Google for Education placed over a million new Chromebooks in schools in the second quarter of 2014. Chris Farinacci, the Senior Director of Global Enterprise Marketing at Google, announced the news today on his Google+ page. Google for Education is growing by leaps and bounds as new schools and teachers jump on board and take advantage of the hardware and software that Google makes available to them. Farinacci also linked to a blog post from David Andrade, the CIO for Bridgeport Public Schools in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Andrade said that the school plans on putting Chromebooks in every classroom for grades 4-12 throughout their school district. Bridgeport schools are already using over 9,000 Chromebooks and Google’s Apps for Education.
Andrade says they chose to use Chromebooks instead of traditional laptops or desktops because they are more affordable and very low-maintenance. Chromebooks make life easier for their IT department, and the schools were able to buy three Chromebooks for what they would have paid for just one desktop. Schools all over the country could benefit from the cost savings and ease of use that Chromebooks provide. Those costs are only going to get lower as hardware gets cheaper with time, too. Google also recently made Play for Education apps and software available on Chromebooks, expanding the platform from the Nexus tablets where it was originally launched. Teachers can now find books, apps, and video on their Chromebooks just like they do on their Google Play for Education tablets.
Google Play for Education helps teachers fit their curriculum around their students’ needs. It gives teachers new materials and tools to use based on what their students’ needs and where they show interest. Those in the education field can use these tools to share Chrome apps with their students. New education software is coming from Scholastic, Discovery Education, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The current program offers thousands of K-12 teaching books and free classic literature. Some classrooms can even tap into YouTube channels that have been pre-screened and approved for educational use. It seems to be working quite well, as Google has set up another one million Chromebooks in schools.