3 Ways School IT Teams can Better Manage Chromebooks

Chromebooks in education is continuing to grow. School districts have come to rely on Google Workspace for Education for student safety and success. There are a wide array of Chrome OS devices, and K-12 schools focus on choosing the best devices that will suite their needs. Schools look for things like screen size, touch capabilities, ruggedization and cost.

However, when it comes down to managing thousands of Chromebooks, IT teams in K-12 environments are often understaffed and can use all the help they can get. Two tools that offer that help include the Chrome Education Upgrade license and the Google Admin console.

These two tools allow IT teams to monitor, control, secure and curate the environment that students and teachers use on a daily basis. This centralized administration lets IT professionals configure and support thousands of Chromebooks across a school district or institution from a single interface, often times without having to actually physically visit the school.

Here are 3 ways that IT teams can use the Google Admin console to manage Chromebooks more easily:

Familiarize yourself with Google Admin Console Controls

Once a school district purchases their Chromebooks, the IT team begins the process of linking them to their Google Workspace environment. Once complete, devices can be managed with operating system updates, sign-in security, integration with other IT systems, and accessibility from a single point in the Admin console for all Chromebooks. In the console, IT teams can enable or disable devices when they need to, or take remote control, to troubleshoot or help guide users through an issue.

The console also provides deep and granular user-level settings. This allows IT teams to provide students with access to applications, tools, websites and printers.

IT teams can also control and secure the environment to keep students safe online without distraction. The controls are helpful when seasonal standardized testing occurs. IT teams can remotely configure Chromebooks to automatically launch the testing application.

Remotely Configure Apps and Extensions

IT teams can also use Chrome user and browser settings to configure apps and extensions, which are then delivered to the student’s Chromebook.

School IT departments can also use the Google Admin console to provide settings for delivering resources like bookmarks and webpages, without teachers and students having to search for them.

Increase Security with Google’s Control Settings

With over 70% of school districts not having a full-time employee dedicated to network security, IT teams should turn its attention to the security and control settings in the Google Admin console.

One recommendation is to remove access to Incognito Mode for students to prevent them from browsing the internet in an untracked space. Keeping browser history on and available ensures IT teams will be able to find information for school administrators if they need it.

Another feature that can be turned on by the console is Safe Search. Doing so will remove inappropriate search results from a students’ view. Pairing Safe Search with an always-open browser history prevents students from browsing to malware or malicious websites, helping to keep non-Chrome OS devices safer and cleaner.

Districts can also enforce Restricted Mode on YouTube for all devices in Chrome user settings. This prevents students from watching inappropriate content and gives teachers the ability to approve curriculum-appropriate content as needed.

Google Workspace for Education admins can play a pivotal role in supporting staff and students. By taking advantage of some of the more advanced features of the Google Admin console, they can share the appropriate tools needed for collaboration, security, removing distractions, and managing updates and accessibility.

Story via EdTech Magazine