This is an excellent post (also in Iserotope Extras!) from Steve Philp about why Chromebooks are so great in classrooms. His point is that they’re “faceless” — in other words, they’re about student learning rather than the sexiness (and expense) of the device.
Mr. Philp writes:
I wish they had more shiny about them. If only they were more complex or more difficult to setup – for example if they took a good day of technician time to setup , then, at the least, the technician would know about them. But no. Not Chromebooks. They just work. The kids use them. For learning. Boring really. There’s nothing else to say.
via frogphilp.com
Tablets (iPads, Android tablets, Microsoft Surfaces) are too expensive and gadgety to work in classrooms. Chromebooks work and they’re cheap. Yes, you need a wireless connection, a huge block for many schools. But once that happens, a lot of purposeful learning can go on without too much unnecessary fanfare.