In a push to make West Bloomfield even more technologically advanced, the district and its administrators have kicked off the 2014-2015 school year with handing out Google Chromebook computers to students. They are moving class instructions and assignments online, and if a student does not possess the technology to access it, they let students rent out Chromebooks. According to BestBuy.com, the Samsung Chromebooks the majority of students are being assigned are upwards of $230.

The district is also assigned every student an e-mail account associated with the West Bloomfield School District so they can join different topics such as Google Classroom or Google Drive– different apps that help students communicate with teachers and complete their assignments electronically.

The demand for Chromebooks was very high; after the first week of school, students who wanted Chromebooks were allowed to rent them out, but could not acquire a case to their laptops because the school ran out. Mr. Steven Palizzi, the staff member responsible for administering the computers, had a small kiosk outside of the media center for the first two weeks of school welcoming students in for technology help.

As with any new endeavor, there have been a few bumps in the road. “For the first week of having my Chromebook, it would not even connect to the internet,” said senior Emerson Lawrey, “I was missing assignments. Then I took my Chromebook to the help desk and Mr. Palizzi got it working for me.”

Overall, the change in technology at West Bloomfield has seemingly been a success. Said sophomore Nichelle Clark, “Chromebooks are fun and they’re better than using paper. It’s easier for me to get my homework done in class.”

Teachers use the computers to put assignments online for students to complete by a certain deadline. “We’ve been turning in homework on our computers,” said Clark, “We have also been playing games and taking quizzes with them.”