Why Should You Opt for Chromebook for School Classes?

Modern students require a few basic things to get the most out of education: resources to study and locate the information they need to know, tools to get and stay organized, and a platform to communicate and collaborate with other learners and teachers. Students also need to learn how to learn, which is perhaps the biggest challenge to teachers.

A Chromebook for school can provide these capabilities while simplifying the management, maintenance and oversight of schools’ IT infrastructure. Learn more about why a Chromebook for college is an appropriate pick as a portable device for use in schools and at home.

Using Chromebook for School Has Many Benefits

There are plenty of reasons why Chromebooks are a perfect fit for schools. Below are four of them:

1. Chromebooks are portable.

Much of students’ college life revolves around moving learning materials from one study room to another. Therefore, it makes sense for students to buy laptops that can fit easily in their bags without adding much weight. Chromebooks are the most portable laptops around.

Some Chromebook models weigh as little as two pounds and can be as thin as 0.5 inches, which means they can get hauled around in any backpack or briefcase.

2. Chromebooks deliver solid performance.

When it comes to laptops, low cost always means slow performance. This is because the manufacturer must make several hardware compromises to hit a perfect price. As such, you have slower processors, cheaper RAM, smaller resolutions and so on.

When you install the Windows OS on such a laptop, the extra code further slows down the device, rendering it unusable for most applications. However, Chromebooks can deliver solid performance because they leverage the Chrome OS, which is lightning fast as a result of being stripped down to bare necessities.

Even though Chromebooks have low storage-specifications, it doesn’t mean much, because Chrome OS is remarkably lightweight. Besides, Chromebooks provide cloud storage options that students and educators can use to store most of their files.

3. Chromebooks are simple to maintain.

The most significant innovation that Chromebooks brought to the market was eliminating a typical, multi-function OS that performed everything from booting the system to running the applications. Instead, Chromebooks rely on a minimalist Chrome OS that uses the Chrome web browser as its primary user interface.

Besides, the Chrome OS updates automatically in the background without the intervention of IT administrators. In instances where manual intervention is necessary, updates get installed in seconds with a simple reboot. This is unlike other OSs, where you have to wait for several minutes for the update to complete. This creates a low-maintenance working environment where students don’t waste time cleaning, defragmenting or optimizing processes. Less maintenance means reduced costs and minimal classroom disruptions.

4. Chromebooks have a longer battery life.

Because of a lightweight OS and power-efficient internal hardware, Chromebooks provide an exceptional battery life compared to typical laptops. As a result, students and teachers can use Chromebooks for many hours without locating a spot that is close to a power socket. Additionally, learners do not need to worry about their devices running out of power when in the middle of class or studying in the library.

Using Chromebook Is More Secure

In the recent past, software vendors have moved away from perpetual licensing in favor of subscription models that allow IT administrators to deliver user data and applications to various endpoints like Chromebooks via the internet. However, while the subscription model is flexible and lowers upfront costs, it also opens up many security challenges, particularly as online classes and remote learning becomes a reality.

Many colleges have become targets for cybercriminal syndicates in the recent past because of the vulnerabilities in most OSs. In this regard, school IT administrators must equip students’ and educators’ endpoints with active firewalls, antivirus software and file-system encryption, especially when using Windows or macOS.

However, none of these requirements are needed with Chromebooks. The Chrome OS provides robust security because it does not allow you to install applications easily. Besides, each application runs in a sandboxed environment. If malware infects one application, the OS and other applications remain secure.

Comparing Chromebook Prices with Windows and Mac Laptops

Although some Chromebooks are costly, most are cheaper than Windows and Mac laptops. This is because of three reasons. First, the Chrome OS can work even with lower-priced hardware specifications. For example, while a Windows or a macOS endpoint requires a more powerful Intel or AMD processor to function optimally, the same is not true with the Chromebook. The Chrome OS can still run on a lesser-known processor with fewer computing capabilities without significant performance impacts.

Second, while Chromebooks can allow users to install some graphics-intensive software on them locally, such applications cannot run efficiently. Besides, such applications are few for Chrome OS. This means they don’t require costly graphics cards, as is the case with Windows and Mac laptops. Third, Chromebooks do not need large storage drives. Even with 16 GB of storage, a Chromebook will still serve its purpose because applications and user data reside in the cloud.

However, the same is not true with Windows and Mac laptops—you need at least 128 GB to install applications locally on them. The overall lower hardware specifications for Chromebooks means they are much cheaper than Windows and Mac laptops.

Access Your Windows Applications on a Chromebook Device Online and Offline

Chromebooks have emerged as the primary go-to endpoints for online classes and remote learning because they are cheap, portable and more secure than Windows or macOS devices. Students and teachers can use a wide range of web and Android applications accessible from the Chrome Web and Google Play Stores to learn, research and collaborate.

Despite these benefits, Chromebooks have an inherent challenge: the Chrome OS does not support some third-party applications, such as CorelDRAW®, that students may want to use. While Chrome OS supports productivity applications such as Word and Excel, it does not provide full-featured services.

Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS) and Parallels Access™ provide solutions for students and teachers wishing to access full-featured Windows applications and legacy software. Both Parallels RAS and Parallels Access can only work if the Chromebook is internet-enabled.

What about offline users or those with unstable or costly internet connections who prefer to access full-featured Windows applications and legacy software on Chromebooks?

Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS is an out-of-the-box virtualization solution that offline users can use to access Windows applications. When installed on Chromebook, Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS allows Chromebooks to run full-featured Windows OSs and software, even in offline mode. The OS and applications run natively as if they were locally installed.

Parallels Desktop for Chromebook OS incorporates many features, including:

• Users can run Chrome OS side –by side with Windows without rebooting. Users can easily share folders and files between Windows and Chrome OS. They can also seamlessly copy and paste, drag and drop folders/files between the two OSs while offline.

• Users can run Windows applications full-screen. Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS can be set to allow Windows to occupy the entire screen, allowing users to run applications as if they were on a Windows endpoint.

• Users have access to hassle-free printing. With Parallels Desktop for Chrome OS, users can share Chrome OS printers with those of Windows. This way, users get to print files easily without worrying about how to install appropriate drivers.

• Users have quick access to settings. The Chrome OS device bar has a rich menu, displaying shared folders and files, printers, and keyboard shortcuts that users can access easily. Users can also access Windows files and folders from the Chrome OS’s Windows file section.