DepEd officially enlists Google Chromebooks as among suitable devices for K12 public schools

Chromebooks have been added to the list of devices that can be provided or donated to public schools, teachers and learners. This was said by the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Office of the Undersecretary for Administration (OUA), through the Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS), in a recent memorandum.

This means that local government units supporting DepEd can now acquire Chromebooks using their Special Education Fund (SEF) and donate them to public schools in their areas to support the new learning requirements brought by the pandemic. As of 2021, there are 146 cities and 1,488 municipalities who have SEFs. Aside from LGUs, this memo is also applicable to NGOs and other organizations supporting DepEd and education initiatives.

Chromebooks will “help facilitate distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic” and “ensure dependability of devices in the conduct of face-to-face in the future”, the DepEd noted in the memorandum

Chromebooks are a range of affordable, simple yet powerful devices with built-in accessibility and security features to promote collaboration, deepen classroom connections and keep user information safe. They run on Google’s Chrome OS, an operating system that runs in the cloud to create a secure, reliable machine with a user-friendly interface. As Chromebooks are web-based, all apps and documents are stored securely in the cloud, enabling users to work or teach from anywhere. Chromebooks also have an offline mode to allow teachers and students to keep working even without an internet connection, as well as built-in accessibility features that let everyone participate without barriers. Chromebooks pair seamlessly with Google Workspace for Education to create an all-in-one device that offers a totally comprehensive teaching and learning environment.

Chromebooks are currently being used by millions of educators and learners worldwide. In the Philippines, brands that carry Chrome devices for education are Acer, Asus, HP and Lenovo.