According to the IDC’s latest report on tablets and notebooks for K-12 education, Chromebooks are the best-selling category of devices. Google said that students and teachers like Chromebooks for three main reasons:
Easy to use. From the very beginning, Chrome OS has been about simplicity and ease of use. Everyone knows how to use a browser, and Chrome OS is designed to function primarily within the browser. This makes it ideal for both students and teachers.
Easy to share. Chrome OS makes it easy to switch between multiple accounts with no hassle. The fact that most user data is hosted on third-party cloud services makes it easier still to share these devices with other students. If the devices get lost or broken, the data is safe in the cloud, and the users can access it on other Chromebooks or any other Internet-capable devices.
Easy to manage. This is a boon for schools, because they need to be able to manage hundreds or thousands of devices at once. Google has made it easy to do so remotely, in part because IT admins don't have to install apps on every single device.
Although Chromebooks are great products on their own, Google seems to have played a major role in convincing so many schools to adopt Chromebooks as their tool of choice in education. Chromebooks have been relatively successful in other areas as well, including the consumer market, where they are seeing a steady rise in popularity, but the education sector remains by far the most approachable by the company.
In addition to rapid popularity growth in the U.S. education sector, Chromebooks are also gaining ground in other countries abroad. Malaysia, for example, uses Chromebooks for its entire national school system. Google said that it will host the Global Education Symposium this week, where education ministers from 18 countries will participate. This seems like another great opportunity for Google to convince even more countries to adopt Chromebooks for their schools.
A combination of low price, simplicity, product quality, enhanced security, a move towards cloud computing, and Google’s own Education-related services and apps has led to Chromebooks becoming so successful in this market.
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