Rosa Parks Middle Adds Chromebooks
Rosa Parks
Middle School is part of the first wave of
Montgomery County Public Schools
(MCPS) to implement Chromebooks through the district's classroom technology
integration initiative.
This year, Rosa Parks Middle has placed Chromebooks in all sixth grade
reading, English, science, social studies and math classes. The devices are
intended "to help students achieve the three core competencies of academic
excellence, creative problem solving and social emotional learning," according
to information on the school's site. Students will also use the Chromebooks to
take the PARCC assessments in March and May.
The district worked with Google to create a closed, secure environment in
compliance with the MCPS privacy standards and federal regulations. Each student
will have their own secure MCPS account in
Google Apps for
Education. While they will be able to use the Chromebooks only in the
classroom, their work will be saved in the cloud so they can access it from
anywhere on virtually any device.
In preparation for the rollout, teachers received training on Chromebooks and
Google Apps for Education over the summer, and students participated in an
orientation session when they returned to school for the fall.
This year, MCPS is implementing 30,000 Chromebooks to students in grades 3, 5
and 6, and another 10,000 for high school social studies. Rosa Parks Middle
School is one of 67 schools in phase one of the district's rollout. The
remaining schools will receive devices later this year in phases two and three.
The district will add more devices for other grades and subjects in subsequent
years. When the implementation is complete, students in grades 3 through 12 will
primarily use Chromebooks, while students in K-2 will use Android tablets.
Rosa Parks Middle School is located in Olney, MD and serves nearly 900
students in grades 6 through 8.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].