What is a Chromebook?
A Chromebook is a personal computer running Chrome OS as its operating system. The devices are designed to be used while connected to the Internet though there are a variety of apps that can be run offline.
You can think of a Chromebook as Internet-dependent laptop that starts up super fast (roughly seven seconds, or a fraction of the time it takes to boot an old Windows computer). They’re relatively lightweight and powered by Google’s Chrome operating system. The high point about everything being saved on the web is that you’ll have access to it from any computer. Plus, if your Chromebook ever bites the dust, you won’t have to worry about losing all your apps, documents, and settings.
Why Chromebooks at De La Salle?
Chromebooks for Education give students, teachers, and administrators a simple solution for fast, intuitive, and easy-to-manage computing. Chromebooks provide access to the web’s education and collaboration resources, as well as offer centralized management and low total cost of ownership. Using Chromebooks, teachers spend more time teaching and less time managing classroom technology.
At home in the classroom ... and beyond
Chromebooks provide the teaching and learning benefits of computers without the typical distractions that come with technology in the classroom. They boot in eight seconds and resume instantly – eliminating the time wasted while traditional computers start up and connect to a network. Long battery life means Chromebooks last an entire school day. And since it’s easy to connect a Chromebook anytime and anywhere with built-in Wi-Fi, students can continue learning after school and at home. Applications, school work, and settings are stored in the cloud, so multiple students can use the same Chromebook and still have their own personalized experience when they sign in. Best of all, there is no special training required: If you know how to use the web, you know how to use a Chromebook.
Why at De La Salle?
All De La Salle students are required to have their own Chromebook as their Bring-Your-Own-Device choice. Please note: laptops, iPads, and other devices DO cause issues throughout the school year. The Technology Department will NOT troubleshoot any device other than a Chromebook.
Some advantages to students having their own Chromebooks:
All Teachers in the building have their own Chromebook for their classroom. Easier to troubleshoot when everyone has the same device.
De La Salle is a Google School. Chromebooks make it easier to access the Google Applications (email, documents, spreadsheets, etc.).
There is Wi-Fi throughout the school. Chromebooks boot up in eight seconds and could have the student taking notes within their Google account shortly after walking into their classroom. The Wi-Fi password at the school will ONLY be entered into a Chromebook.
Chromebooks are lighter to carry than regular laptops and, if charged overnight, usually have a longer battery life than most laptops.
Chromebooks are cheaper than a laptop.
Required standardized testing (ACT Aspire in freshman and sophomore years) ONLY work on Chromebooks.
SCHOOL-OWNED CHROMEBOOK RENTAL POLICYPart of our incorporating technology into the classroom requires students to bring their fully charged, technology to class every day. The student wireless network is readily available to all students with Chromebooks.
If your son’s Chromebook is getting repaired, we can supply a school-owned loaner for the school day from the TARMAC as long as you send an email to Mrs. Anderson that a repair was needed and when the repair will be completed. This will help us manage our school-owned Chromebooks more efficiently.
We can also provide a loaner for the school day if your son forgets or failed to charge it. Please be advised that for these circumstances, we will document the occurrence in Infinite Campus for not being prepared which can ultimately lead to consequences up to in-school detention should it be a recurring issue.
KEYS & SHORTCUTSChromebooks have a different keyboard than other laptops. For starters, there is no Caps Lock key. This has been replaced with a dedicated Search key which will launch the App Menu. The App Menu is a place where all Web Apps are located, you can perform searches here; and soon it will be used to search Google Contacts. If you would rather have the Caps Lock key back, you can either use Alt + Search key which will act as the Caps Lock key
Many of your simplest functions are:
Ctrl + C - Copy
Ctrl + X - Cut
Ctrl + V - Paste
Ctrl + P - Print
The Home, End, Page Up, Page Down and Delete keys are also missing, again there is a keyboard command to regain this function.
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow key - Home
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow key - End
Alt + Up Arrow key - Page Up
Alt + Down Arrow key - Page Down
Alt + Backspace - Delete the next letter (forward delete)
Ctrl + Backspace - Delete the previous word
Finally, the Chromebook keyboard has replaced the function keys (F1, F2, F3, etc) with browser buttons. Some of these browser buttons have secondary commands;
F4 + Shift – Full Screens the active window
Esc + Shift – Open Task Manager
Alt + F6 – Keyboard Brightness down
Alt + F7- Keyboard Brightness up
Ctrl + F4 – Mirror Monitor
Ctrl + F5 - Take Screenshot
