Blended Learning Device Requirements
Blended Learning Device Requirements
Hillcrest High School students, who will be in Year 9 and Year 10 in 2018, will be expected to bring a 1:1 computing device to school. The method of content delivery will be through a blend of online and traditional teaching tools.
Each student will have their own unique Hillcrest High School Google Account giving them access to Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive Google Classroom, Google Sites, and a whole host of other digital platforms. The students will utilise their devices in a myriad of different ways across learning areas and the potential of devices to open up new and exciting learning opportunities is inspiring.
To accommodate the wide variety of demands, needs and uses across our learning areas the devices will need to be suitable for typing and editing documents, manipulating photos, collaborating online and using internet resources and tools.
One of the many realities of computing in a school environment is that students require a highly portable device with a very long battery life. Students must carry their device from class to class every hour and will not be able to rely on having an opportunity or place to recharge their battery during the day. In addition to this, student devices must also be wireless and internet capable, have a good warranty and be robust which often means the build quality of the device should be high.
The devices we are highly recommending for students to use in Year 9 is a :
Hillcrest High School is a Google Apps for Education school which means that all of our productivity applications (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Docs/Sheets/Slides, Google Classroom, Google Sites). As a school we get to take advantage of the enormous computing power and cloud storage that Google has to offer whilst having control of services uniquely geared towards education.
Teachers and students create, collaborate and store their work in the cloud and are not limited by the platform they use and they are not dependant on expensive applications just to get things done. Chromebooks integrate perfectly with our Google Apps for Education system because they are built to be light on resources, connected instantly and linked seamlessly with our HHS Google Accounts.
Below is quick rundown of the advantages and strengths of Chromebooks in education...
Advantages of Chromebook
Strengths of Chromebook
Chromebooks are readily available from a variety of retailers including:
OfficeMax
Noel Leeming
Harvey Norman
We have also negotiated an agreement with Cyclone Computers.