Google's Playing Monoply

If Google isn't a monopoly then I don't know what is. At first, they were a search engine. Now, they're everywhere. They're a search engine, computer OS, word processing office platform, file share center, and cloud computing mega-giant. You can't think Internet or do anything on the Internet without Google. In many ways Google is synonymous with the Internet. This is one of those things where I don't have a problem with their monopoly...as long as they don't turn into "big brother".

Chromebooks has got to be one of their best brainchild devices. I think it's revolutionizing computers in the classroom. You need a computer for school? No problem, get a Chromebook. It's affordable, it's sleek, it's lightweight, and it will do most everything you need it to do. Considering that most of what we do in the classroom is now online why would we need a more expensive laptop to do the same thing that we can do on a Chromebook? That doesn't make financial sense.

I work in a small private Christian school and we have a small budget to work with. So from our standpoint, using Chromebooks makes sense. We don't have to shell out big bucks for site licenses for operating systems, programs to install individually on each computer/laptop, server computer and software to run the computers/laptop on the network. And, let's not forget having to purchase and install anti-virus software...and having to pay someone to monitor and maintain the computers/laptops. Strictly from a financial viewpoint, Chromebooks are the way to go and the possibility of there being a one to one ratio of Chromebooks to students is much greater.

Chromebooks in the classroom allow the students to go online and do almost everything they need to do. Need a word processor, use Google docs. This simple program rivals Microsoft Word and even my favourite Pages on Mac OS. Need a spreadsheet program, Google sheets. Need a slide PowerPoint type of program, Google Slides. The functionality of these Google programs/software is all most students need. For these reasons alone Chromebooks is the way to go in a school setting.

The biggest disadvantage to using Chrombooks is that they're not specialized to do anything else. If I want to teach a photography class where students get to manipulate pictures using photo editing software, I couldn't do that with a Chrombook. There are apps that I can download but their functionality is limited. Same goes for if I wanted to to teach a film making class, I wouldn't use a Chromebook. I'd rather use an iPad, MacBook or another laptop.

Considering that almost everything is utilizing either cloud computing or Web 2.0, the need to using anything else is limited.