Frequently asked Questions and Answers

In a nutshell, these are the main reason why Chromebooks now account for the largest segment of the global K-12 School Device market, and are helping drive down the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of large education institutions:

• Super fast: boots in under 10 seconds for the lifetime of the device - this means that learners do not sit waiting in their lesson time for the device to boot and indeed to update the software. Google guarantees this fast boot time for the lifetime of the Chromebook - which is currently 7 years.

• Tough: built to the latest US Military toughness specifications, means the Chromebook can handle the knocks and bumps that happen every day in the classroom.

•  Incredibly secure: to date there has been Zero Ransomware attacks on a Chromebook, in fact there is no reported successful hacks of a Chromebook ever

• Complete device management: with the additional once off cost of the Chrome Education Upgrade (CEU) licence, the Chromebook can be easily and effectively managed from within the Google Admin console. This ensures the most protected experience for your learners, and no need for expensive third party mobile device management (MDM) subscriptions. Once the CEU is loaded onto the Chromebook it is locked into the SPARK schools domain, and over 200 remote management and security policies are unlocked. Including the ability to "brick" any Chromebooks that get lost or stolen from a SPARK school. As well as online proctoring tools.

When comparing Chromebooks from different suppliers, you’ll want to compare apples with apples. The Chromebooks sold on our ChromeStore are Education Chromebooks and differ from the retail Chromebooks available in stores.

Education Chromebooks are purpose-built for children and schools. Common “retail” Chromebooks may not withstand the school environment and not be built to survive long in the hands of children. Education Chromebooks are built to withstand the wear and tear of daily student use and  endure the rigours of the classroom environment:

• US military spec, with reinforced edges and sturdy case;

• spill-resistant keyboards; and 

• Corning Gorilla Glass®

Education Chromebooks, unlike their retail counterparts, come with a 3-year Fetch Repair Return Warranty. This stands in stark contrast to most one-year warranties that require you to take the device back to the store. Our partners at CloudEDU have long standing relationships with the manufacturer and can provide extra peace of mind. 

Battery life is always dependent on what you do on the device. The battery life of an Ipad lasts that long when one is browsing on the device. A Chromebooks battery life lasts that long when one is not only browsing on the device, but actually working on it. Typing documents etc.  Acer has listed the recommended Acer Spin 511MT to have a battery life of 12 hours.

The touchscreen option has Corning® Gorilla® Glass® screens which are more durable than any other touch screen. We have had schools where an entire crate of touchscreen Chromebooks had fallen by accident with no damage at all to the device or screen. The same with individual touchscreen devices that had fallen to the ground. The recommended Chromebook, the Acer Spin 511MT with flip touch screen indeed meets the latest toughness specifications. The following details can be seen on the Acer SA website: “The Military Standard (MIL-STD 810H1) tested, impact-resistant body stands up to all sorts of daily wear and tear. The shock absorbent bumper and reinforced design protects the device from drops as high as 122cm and up to 60kg of downward force. The widened brackets and reinforced IO ports protect against rough play while the unique drainage design of the keyboard protects internal components from upwards of 330ml of liquid.” https://www.acer.com/za-en/chromebooks/acer-chromebook-spin-511-r753t-r753tm-r753tn-r753tnm

We work with many schools and the average on board storage is 32GB and we have not had a single student report that they have run out of space. To put your mind at ease, there is a micro SD card slot on the side of the Chromebook so you can easily add any sized additional storage to the Chromebook if you daughter ever finds she is running out of space.

You can share and work with Microsoft Office files on a Chromebook or Drive as well. You can work within the Office 365 environment using Chrome and the online web platform, office.com seamlessly if one needs to.

Working in the cloud is how the world of work is transitioning to, and this is the same in our schools. There is more than enough space on a Chromebook, and it does come with a Micro SD Card slot if you find you do need additional onboard storage. In our experience none of the over 6000 students we have supplied Chromebooks to have needed additional on board storage.

Even though a Chromebook relies on connectivity for optimal function, there is a lot you can do offline as well, if you enable it offline. For e.g. new Google Docs can be created while offline, all the work that has been done on the document will then be synced to the cloud once the Chromebook is next connected to the internet.  Email can be read and replies created while offline, even up to 30 days worth of email if needed. So as the learners have done previously, while at school, enable them to work offline on the necessary Docs, Slides or Sheets and they will be able to work on it at home while being offline. Not all of the apps will work offline, but the most necessary ones like a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide will. Here are more functionalities you have on a Chromebook while offline.