(April 2, 2013) — Clark is always updating and making it easier for students to have access to technology. However, with the economy being the way it is, updating technology is sometimes difficult. That is why Humanities teacher Chris Davis recently worked with a nonprofit organization called Donors Choose to raise money for 20 Chromebook computers.

Last year, Davis was able to collect enough donations for the Humanities and Publications classes to get eight voice recorders for projects and interviews. Through the Donors Choose website, people can make donations starting from just one dollar. Any teacher can use this website for free. The teacher posts a “funding goal,” which is the amount of money that needs to be raised. When the goal is reached, the materials are shipped to the school.

According to data given on their site, 70% of the projects have been successful so far. The Humanities class has made use of the computers a few times so far, using Google Presentation and Quizlet. Davis said that having the Chromebooks in the classroom since mid-February has allowed students to more effectively interact with the content they are learning since the information is right at their fingertips.

Chromebooks seem to have had a positive impact in the Humanities classes because of their ease of use and compact sizes. “The [Chromebooks] are kind of cool,” said sophomore Marianna Petrosyan. “They’re tiny and easy to use. They’re also faster and easier to pass around. It’d be cool for each student to have one rather than doing everything on paper.” Aside from the fact that they are easy to move around and their speed, there are other reasons as to why students like using them.

“They are better to use because it is a lot closer and more interactive,” said sophomore Kristin Dermenjian. “Whenever we do use them we do fun activities, so it’s better than listening to a lecture.” Other than the Humanities students, students in Publications also use the Chromebooks. With just 20 desktop computers available, students sometimes struggle finding a computer to work on.

The Chromebooks allow students in Publications to move around and sit wherever there is quiet to get work done since they do not have to sit in the cluster of computers in one area of the class. “The Chromebooks are portable which I like because I can go sit near the window and work on my own and it helps me focus because it’s away from all the noise,” said junior Tatyana Aposhian. The only challenge about these Chromebooks, according to Davis, is that they work through wi-fi, which is not always reliable.

They also do not provide any of the software that the traditional school computers have, such as InDesign or Microsoft Office. “For anything involving the Internet or editing stories they are a lot better than traditional computers,” Burstein said. Other than that, students seem to be liking the lightweight computers, along with the fact that they are very easily portable.