by Chase Spencer

A debate that has been going on for two years now has finally come to a close. The technology department at PCM has made the final decision to recommend to the school board to continue the one-to-one computer program with Chromebooks. The one-to-one program is a program that guarantees a computer for each student from grades 6-12. The program with the MacBooks that the school has used for two, four-year terms will end this year, so options have been explored and Chromebooks are the best option.

Technology director Sean Balzer said, “PCM has implemented the one-to-one program for eight years now. Eight years gives you plenty of time and opportunity to learn what works with technology in education and what doesn’t. I feel Google has really listened to educators and their needs for what works in the classroom. They also offer services that usually are high cost such as cloud storage, emails directory service and word processing apps free to education.”

According to Balzer more factors have been considered with the Chromebooks than before, and durability was a deciding factor that favored the Chromebooks.

“The less repairs we have, the more time the technology department has for other tasks in the district. Cheaper repair bills for parents has always been the goal and hopefully the computers will survive those accidental drops from students.”

The second factor, the technology department has considered are the features and capabilities that the computers can give to the PCM School District. Again, Chromebooks come out on top in this category.

“Four years is a long time in technology. New features and capabilities for any computer will develop over this time. My goal is to make sure PCM is purchasing a computer that can provide the latest features to improve the classroom experience more than we have over the past four years.”

If approved, these computers will be given to students at the start of the 2018-2019 school year.