The Setup

Overall, preparing for the actual distribution of the Chromebooks went very well. Again, the planning  we did made this a very smooth process (see previous post!)

The 150 Dell 11 Chromebooks were delivered over the summer, in plenty of time for us to get them ready for the rollout. District technology, led by network engineer Josh Boughner and technology assistants Ryan Dadalski and Gwen Hicks, made sure that the devices were already setup and enrolled for management as well as added to the school's wireless network.

The Chromebooks were already labeled with district inventory tags. So, the week before the students returned to school we started by assigning

a Chromebook to each student on the team in a Chromebook database (completed nicely in Google Sheets -- we are a GAFE school!) From there, we affixed a removable label on each Chromebook with the student's name on it. The labels (Avery Removable Labels, 1" x 3") are sticking so far, let's see if they stay on all year! And come off at the end of the year when we want them to!

One of the biggest, unintended hurdles was the use of the Dell Mobile Computing Cart 30. We like the cart and have a few in the building already. BUT it takes a little time to install the AC adapters in the cart and configure the wire management. Patton technology teacher knows all about this as he may have single-handedly outfitted all five carts with adapters! This might not be a big deal except that we will be allowing students to take their Chromebook home at the end of the first marking period, meaning we would be disassembling the AC adapters from the cart in juts a few weeks! We realized it would have been better to have smaller, "less permanent" carts, with less setup needed. Plus, since we have students pick up and return the Chromebooks to their Advisory (Homeroom) each day, it would have also been better to have carts that only held maybe 15 devices, which is the number of students in an Advisory class. Right now, students have to double-up with another Advisory to store their Chromebook in these 30-device carts. We're managing, but it could have been better.

With the Chromebooks setup, inventoried, labeled and place in a cart, it's on to the big day -- handing out the Chromebooks!