Your New Chromebook: Who Paid For It and Why?

Chromebooks have been placed in the hands of hundreds of students at Santa Fe High School, but have you ever wondered why they’re here and where they come from?

Santa Fe Public Schools has secured $33 million to proceed with the implementation of technology such as chromebooks in classrooms as a part of the district’s 5-year Digital Learning Plan.

Last January, any registered­­­­­­­­_­­­­ voter living in Santa Fe County and within school district boundaries was able to vote on the renewal of the Santa Fe Public Schools technology bond. Poll results released by county officials on Feb. 2 confirmed that 62 percent of the 4,650 people who voted were in favor of the renewal. As a result, the Education Technology Note (ETN), which authorizes Santa Fe Public Schools to use local property tax dollars to fund district technology initiatives, will continue to fund the remaining three years of the SFPS five-year Digital Learning Plan.

The Digital Learning Plan, a program initiated during the 2014-2015 school year, laid out the scheme for the assimilation of technology. This includes the installment of computer labs and a variety of devices in addition to infrastructure such as passive optical networks and upgrades to wireless Internet service, in the hopes that all district schools will be fully equipped by the end of the 2018-19 school year.

Santa Fe High School is part of “Cohort Three,” the group of schools that are being focused on this year, the third year of the DLP. Each cohort receives roughly $11 million. Neal Weaver, director of digital learning for the district, estimates that approximately $1.5 million was invested in infrastructure at Santa Fe High and about $1 million was spent on devices and equipment, including SMART Boards, teacher laptops, document cameras, desktop computers, and Chromebooks.

This year, Santa Fe High students received individual Chromebooks and will continue to be offered one for every school year until graduation. About half of the $1 million was spent on Chromebooks alone, but these funds do not include possible money needed for repairs.

“At our other schools we are seeing about a 2-3 percent breakage rate,” said Weaver. “But at this time it’s too early to be able to tell what the long-term repair rate will be.”

As opposed to a “bring your own device” policy, the distribution of Chromebooks provides every student with an electronic device — an educational method known as one-to-one (1:1) computing.

One-to-one supplies one student with one device in the hopes of mending the gap between students with ready access technology and those who don’t. This gap is also known as the “digital divide.” The district is looking towards “providing every student with access to a 21st century learning environment,” meaning, student-wide access to the Internet, online curriculum, digital resources, and more.

Miki Duvoisin, a senior who chose not to receive a Chromebook, said, “While I understand the purpose of the entire initiative, I frankly find the whole thing to be a little superfluous. Not that I think making the Internet and technology more accessible is unnecessary, but requiring everyone to get one was poorly organized and a waste of time. Couldn’t they have just given them to the students who needed them?” Duvoisin declined the offer for the Chromebook because none of her teachers require it, and as a senior she has already completed the majority of her competency tests.

However, Arrika Duran, a sophomore, disagreed. “I get here pretty early in the mornings when most of the classrooms are locked and computers are unavailable, so it’s convenient to be able to whip out my Chromebook and get some of my online homework done.”

Despite the district’s ambition for the future and mixed responses from the students, the Digital Learning Plan and one-to-one education do not guarantee success.

One-to-one was implemented in schools as early as the 1990s, but several districts such as the Liverpool Central School District in New York saw only average test proficiency and little to no growth in the span of seven years. As a result, that district eliminated their individual laptop programs.

Matoaca High School in Virginia terminated its 5-year laptop programs after concluding that students with laptops failed to show any academic advantage over those without.

Furthermore, despite the fact that research conducted and published by Boston College’s Lynch School of Education reported that students who participated in one-to-one computing reported higher achievement and increased engagement, the actual educational value of one-to-one heavily relies on the classroom teacher.

It’s too early to tell whether one-to-one computing will have a significant impact on Santa Fe High School’s population, but one thing is for sure — it is supposed to revolutionize PARCC testing.

Kate Gomez, Santa Fe High’s digital learning coach, stressed the importance of familiarizing students with the PARCC testing environment.

“Last year, students had never tested on Chromebooks before, but were expected to dive into a completely different test setting,” she said. “We expect higher levels of performance from students who are comfortable with their test devices.” Wireless infrastructure improvements along with individual equipment will also aid testing efficiency.

Gomez also envisions a bright future where students are “only limited by [their] interests.”