Rochester City School District teaches students lifelong technology skills using Google for Education tools

The ability to collaborate, receive immediate feedback and conduct research for a long paper are skills you need in business and college. We’re teaching students not only how to get through their class, but how to use technology to work in a more efficient and collaborative way.

Randy Schenk, instructional technology teacher at Rochester City School District

Challenge

Rochester City School District wanted to move away from Microsoft Office and use technology that better fit their needs. The schools mainly used laptop carts to access web-based content and wanted devices built for creating and consuming content on the web. The district needed a solution that would encourage collaboration among students and teachers, regardless of their location.

Solution

Rochester City School District introduced Google Apps for Education and 7,000 Chromebooks in 2014 as part of an effort to refresh its technology solutions. The district chose Chromebooks for their collaboration features, quick startup time and long battery life. The schools also rolled out Google Classroom during the same school year. A majority of schools in the district use Chromebooks in a cart model, but three high schools and two elementary schools provide students with 1:1 Chromebook use any time they’re at school. Within the next couple of years, every classroom will be outfitted with Chromebook carts.