The Samsung Chromebook has failed sophomore Alex Sirota in times of need. According to Sirota, while writing an essay for history last year, it suddenly shut down and her whole essay disappeared.
“I wanted to slam [my Chromebook] through a door,” said Sirota. “It was so slow, it broke a lot, my screen cracked and I didn’t even drop it that much.”
The newly issued Lenovo Thinkpad is the computer that has replaced the Chromebooks for sophomores and freshmen. Each year the incoming freshmen will continue to receive the latest versions of the Chromebooks, according to Ryan Bretag, Director of Instructional Technology.
“I had focus groups with our [district’s instructional supervisors and technology facilitators] about what they wanted and what they needed,” said Bretag. “They wanted a device with a touch screen in it.”
According to Bretag, the second thing the supervisors and facilitators wanted in a Chromebook was durability. He said a Chromebook could break when sandwiched against textbooks in a student’s bookbag, whereas the Lenovo Thinkpads allow students to keep them in their backpacks without having to worry about the computers breaking.
According to Kim Ptak, Director of Operations and Purchasing for District 225, fewer students have placed insurance claims on their Lenovo Thinkpads this year as compared to the claims made on the Chromebooks last year. According to Ptak, approximately 200 insurance claims were made last year during the beginning of the school year, compared to this year’s zero claims, as of Sept. 26.
Sirota said the new Lenovo Thinkpads have been getting a positive response from her peers.
“I love the touch screen. It doesn’t break as much as the [Chromebooks],” said Sirota. “I love the size, it’s bigger. It’s more of a PC. The other one was small, [The Lenovo Thinkpad] is more of a computer.”
Bretag said the key in evaluating the effectiveness and usage of the Chromebook is viewing it as a “standardized academic resource” rather than required technology. Thus, it has less functions than a personal laptop might.
A feature of the Lenovo Thinkpad is the “Yoga,” which allows the computer to be placed in four different ways. He said the versatile forms of the Yoga are a good fix for the health risk of carpal tunnel syndrome.
“Part of ergonomics is that you get caught up in the same position all the time, and your eyes strain and all that, and this allows you to make those adjustments [to your form] along the way,” said Bretag. “The other piece is that there’s not that full blown expectation that these are used 24/7. Our belief is that still, it’s all about active learning in the classroom.”
He also said that the Lenovo Thinkpads will not be the end of the Chromebook evolution.
“We’re always having to look at each year, what’s happened with Chromebooks, what’s evolved, and each year there are so many things that change,” said Bretag. “So every year and next year, who knows what Chromebook it could be?”