Elementary school going one-to-one with Chromebooks

NEGAUNEE — Students at Lakeview Elementary School in Negaunee are in for a pleasant surprise when school begins early next month.

The school recently received around $120,000 from the Technology Readiness Infrastructure Grant Targeted Site Transformation program to purchase 800 Chromebooks for use by students and teachers. This allows the school to have one laptop for each student to use in the classroom.

“The Chromebook option is nice because it’s going to be so universal,” said Negaunee Public Schools Superintendent Dan Skewis. “Whether they use a Mac or a PC at home, or just have a Chromebook at home as well, they can save everything on Google Drive, and then that way can access it with any computers they have at home.”

Teachers will be working to decide how best to integrate the new devices into the classroom before the first day of school.

“Of course we’re not going to be replacing textbooks one hundred percent with the Chromebooks, but they’ll definitely be added as a supplement to what’s being taught in the classroom,” added Skewis.

“We’re very good at blending our instruction and know the value of being outdoors — hands-on — that sort of learning also,” Lakeview Principal Julie Peterson said.

Skewis added that the new equipment could allow them to transfer some of the technology they previously had at Lakeview to other schools in the district in the future.