Touch on a Chromebook? Android Apps on a Chromebook?
As a Christmas present I decided to buy (ie. give myself!) the latest Acer Chromebook offering, the touchscreen, convertible 13", 4GB RAM, 1080p. As it is yet to be released in Australia, eBay was my friend, along with a US to AUS power adapter.
With my education hat on, I thought I'd review the 2 main features that are of interest to schools....touchscreen & Android Apps (Google Play Store).
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Look a bit familiar? MacBook Air anyone?
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Volume control (handy to have on the side when being used as a tablet)
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| Ports: USB C port (next gen power and data transfer), HDMI, USB 3.0 & MicroSD) |
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| Speakers on either side at the front. |
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| Laptop mode |
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| "Watching movie" mode |
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| Tent mode! |
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| "Look...I'm a tablet" mode |
Play Store & Android Apps
The Play Store on Chromebooks is in beta and therefore the Chrome OS had to be changed from "stable" to "beta" in order for it to be available. It then appeared as a pinned app on the shelf for easy access. When adding apps from the Play store they appear among your existing collection of Chrome apps, with no distinguishing label to know which are Chrome and which are Android. E.g. I added the Socrative Android App and the icon appears identical to the Socrative Chrome app- not ideal. I had a play with a number of apps and found that most open in a small window only a fraction of the size of the screen (see below):
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| Brain Dots- a puzzle game (Play Store App) crashed when I tried to maximise the window. |
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| Scratch Jr (Play Store App) could be maximised but has no functional benefit over the Chrome App. |
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Magisto (Play Store App) could not be maximised in landscape mode but if you flipped to tablet mode and held it in portrait, it could be resized to fit the screen. But again, there is a web version of Magisto that has better functionality anyhow.
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It is clearly in beta mode and these Android apps have not been designed for Chromebook resolution and even warn "This app may not work when resized". Many Android apps I would be tempted to use in upper primary/early secondary have web based (or Chrome App) equivalents that are superior to use with a screen & keyboard. Examples of Android apps that are best left to the Chrome versions include G Suite (Classroom, Drive, Docs etc.), WeVideo, Scratch, Khan Academy, Socrative.
So when might Android/Play Store Apps be desirable?
If we turn our attention to junior school apps that are designed for touch & low level literacy (e.g. simple counting, handwriting, letter and sound recognition) then Android apps on a touch Chromebook become a rather appealing offering. Particularly when you are then comparing directly with an iPad, the dual functionality is a real game changer. The fact that a touch screen/convertible Chromebook could act as tablet when required and yet be readily flipped to become a fully functioning laptop as students learning needs progress gives it excellent credibility as an education device.
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| Handwriting app opens in small window but can be resized when device is in tablet mode and portrait (see below for how it looks when it's full screen) |
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A human body app (above) would have no web/Chrome equivalent and therefore only accessible through Play Store and touch devices.
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Another consideration is the greater push for coding and robotics often requires the use of a specialised iOS or Android app (e.g. Spheros). These robotic devices would be a perfect example as to why a touchscreen Chromebook with Android compatibility would be a very suitable device for primary schools. As currently our Grade 5/6 students have non-touch Chromebooks and therefore need to access tablets/iPads in order to work with app specific robotics.
To touch or not?
As I've discussed, much of the everyday work done by students in middle/upper primary & secondary (G Suite, web browsing, multimedia creation) is better suited to web-based (Chrome) apps and therefore I don't feel that touch would be used widely, if at all. On the other hand, if you are planning for the future of Chromebooks and the compatibility with the Play Store, then touch is crucial. Android apps are obviously designed for phones and tablets and therefore to operate with a mouse/touchpad would generally be futile. In junior years, when keyboarding is a foreign concept, the ability to integrate touch apps as they learn to type, would be of great benefit...how many times have you seen a little Prep student reach out and touch a laptop screen only to realise it's not like their iPad at home! So in short, if you intend to use the Android Apps, then touch is a must. If you intend to just use Chrome, then touch can be left off your wish list.
Where's the camera?
Yes, there is obviously a built in web cam on this device (selfies anyone??) but if we are considering replacing iPads then how can a student walk out to the school garden to photograph a ladybug for her minibeasts investigation if the camera is only facing back at the user. So when this device flips to tablet mode there is not a camera facing away from the user! Sort this out please Acer and other manufacturers competing for the school $$$. I like Lenovo's current Chromebook N22 model as, although it's not touch, it has a reversible camera to allow students to take photos facing away from themselves.
Where to from here?
With the addition of the Google Play Store, undoubtedly more manufacturers are going to enter the touch & convertible Chromebook market. So far only Lenovo have dabbled in the market with their Thinkpad Yoga Chromebook (not really available anymore from my quick search) and this Acer model R13 (only available in the US). I'm looking forward to student-centric designed Chromebooks (rugged casing, waterproof keyboards) with touch and convertibility being prevalent and bringing pricing to a point where schools can jump on board.
What Android apps (that aren't available on the web/Chrome) are you excited about having access to with the new Play Store Chromebook compatibility?
Love to hear your thoughts, opinions, experiences regarding all things aforementioned....leave comments below :)
