Forbes Contributor Looks at Use of Google Chromebooks in Passaic Public Schools

Jason Evangelho, a contributor to Forbes, wrote an in-depth article about the use of Google Chromebooks at the Passaic Public School district. He spoke to Dr. Lawrence Everett, interim superintendent and Joshua Koen, IT director.

Evangelho said this interview gave him “the perfect opportunity to examine the appeal of Chromebook and its impact throughout the various stages of deployment in schools.”

Koen told Evangelho that the district began looking into a “1:1” program about a year ago, that is one laptop for every student. Netbooks were rejected. At that time the Chromebooks came out and “provided a unique opportunity to fit in with our educational needs.”

Koen added: professional development hasn’t been tool focused, but instructional and pedagogical focused.” He said the district is getting ready to deploy Chromebooks in pilot teacher classes. Next year some 4700 students will be involved in the pilot and Passaic Public schools will be the second largest district in the U.S. trying out Chromebooks.

The district considered iPads but a significant number of students using the system needed the keyboard in order to be producers, the article stated.

Google In Education: Chromebooks A ‘Right Time Technology’ For Passaic, New Jersey School District