Tech savvy from the techno challenged - Parents and the evolving world of school....

      Welcome to the new age of technological ease! 

   When your kid started school this fall, did you find yourself suddenly awash in tech overload? Were you suddenly faced with special calculators, Chrome Books or tablets and about a thousand new school alerts that you needed to sign up for (not to mention the ones you needed to drop from last year)? Did your kids suddenly start sharing documents, collaborating with others and tell you that they "need" a smart phone to text their friends? Did the school require you to register and pay fees on line? And was there and unusual absence of notes from the teacher coming home?

   Take a deep breath and slowly let it out. You are not alone. Even some of the most tech savvy parents around have been taken aback at the pace that things are changing. That probably won't help steel your nerves or clear your head, but it might give you some air. If you are like me, without a degree in computer technology, you probably needed some air.

   School are starting to use more and more technology as part of the curriculum. Kids are starting to access technology at younger and younger ages and need access to tablets and computers to complete assignments.... but it is not consistent and seems a bit haphazard.

 

 My Jr. High daughter has a Chrome Book issued from school. We signed all kinds of consent forms and offered up our limbs and copious amounts of blood should something happen to the device. A device we knew very little about, except that it would be our daughter's responsibility to keep charged and in good health. Neither of the High School nephews have one issued from their school, which right now is probably a pretty good thing, since right now I don't know where we would plug in all these devices at night to charge. It seems at the high school they have books and papers. You know, old fashioned open 'em up and read 'em books. Although much of their homework is supposed to happen on a computer, like watching video assignments on YouTube, turning in papers by sharing with the teacher, researching global economy via articles and checking out the latest in War Hammer models... Did I miss something? Why don't the older kids have a Chromebook? Heck, I will plug it in at the neighbor's house if I have to! We have one computer in the house for the kids to use. And it is an older one that works a bit slower than the newer models. It is in the study with a large monitor that faces the door. I won't share my laptop.

   That is my work tool. They would have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. And quite possibly even then, they may not be successful. If you have ever had malware corrupt two months worth of work, you get this. It also explains why I am adamant about backing everything up on a cloud. If the cloud burns down, I can be mad, but at least it won't be directed at my family.

   I digress.

   Turns out our daughter has a Chromebook and the boys do not mostly due to funding. Okay, I guess I get that. Too bad there isn't an offer for parents to purchase Chromebooks thru the school for the high school kids at a group rate. I would do so in a heartbeat! I will have to suggest this. I am sure my suggestions will make me popular. I am sometimes a very popular person. In the meantime our nephews alternate between the computers at school and our "vintage" computer here. And our daughter will use a Chromebook...whatever that is. Neither myself nor my friends had a clear idea of what a Chromebook was and we were concerned about giving our children laptops to go surfing the world wide web.

   Thank heavens that the school had a parent session to explain Chromebooks. and thank heavens for the world wide web. Cause now I know the difference between a Chromebook an a Laptop. If you want a quick break down...

• Laptops use operating systems like Windows or Mac. 
• Laptops have software and apps stored on the device
• You can install programs, such as Word, Excel, and photo programs
• You can put things on the desktop
• Laptops are meant to be used both on and off the internet
• Battery life can vary depending on price range and specs and programs used.
• Much stored on the device
• Subject to security threats, you will need anti-virus to defend yourself from virus infections and malware
• Price can vary greatly
• Laptops get slower the older they get
• May not update automatically
• Software can be costly, unless freeware - 

Chromebooks

• Chromebooks operate using the Google Operating System
• Chromebooks store software and data on a cloud
• Chromebooks are meant to be used on the internet
• Unable to load programs like Word, Excel, and photo programs. 
• You cannot really put anything on the desktop
• Battery life typically fantastic. Remember, much of the programs used are online, doesn't use as much of the battery to operate.
• Secure - won't need anti-virus software. Practically immune to virus infections and malware
• Price generally cheaper than laptops!
• Chromebooks do not get slower as they age. This is because there is relatively little on them
• Chromebooks are the fastest on the market - especially considering their price point.
• Update automatically
• Zero software cost

   Feel smarter? Yeah, me too. And our school has the kids set up on school accounts which can restrict and monitor their movement. There are features that are readily available in a regular Google account that they don't have. So they can do their homework with relative safety, not use my precious laptop, not complain about the "old computer," and I can feel somewhat comfortable and work on keeping up with school alerts and calendars and stuff.

   Now I was left to update my school alerts and load the band calendar onto my Google calendar. With technology the school uses - like websites and the new mobile web site this is supposed to be easy. Unfortunately the school mobile site don't exactly mirror the regular website. Some stuff is missing and some stuff is not configured so that you can actually get at it. I made this discovery at the dentist office. With a hectic schedule, you do things when you can! First I decided to load the band calendar onto my Google calendar using the button provided to do this on the mobile site. Unfortunately other site text overlay the button, so I could not get it to work. Since that did not work, I tried the family access to set up alerts from the school and teachers. Hmmmm, no link on the mobile site. I went to the full web site and I could access it there - albeit a very tiny tiny version on my very tiny phone screen. I wear glasses to read, NOT magnifiers! Yes, I know, I could do all this later on that fabulous lap top that I won't share, but I had the time now!
 
    Frustrated, I put off what I could have been doing in the "now" to that "later" time I hoped to have free. While making dinner, I had the tablet out for a recipe, so while the food was simmering, I tried to pull up the school mobile site on the tablet. Bigger screen, same issues! And what about my friends? The ones who relied on their phones and tablets? Who only have an old rickety computer, if any at all? I called the school next day and sometime in the following week, the issue was corrected. Yay.
 
    About two weeks later, my fellow parents and I came across the same issue accessing documents for a school based event - I let the school know again and again they fixed, but again I lost the available time I had to review the documents. So we are getting there. Slowly. With a big learning curve. My worry is when we get around this curve that everything will change again and we have to learn all over again.

Wasn't technology supposed to make our lives easier?

Perhaps I will figure that out when I figure out the War Hammer homework...