By Kevin McLaughlin
Chromebooks are a big part of school in both the high school and middle school, but this is the first year of a one-to-one rollout for middle schoolers, and many are hoping the high school follows soon. Mr. Jason Strumwasser is the new director of technology at Irvington High School. This is his first year in Irvington after being the director of technology in a charter school in Far Rockaway Queens, New York.
“The plan is that we will be moving through the grades in the coming year hopefully, primarily depending on how the budget goes this upcoming year,” said Mr. Strumwasser about potential high school Chromebooks. The goal is eventually for the high school to also be one-to-one.
“There were some issues with the internet, as well as with Google,” he said about the Chromebook rollout this year. “All based on the filtering that we had put in place for protection of students.” Before the school year started, Irvington and Google put a filter on the Chromebooks to block certain sites and content that are deemed inappropriate. This filter ended up being too strict, and kids have had trouble connecting to WiFi at home.
Another part of the deal made between Google and Irvington is the End of Life Cycle (EOL). The End of Life Cycle will include Google checking all of the student’s Chromebooks every three years and making sure that each and every one of them is up to date. For the Chromebooks not working properly, they will be replaced by a new one.
Mr. Strumwasser also discussed what would happen to the Chromebooks if they are not treated and used properly. He said, “We need to as a school be protective of our devices, our scholars, and our privacy. We want to make sure that these devices are not going to be a problem.”
