laptops or notebooks.

"The feedback has been overwhelming," said Susan Poling, district technology coordinator, in a story about the initiative for the Shelby County Reporter. "Our students and teachers like the Chromebooks better because they start up faster, hold battery life longer, are lighter weight, and let every student easily log into their account."

The district is also upgrading its wireless network in an effort to better support the new devices in classrooms.

Shelby County Schools serves approximately 20,000 students at 15 elementary and intermediate schools and 13 middle and high schools. More information about the district is available at shelbyed.k12.al.us.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • hand touching glowing connected dots

    Registration Now Open for Tech Tactics in Education: Thriving in the Age of AI

    Tech Tactics in Education has officially opened registration for its May 7 virtual conference on "Thriving in the Age of AI." The annual event, brought to you by the producers of Campus Technology and THE Journal, offers hands-on learning and interactive discussions on the most critical technology issues and practices across K–12 and higher education.

  • teenager interacts with a chatbot on a computer screen

    Character.AI Rolls Out New Parental Insights Feature Amid Safety Concerns

    Chatbot platform Character.AI has introduced a new Parental Insights feature aimed at giving parents a window into their children's activity on the platform. The feature allows users under 18 to share a weekly report of their chatbot interactions directly with a parent's e-mail address.

  • laptop screen displaying a typed essay, on a child

    McGraw Hill Acquires Essaypop Digital Learning Tool

    Education company McGraw Hill has announced the acquisition of Essaypop, a cloud-based writing tool that will enhance the former's portfolio of personalized learning capabilities.

  • a professional worker in business casual attire interacting with a large screen displaying a generative AI interface in a modern office

    Study Finds Generative AI Could Inhibit Critical Thinking

    A new study on how knowledge workers engage in critical thinking found that workers with higher confidence in generative AI technology tend to employ less critical thinking to AI-generated outputs than workers with higher confidence in personal skills.