As a parent in Wylie ISD, chances are you have had your students come home and mention using a Chromebook in their classroom. Our students are living in a digital world, and these devices allow them to engage in learning in a whole new way. In 2014, we started using Chromebooks in over 100 selected pilot classrooms. Teachers loved them and asked for more! As you can see, we have slowly integrated more Chromebooks across grades 3-12 since 2014.
With the success of our intermediate and junior high programs where students have their own Chromebook during the school day, it was time to talk about our high school students having the same opportunity. Having a Chromebook at school provides for an engaging learning environment for our students. Computers provide teachers much more flexibility in how they teach, providing opportunities for more personalized and differentiated instruction, flipped lessons, collaborative projects, and blended courses to name a few. With a personal device, students will have continual access to documents, research, and content. With the integration of Google Apps for Education (GAFE), our teachers/students can experience immediate feedback, collaboration, and document access.
1:1 Chromebooks for High School Students in 2019-20
With a great deal of thoughtful planning, we will provide a Chromebook to each Wylie ISD high school student for both school and at-home use. Starting in 2019-20, each student will receive a Dell Chromebook. Chromebooks will be checked out to students during the summer and turned in at the end of the school year. Please watch the video for details.
Chromebooks Insurance
As with all technology, drops and cracked screens sometimes happen. For this reason, we are requiring a $40 insurance fee. A Chromebook or any of its accessories that are lost or intentionally damaged is the financial responsibility of the student and parent/guardian involved. The annual fee does not cover these situations. Please watch this video for details.
Opportunity to Purchase Your Chromebook
The annual insurance fee can serve as a down payment on the purchase of the Chromebook device. Upon graduation, students will have the option to purchase their chromebook to take with them to college or career. Each year of paid insurance fees with no claims counts towards an option to purchase the Chromebook.
More Details to Come
You will be hearing more information about our Wylie ISD high school 1:1 Chromebooks rollout in the coming months. We will be sharing more details with our parents and our students. We have plans to help our teachers utilize student Chromebooks, and lessons for our students about using the technology in a responsible manner. Our technology department and our campuses are working together to make this a success!
In the meantime, you can find additional information about the Wylie ISD Chromebook Program by visiting our Chromebook website by clicking on the link below:
We value you and your support as we look for ways to innovate and educate our students. Technology is everywhere! Thank you for helping us educate your students in an digital world, the Wylie Way!
