In a bid to fine-tune the learning and educational possibilities in the ecosystem, Google has announced the availability of 40 new Chromebook models in 2021 along with the Chrome OS features to fully leverage the capability of the hardware. Remote learning is still the norm in pandemic hit times and Google wants to build on its success of affordable learning-oriented Chromebooks in the last year or so when remote learning has been a key factor in keeping things on track in tough times.
Latest Chromebooks for better education
One feature that stands out in the new batch of Chromebooks is the built-in screen recording tool. It lets the students and teachers record lessons or reports, and the new feature is coming to the Chrome OS next month.
Not much detail is known yet about the Chromebooks other than that there’ll be convertibles loaded with stylus touchscreen and dual cameras. This will help in creating content or record screencasts as seamlessly as possible.
These Chromebooks will have Google Meet and Zoom pre-loaded with the option to have LTE for use on mobile network. One key focus is the inclusion of accessibility features for disabled students.
Google Workspace for Education
In conjunction with the latest lineup of economical Chromebooks, Google is also bringing the refreshed Google Workspace for Education. Google brought Workspace to the office apps suite but now it gets a new name – Google Workspace for Education Plus.
Earlier there was unlimited storage for qualifying institutions, but that’ll change next year. Schools will come under the baseline of 100TB pooled storage as new policy comes into effect in July 2022.
New features are also coming in the form of Google Meet videoconferencing service that’ll aid in better virtual learning. You’ll be able to mute everyone on-call or end the session for attendees. Emoji reactions will arrive in August for Meet users – another thing to look out for.
Along with that the meeting transcripts launching for education and enterprise Meet customers is also coming later this year. There will be changes in the way how Meet lets users join a session – for example, students will only be able to join Meet calls after the teacher has joined in.
Support for new features such as third-party add-on support and offline support for Classroom Android app is also coming. Together the Chromebook line-up and the Google Workspace for Education is going to change the way online education is approached – making it more practical and easy to use.
