This week at Bett, one of the world’s leading education technology conferences, Google demoed two new Chromebook models with next generation features designed to address the needs of schools using G Suite for Education which now have more than 70 million active users!
The Acer Chromebook Spin 11 and the Asus Chromebook C213 offer users the versatility of having a desktop and an Android tablet with these new unique features:
- Stylus Capability: Both devices come with an intelligent, low-cost pen resembling a #2 pencil for easier note-taking and drawing.
- World-Facing Camera: A special camera placed on the keyboard side so when the Chromebook is flipped, it holds just like a tablet and students can now take photos from all directions.
- USB-C charging: All 2017 Chromebook models going forward will have standard super-fast USB-C charging.
- Android apps: In the coming weeks, administrators will be able to create a library of approved Android apps and install them on select managed Chromebook devices. Here’s the current list of Chromebook models that can support Android apps.
With Android apps now available on Chromebooks plus the introduction of stylus pens on newer models, this opens up new possibilities on how students and educators use their devices.
Searchable Handwritten Notes
New generation Chromebooks uses an input prediction model built upon Google’s machine learning technology, which makes writing on these devices extremely responsive. Combine it with apps with Optical Character Recognition capabilities such as Google Keep, going through your notes is as easy as doing a Google search.
Classroom web version or Android app in one device!
Google Classroom works on all Chromebook devices so students and educators can collaborate and stay organized. This setup works so well when dealing with documents and multimedia content.
With the help of a stylus-enabled device and the Classroom Android app, students can solve math equations by hand or sketch diagrams and other visuals for a project directly in the Classroom app.
Adobe Creative Cloud apps
To provide further creative options for students and get the most of the stylus and world-facing camera, creative Android apps from Adobe optimized for Chromebooks will be available for free download.
As Chromebooks continue to become the device of choice for education, expect to have an even wider variety of applications and Chrome OS devices in the future including detachables and tablets.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 11 and the Asus Chromebook C213 are scheduled to be released late spring. You can check out new Chromebooks at http://google.com/edu/chromebook.
