New Chromebook Policy Creates Wave of Change at DVC

With new protocols being created at the start of the school year due to Covid-19, DVC has shocked its students with a new Chromebook policy. 

Students at DVC may either bring their personal laptops or use the Chromebooks provided at school. They can now request a “homebook” which will be for home use only. At school, Chromebooks are issued when needed in the classroom, these laptops are used for up to three to four classes each day. In each class, there is an estimate of 25-30 students, and more than half of the class touches the Chromebooks. The main concern is whether students are washing/sanitizing their hands.

Assistant Principal Daramola at DVC helped design this new policy after years of the old one. However, there are still questions concerning the new Chromebook policy and why it was created. 

“So the new Chromebook policy was created for a couple different reasons. One, we noted that we want to make sure that students have access to Chromebooks both at school and at home,” Daramola said.

He felt as though the old policy had created more damages to the Chromebooks that each student was assigned to.

“There’s a lot of damage that happens and unfortunately, I think there was some intentional damage as well,” Daramola stated. 

Sharing Chromebooks at school with over a hundred students every day could create some health/Covid concerns. Most don’t know if students are constantly sanitizing their hands, washing them, or know if Chromebooks are being wiped down after students are done using them. 

“Knowing what we now know about Covid-19, it’s spread on primarily airborne and not through surfaces. Originally that is something that of course has to be considered but once again, I do not believe that students are going to be unduly exposed by sharing Chromebooks,” Daramola said. 

According to an article by the New York Times called “What’s the Risk of Catching Coronavirus From a Surface?,” it has been proven that surfaces can contain and spread Covid-19 but not as effectively as airborne spread. It is still important to wipe down surfaces due to not knowing whether the person before you sanitized/washed their hands. 

At DVC, teachers do not require students to wipe down their Chromebooks and barely tell students to sanitize their hands. Knowing this can cause some worry if students are safe or not. Returning students were used to having their own Chromebooks and are skeptical of the new change.

Nicholas Chaidez is a senior at DVC and has been used to having his personal Chromebook since freshman year. He felt that he was more coordinated before than he is now.

“I feel like the new Chromebook policy is childish and a waste of time. I felt much more organized and clean when we used our own Chromebooks,” Chaidez said.

“I was able to set up my bookmarks and tabs in a way where I organized the assignments by order of importance and due date. Now, I can’t do this because I have to log into a new Chromebook each class,” Chaidez said.

With the new school year just starting, it is going to take some time for the students to get adjusted to this new system. Having to log into a new laptop each class, sanitizing their hands frequently, and wiping down the surfaces.

 The good news is that the new “homebooks” have been distributed for students to use at home. Though once they’re in school, students continue to share Chromebooks not knowing who might’ve been the last person using them.