So I haven't posted an update in a couple of weeks because I haven't had anything new to report. All I know is that the last 7 weeks have been some of the best in terms of technology frustration I have ever had. Everything is so fast and smooth when I am on my Chromebook. I have had to go to my computer once or twice and it is like trying to run a race while sinking in quicksand. It is unbelievably slow. I am spoiled with the speed and responsiveness of Chrome OS.
What I ended up doing the last week of school was hooking up the Chromebook into my 24 inch monitor, essentially turning my Chromebook into a Chromebox. I had been using a mouse since the first week, but having everything on a 24 inch monitor is awesome. All I needed was my little vga to hdmi cable and I was good to go.
We have to print out a bunch of paperwork at the end of the year and printing was no issue. I had my laptop running and printed about 30 pages of reports without any problem. I was even able to update my tutorial site, including a screencast all on the Chromebook. I watch my colleague next to me as he is opening up Chrome on his Windows pc and it lags so bad. On Chrome OS, click and go. It truly is amazing the speed differences.
And ironically, today while I was helping set up a room for summer school, my laptop got stuck in an infinite boot loop. Couldn't do anything. No safe mode, no nothing. So I had to take it to our tech people and they said they would reimage it. Now, since I am on a Chromebook, all that this affects is printing. But imagine if teachers had Chromebooks or Chromeboxes and something did happen, although I haven't seen an issue all year. I could have gone up given them my Chromebook and given another and once I logged in, it would feel just like the one I had before. Amazing.
So school is over now, but I have to say I will probably be using this set up for next year. I don't see any valid reasons to keep running Windows at school. I will still keep my laptop around because I will need it for printing, but other than that...good-bye Windows. Chrome OS offers so much more than a Windows-based system can bring here at school.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
11:03.28
11:03.28...what is that you ask? That is the amount of time it took one of our school's new Lenovo Yoga 11e computers to restart today in class. A teacher next to me was giving his first test on Socrative, so I wanted to help him out. The Chromebooks were checked out, so he got to use the brand new Yogas. They looked nice, but running Windows 8.1 worried me because of speed issues and let's face it, a Windows pc isn't starting up in 8 seconds.
So they were passed out and students logged in. Maybe its from having Chromebooks, but that little dotted circle spun for a long time before the desktop showed up. They clicked on Chrome and another few seconds it popped up. The whole process was less than I feared, but definitely longer than a Chromebook.
A few had some issues 2 stalled on the sign in, desktop never loaded and one gave a "critical error" message and was shut down. I looked at the one where the desktop never loaded and tried to fix it. I hit the Windows key and nothing, no metro, no desktop. I pulled up the task manager and it said no programs were running. So finally I restarted it. I decided to time it just to compare it to a Chromebook. Total time for it to get back to the log in screen, 11:03.28 seconds.
The class is small, so he had extras, but what if there were none? Do teachers have 11 minutes to sit and stare at a dotted circle spinning? I think we all know the answer to that question. Makes me glad that I have a class set of Chromebooks & not a Windows based OS.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Chromebook Challenge: Week 4 Update
Another successful week using a Chromebook only. I brought in a USB mouse from home to make life a little easier versus a trackpad. Nothing wrong with it, just more comfortable using a mouse. If we went with the Chromebox with USB mouse & keyboard, that wouldn't be an issue. I don't have much to add to what we already know about using Chrome OS, it's fast & it works. The other teacher that started using a Chromebook still does for everything except his PowerPoint presentations.
I had been using Fireshot extension for screenshots, but have been using Snagit, and it seems to be a little better. Mainly, it allows me to do some basic editing right away, instead of opening up Pixlr. I wish it would have the ability to erase things on the screen, but it does allow for adding in text & shapes. So that is something that Fireshot doesn't do.
I can honestly say that switching to a Chromebook has made my life a lot less frustrating. I had to use my computer this week to go to a site that was blocked on the Chromebook, device restrictions again. The delay in logging in, the delay in opening the browser...just so much. Once again, when teachers need to do something, we want speed. We don't have time to stare at a screen and wait for something to happen. We want to click on something and have it react right away.
It has helped me connect with the students and their devices. We are all using the same thing now. So I know exactly how it looks on their devices. I know how the apps & extensions operate and problems that come up. Being on the same operating system makes sense and benefits everyone.
That's all I have for this week. I just have to re-emphasize that if you have considered moving to Chrome OS, do it. Totally worth it.
I had been using Fireshot extension for screenshots, but have been using Snagit, and it seems to be a little better. Mainly, it allows me to do some basic editing right away, instead of opening up Pixlr. I wish it would have the ability to erase things on the screen, but it does allow for adding in text & shapes. So that is something that Fireshot doesn't do.
I can honestly say that switching to a Chromebook has made my life a lot less frustrating. I had to use my computer this week to go to a site that was blocked on the Chromebook, device restrictions again. The delay in logging in, the delay in opening the browser...just so much. Once again, when teachers need to do something, we want speed. We don't have time to stare at a screen and wait for something to happen. We want to click on something and have it react right away.
It has helped me connect with the students and their devices. We are all using the same thing now. So I know exactly how it looks on their devices. I know how the apps & extensions operate and problems that come up. Being on the same operating system makes sense and benefits everyone.
That's all I have for this week. I just have to re-emphasize that if you have considered moving to Chrome OS, do it. Totally worth it.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Chromebook Challenge: Week 3 Update
A very interesting week at work today with my Chromebook Challenge. When I did my post on what is needed to go paperless, the very first thing was a strong network. Well, this week our district's internet service provider had some major issues and they played havoc with the challenge. Now the perception is that if you have no internet you have a fancy paper weight. That of course is a misnomer, it is well documented what Chromebooks can do offline. Unfortunately for me, I am using a Chromebook with student permissions, so I can't store anything offline because of those settings.
Now even if I was on my computer, I would have been dead in the water too. Since the shift in education is web based programs, and I saw plenty of evidence of that this week. Once the internet goes down there isn't much you can do.
Other than that it was a great week. I am trying to get another teacher to join me in the challenge. It's great because he is a different subject, so it is a different point of view. Two things he noticed. When he converted his PowerPoint to a Slides presentation, none of the sounds came with it. The slides themselves he said looked fine, but he likes sounds. This is a problem when moving PowerPoints anywhere. The sound files aren't embedded in the actual file. They are pointed to an address, and for most that is on the computer. I believe he would need to either a) resave them as html pages to get all sound files or b) re-insert the files once converted. The other thing is that he can't view his personal gmail account when logged in. He could log out and back in, but he doesn't want to. He could go incognito, but that function is blocked by our district.
As you can see to go Chrome OS our district has to differentiate between teachers & students, just like our pc log ins do.
Now even if I was on my computer, I would have been dead in the water too. Since the shift in education is web based programs, and I saw plenty of evidence of that this week. Once the internet goes down there isn't much you can do.
Other than that it was a great week. I am trying to get another teacher to join me in the challenge. It's great because he is a different subject, so it is a different point of view. Two things he noticed. When he converted his PowerPoint to a Slides presentation, none of the sounds came with it. The slides themselves he said looked fine, but he likes sounds. This is a problem when moving PowerPoints anywhere. The sound files aren't embedded in the actual file. They are pointed to an address, and for most that is on the computer. I believe he would need to either a) resave them as html pages to get all sound files or b) re-insert the files once converted. The other thing is that he can't view his personal gmail account when logged in. He could log out and back in, but he doesn't want to. He could go incognito, but that function is blocked by our district.
As you can see to go Chrome OS our district has to differentiate between teachers & students, just like our pc log ins do.
Monday, April 27, 2015
A look at the future of textbooks
Today I was able to attend four textbook presentations put on by our district with 5 other teachers from my school. What did all the presentations have in common? Everything was shifted to an online environment. Students could log in at home and see videos for problems in the book, see step by step instructions for the solutions, and one even had an online chat service for students to contact if stuck. A few even had some sort of program that kept track of what students understood and what they needed remediation on. Most of them also had some sort of LMS, like Google Classroom or Edmodo. That will be interesting to work with.
Everything is shifting to online, which made even it more ironic when the internet went down district wide for about 2-3 hours this morning. Clearly, devices like Chromebooks are going to stick around for awhile. One publisher had Desmos & Geogebra activities built into the online book, sounds familiar. Students log in and interact with the lessons. They all seem to have a self-discovery portion built into it and the teacher fills in the holes. This is how I have been trying to do it 2nd semester.
So from a teacher standpoint, do you need a pc to use all the materials or can Chrome OS handle it? I mentioned before how more and more publishers were moving to online test generators and today confirmed it. All of the publishers already had online test generators, except Pearson's version of ExamView, but they said they were in the process of shifting it over. So no disks to install, no textbook software that you need to having running, everything was browser based. No more trying to find a disk or installing it at home, always ready online. Some mentioned you could write and give the test online and get reports, like Socrative, but I have used one before and it was messy, so unless it gets cleaned up, I will be sticking with Socrative.
This really reinforces my belief about shifting to Chrome OS. It is obvious things are changing and need a full blown Windows pc isn't necessary for the general teacher anymore.
Everything is shifting to online, which made even it more ironic when the internet went down district wide for about 2-3 hours this morning. Clearly, devices like Chromebooks are going to stick around for awhile. One publisher had Desmos & Geogebra activities built into the online book, sounds familiar. Students log in and interact with the lessons. They all seem to have a self-discovery portion built into it and the teacher fills in the holes. This is how I have been trying to do it 2nd semester.
So from a teacher standpoint, do you need a pc to use all the materials or can Chrome OS handle it? I mentioned before how more and more publishers were moving to online test generators and today confirmed it. All of the publishers already had online test generators, except Pearson's version of ExamView, but they said they were in the process of shifting it over. So no disks to install, no textbook software that you need to having running, everything was browser based. No more trying to find a disk or installing it at home, always ready online. Some mentioned you could write and give the test online and get reports, like Socrative, but I have used one before and it was messy, so unless it gets cleaned up, I will be sticking with Socrative.
This really reinforces my belief about shifting to Chrome OS. It is obvious things are changing and need a full blown Windows pc isn't necessary for the general teacher anymore.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Windows is still Windows
Everyone is looking to make a "Chromebook killer" laptop and lately, Microsoft has been pushing to make less expensive laptops to directly compete with Chrome OS in schools. On the surface it seems like a good idea. Most schools are comfortable with Windows and some might want to continue using Windows machines since everything is in place from a technical standpoint. And let's face it, it is a full OS that can install programs on it and has more flexibility. But is it worth it to go to a cheaper Windows laptop over a Chrome OS device? Once again this is a factual post no opinions here. This is a look at Windows devices for student use, not for teachers/administrators. Although, I am pretty open about that as well.
Don't get me wrong I like Windows. I have a Windows PC running at my house as my htpc streaming shows and using Windows Media Center to watch and record TV. I have Windows 10 technical preview running as well. It look nice and does bring some additions to Windows, but that isn't coming til summer.
Windows is still Windows. Windows still slows down over time because of the amount of files it accumulates over the life of the machine. Windows will keep certain programs running in the background, so that when you open the program it will load faster. By keeping those programs running in the background, your machine is using more RAM. Open up the App Data folder on most Windows machines and you will probably be shocked at the size of the folder. After a few years from all the files it has saved, the folder is gigabytes in size. You can always reformat them or reimage them, but that takes time, sometimes a week or more.
Although Chrome OS is a relatively young operating system, it does seem to buck the trend of slowing down. People who received the first Chromebooks in 2011 are still using them. Part of the reason is that Chrome OS is basically a glorified browser. It has one job to do and it does it well. It doesn't need top of the line specs to do its job.
Windows is still Windows. Although 8.1 & 10 aren't the resource hogs of the past, you will still want to run it on decent hardware. Usually, people are looking for an i3 processor with at least 4 GB of RAM. Well, most of the Windows machines geared towards education have 2 GB of RAM and an older Baytrail processor. That is the bare minimum needed to run Windows. After you install some programs you will quickly see that those 2 GB aren't going to be enough to do simple tasks quickly. Eventually, there will be a delay in opening a program and it actually being able to use it because of the older processor.
Once again since Chrome OS runs everything in a browser, you don't need high end specs. The latest celeron processor and 2 GB of ram is more than enough.
Windows is still Windows. It is easy to install malware and malicious programs on the machines. It is easier to accidentally download a file that can absolutely wreck havoc on your machine. Since you can't install programs on Chrome OS, the chances of obtaining malware decreases exponentially.
Windows is still Windows. How many times have you gone to shut down your device and an update keeps spinning for minutes? How long does it take to restart a machine and get it back to the desktop? How many times has a device froze as you are trying to open a program? When you are doing a lesson, you don't have time to deal with machines needing to restart or freezing. If there are any issues with Chrome, wifi, trackpad, etc., just restart it. Chrome OS devices start in under 10 seconds and you are on the desktop.
In the end, schools will be lured in by the cheaper cost versus a traditional laptop or even a Chromebook. But the price doesn't match the functionality. You can run GAFE on both machines, but coming from someone who has used both, GAFE works better in Chrome OS, as it should. The entire OS is built around the browser. Just like Internet Explorer (and Spartan) work better in Windows.
Windows is useful for certain things, but mass education devices isn't one of them.
Don't get me wrong I like Windows. I have a Windows PC running at my house as my htpc streaming shows and using Windows Media Center to watch and record TV. I have Windows 10 technical preview running as well. It look nice and does bring some additions to Windows, but that isn't coming til summer.
Windows is still Windows. Windows still slows down over time because of the amount of files it accumulates over the life of the machine. Windows will keep certain programs running in the background, so that when you open the program it will load faster. By keeping those programs running in the background, your machine is using more RAM. Open up the App Data folder on most Windows machines and you will probably be shocked at the size of the folder. After a few years from all the files it has saved, the folder is gigabytes in size. You can always reformat them or reimage them, but that takes time, sometimes a week or more.
Although Chrome OS is a relatively young operating system, it does seem to buck the trend of slowing down. People who received the first Chromebooks in 2011 are still using them. Part of the reason is that Chrome OS is basically a glorified browser. It has one job to do and it does it well. It doesn't need top of the line specs to do its job.
Windows is still Windows. Although 8.1 & 10 aren't the resource hogs of the past, you will still want to run it on decent hardware. Usually, people are looking for an i3 processor with at least 4 GB of RAM. Well, most of the Windows machines geared towards education have 2 GB of RAM and an older Baytrail processor. That is the bare minimum needed to run Windows. After you install some programs you will quickly see that those 2 GB aren't going to be enough to do simple tasks quickly. Eventually, there will be a delay in opening a program and it actually being able to use it because of the older processor.
Once again since Chrome OS runs everything in a browser, you don't need high end specs. The latest celeron processor and 2 GB of ram is more than enough.
Windows is still Windows. It is easy to install malware and malicious programs on the machines. It is easier to accidentally download a file that can absolutely wreck havoc on your machine. Since you can't install programs on Chrome OS, the chances of obtaining malware decreases exponentially.
Windows is still Windows. How many times have you gone to shut down your device and an update keeps spinning for minutes? How long does it take to restart a machine and get it back to the desktop? How many times has a device froze as you are trying to open a program? When you are doing a lesson, you don't have time to deal with machines needing to restart or freezing. If there are any issues with Chrome, wifi, trackpad, etc., just restart it. Chrome OS devices start in under 10 seconds and you are on the desktop.
In the end, schools will be lured in by the cheaper cost versus a traditional laptop or even a Chromebook. But the price doesn't match the functionality. You can run GAFE on both machines, but coming from someone who has used both, GAFE works better in Chrome OS, as it should. The entire OS is built around the browser. Just like Internet Explorer (and Spartan) work better in Windows.
Windows is useful for certain things, but mass education devices isn't one of them.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Chromebook Challenge Week 2 Update
Another week done and another week of fast reliable computing. A quick update to my Pixlr problem. I wrote a test at home this week and I had zero trouble at all connecting and editing photos in the Pixlr app. It was so nice to edit and save as a new picture and it just create it in my Google Drive for me. I can now officially say it is a setting on the school's network that blocks it there. While at work I simply downloaded some blank templates of triangles and worked them out that way. The other paint app I used just wasn't as good, Pixlr is clearly the best.
I had to write a practice test this week and I use ExamView test generator. Unfortunately, it isn't available as an app. Now this is a concern brought up by some teachers that use ExamView. I told there are two options, 1) textbook companies are starting to put their test generators online because of the success of Chrome OS and 2) you can use Chrome Remote Desktop, which is what I did. I connected to my laptop via Chrome's Remote Desktop app and I had my pc running on my Chromebook and it ran smooth. If test generators don't appear online, you could set up a few old pcs per department that is made just for certain legacy apps that aren't available on Chrome OS yet. Give the teachers the codes to connect and let them do their thing. This is apparently how some Chrome OS only schools have kept teachers using their SMARTBoards. So I made my test and uploaded it to my Drive in about 7-10 minutes.
The second test I wrote from was home. Logged into Socrative.com and started a new test. All my images are on my Google Drive so they were right there as well. Any edits were done seamlessly in Pixlr. Before if I wrote a test I would have to make sure I brought the file home, make sure I had Office or had installed the test generator on my home pc. Not anymore.
Some of the other basic computing functions were tested this week, had to print out some tests and grades. All done successfully via Google Cloud Print. I decided to convert a bunch of my old Word & Excel files to Docs & Sheets and I was shocked at how well they were post-conversion. Bullets, formatting, etc. all looked like I was editing in Word. I read that Google is now 95% accurate on conversions and it shows.
One more separate, but positive note, we were giving a Performance Task and a teacher created it with Google Sheets versus PowerPoint. This is the first time I can remember someone in our department defaulting to Google Apps. I am hopeful that this trend will continue. Our teachers are sitting on useful technology, but they have their blinders up and do't want to look at it. I wish every teacher would try to live from a Chromebook for a week and see the difference.
I had to write a practice test this week and I use ExamView test generator. Unfortunately, it isn't available as an app. Now this is a concern brought up by some teachers that use ExamView. I told there are two options, 1) textbook companies are starting to put their test generators online because of the success of Chrome OS and 2) you can use Chrome Remote Desktop, which is what I did. I connected to my laptop via Chrome's Remote Desktop app and I had my pc running on my Chromebook and it ran smooth. If test generators don't appear online, you could set up a few old pcs per department that is made just for certain legacy apps that aren't available on Chrome OS yet. Give the teachers the codes to connect and let them do their thing. This is apparently how some Chrome OS only schools have kept teachers using their SMARTBoards. So I made my test and uploaded it to my Drive in about 7-10 minutes.
The second test I wrote from was home. Logged into Socrative.com and started a new test. All my images are on my Google Drive so they were right there as well. Any edits were done seamlessly in Pixlr. Before if I wrote a test I would have to make sure I brought the file home, make sure I had Office or had installed the test generator on my home pc. Not anymore.
Some of the other basic computing functions were tested this week, had to print out some tests and grades. All done successfully via Google Cloud Print. I decided to convert a bunch of my old Word & Excel files to Docs & Sheets and I was shocked at how well they were post-conversion. Bullets, formatting, etc. all looked like I was editing in Word. I read that Google is now 95% accurate on conversions and it shows.
One more separate, but positive note, we were giving a Performance Task and a teacher created it with Google Sheets versus PowerPoint. This is the first time I can remember someone in our department defaulting to Google Apps. I am hopeful that this trend will continue. Our teachers are sitting on useful technology, but they have their blinders up and do't want to look at it. I wish every teacher would try to live from a Chromebook for a week and see the difference.
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