Chromebooks

Read Education Week’s coverage of how Chromebooks are used in the classroom and purchased and managed by schools
A student in Lynne Martin's 5th grade class studies math using a Chromebook at Markham Elementary School in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. The school suffered its second theft of Chromebooks in the past year, with about 64 of the laptops stolen over the Labor Day holiday weekend.
A student in Lynne Martin's 5th grade class studies math using a Chromebook at Markham Elementary School in Oakland, Calif. on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. Some teachers, worried about an over-saturation of digital devices, are now ditching the popular tech tools.
Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Classroom Technology Q&A Why One Teacher Told Students to Put Their Chromebooks Away—for Good
Chemistry teacher Marcie Samayoa went back to paper-and-pencil lessons this school year. It's led to deeper engagement.
Sarah Schwartz, August 22, 2025
7 min read
Megan Marcum, the digital learning coach for the Bowling Green district in Kentucky, and William King, the district technology director, present a poster session on how to create a student Chromebook repair team at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 in San Antonio on June 30, 2025.
Megan Marcum, the digital learning coach for the Bowling Green district in Kentucky, and William King, the district's technology director, explain how to set up a student Chromebook repair team at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 in San Antonio on June 30, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
IT Infrastructure & Management Why This District Pays Students to Repair School Devices
One district leader says there are no downsides to having students work on Chromebook repairs.
Lauraine Langreo, July 1, 2025
3 min read
Students in Lynne Martin's 5th grade class study math using Chromebooks at Markham Elementary School in Oakland, Calif. on Sept. 5, 2019.
Students in Lynne Martin's 5th grade class study math using Chromebooks at Markham Elementary School in Oakland, Calif. on Sept. 5, 2019. The least trend affecting schools is prompting students to set their Chromebooks on fire, which can lead to damage, fines, and even criminal charges.
Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
Classroom Technology Exploding Chromebooks? How to Counter the Latest TikTok Trend
The social media challenge has kids damaging school-issued devices.
Jennifer Vilcarino, May 21, 2025
4 min read
Left, chromebooks, to be loaned to students in the Elk Grove Unified School District, await distribution at Monterey Trail High School in Elk Grove, Calif., on April 2, 2020. Right, a ninth grader places his cellphone into a phone holder as he enters class at Delta High School on Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah.
Students work on 3-D printing projects at Sutton Middle School in Atlanta on Feb. 13, 2020.
AP
Classroom Technology From Our Research Center Chromebooks or Cellphones: Which Are the Bigger Classroom Distraction?
Most schools have had 1-to-1 computing environments since 2020; others have had it since the early 2010s.
Lauraine Langreo, May 9, 2025
2 min read
Students in Lynne Martin's 5th grade class study math using Chromebooks at Markham Elementary School in Oakland, Calif. on Sept. 5, 2019.
Students in Lynne Martin's 5th grade class study math using Chromebooks at Markham Elementary School in Oakland, Calif. on Sept. 5, 2019.
Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP
IT Infrastructure & Management Schools Brace for Tariff-Related Price Increases of Chromebooks and iPads
School-issued devices in many districts need to be replaced, but rising prices could prevent those plans.
Lauraine Langreo, May 6, 2025
6 min read
Art and technology teacher Jenny O'Sullivan, right, shows students a video they made, April 15, 2024, at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla. While many teachers nationally complain their districts dictate textbooks and course work, the South Florida school's administrators allow their staff high levels of classroom creativity...and it works.
Art and technology teacher Jenny O'Sullivan, right, shows students a video they made on April 15, 2024, at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla. After districts equipped every student with a device early in the pandemic, they now face the challenge of recycling or disposing of the technology responsibly.
Wilfredo Lee/AP
IT Infrastructure & Management What Districts Can Do With All Those Old Chromebooks
The Chromebooks and tablets districts bought en masse early in the pandemic are approaching the end of their useful lives.
3 min read
Brandon Hernandez works on a puzzle on a tablet before it's his turn to practice reading at an after school program at the Vardaman Family Life Center in Vardaman Miss., on March 3, 2020.
Brandon Hernandez works on a puzzle on a tablet before it's his turn to practice reading at an after-school program at the Vardaman Family Life Center in Vardaman Miss., on March 3, 2020. Districts that acquired devices for every student for the first time during the pandemic are facing decisions about what to do at the end of the devices' useful life.
Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP
IT Infrastructure & Management Aging Chromebooks End Up in the Landfill. Is There an Alternative?
Districts loaded up on devices during the pandemic. What becomes of them as they reach the end of their useful lives?
5 min read
Kiara Unger-Fields, 4, of Johnstown, Pa., hangs on as she rides an inflatable tube pulled by her pup Neo, a Rottweiler, at Roxbury Park in Johnstown, Pa., on Jan. 11, 2024. Unger-Fields was accompanied at the park by her father Roshon Fields.
Kiara Unger-Fields, 4, of Johnstown, Pa., hangs on as she rides an inflatable tube pulled by her pup Neo, a Rottweiler, at Roxbury Park in Johnstown, Pa., on Jan. 11, 2024. Despite initial thoughts that remote learning would spell the end of snow days, many schools reverted to them in 2024 during cold, snowy weather.
Thomas Slusser/The Tribune-Democrat via AP
School & District Management In: Cocoa. Out: Chromebooks. E-Learning Didn't Kill Old-Fashioned Snow Days, Educators Say
Remember when virtual learning was going to put paid to snow days? These educators don't, either.
Evie Blad, January 19, 2024
5 min read
Sawyer Wendt, a student intern for the Altoona school district’s IT department, repairs a Chromebook.
Sawyer Wendt, who's been a student intern for the Altoona district's tech department since junior year, is now studying IT software development in college.
Courtesy of Jevin Stangel, IT technician for the Altoona school district
IT Infrastructure & Management One Solution to Maintaining 1-to-1 Devices? Pay Students to Repair Them
Hiring students to help with the repair process is one way school districts are ensuring the sustainability of their 1-to-1 programs.
Lauraine Langreo, December 19, 2023
4 min read
Photo of teacher working with student on laptop computer.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
IT Infrastructure & Management Schools Get Relief on Chromebook Replacements. Google Extends Device Support to 10 Years
Schools have typically had to replace Chromebooks every three to five years.
Alyson Klein, September 21, 2023
4 min read
Illustration of a broken laptop.
Uniquepixel/iStock/Getty + Laura Baker/EdWeek
Classroom Technology Chromebooks’ 'Short' Lifespan Costs Schools Billions of Dollars, Report Finds
Doubling the lifespan of Chromebooks would save schools $1.8 billion, a U.S. PIRG Education Fund report estimates.
Lauraine Langreo, April 26, 2023
4 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
Getty
IT Infrastructure & Management Schools Handed Out Millions of Digital Devices Under COVID-19. Now, Thousands Are Missing
Some districts are scrambling to account for thousands of devices—a task made more urgent by the uncertainty over when students will be able to return to school buildings full-time.
Benjamin Herold, July 23, 2020
5 min read
Classroom Technology Delivery Delays Likely for Chromebooks, iPads Under COVID-19, Analyst Predicts
Analyst predicts that a frustrating stretch could continue for district officials desperate to acquire devices such as Chromebooks and iPads during coronavirus closures.
April 27, 2020
3 min read
School & District Management K-12 Device 'Arms Race': Philly School District's 'Heaven Sent' Chromebooks For Coronavirus Closures
The Philly School District's story of how it acquired 40,000 new devices underscores a new reality: districts across the country are competing for every device available during the coronavirus-induced remote learning movement.
April 14, 2020
4 min read