The South Whidbey School District Board of Directors approved an initiative this month to supply Chromebooks for every occupied classroom for the 2015-16 school year.

To ensure equity of access to technology, to promote personalized learning, and to prepare for online testing for Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the district moved forward with providing Chromebooks based on a ratio of 30 units per classroom.

The school district ordered 900 units of the 11-inch standard format Chromebooks.

The district had already purchased 400 Chromebooks prior to the initiative’s approval, which were used by students and staff in order to receive feedback on the longevity and usefulness of the product.

Costing $250 per unit — half of what an iPad costs, which is what much of the district was using — the Chromebooks will offer far more features and flexibility in their usage, according to school officials.

Each classroom will have a mobile cart that contains 30 Chromebooks.

“It puts the power of the computer into the students’ hands and the teachers’ hands,” said Tom Atkins, South Whidbey School District Technology Operations director.

The idea behind the initiative was a collaborative effort between Atkins, Superintendent Jo Moccia, and Director of South Whidbey Academy David Pfeiffer.

“As we reviewed the costs of total ownership for the iPads, we came to the realization that we had a gap in our curriculum in our typing skills and that the costs wasn’t sustainable over time,” Atkins said. “If we wanted to develop a 1:1 ratio, we couldn’t afford it.”

“The biggest benefit is collaboration. The teacher can collaborate with the student whether they’re in their classroom or not,” he added. “They can collaborate via the Google Apps we’ve deployed or operation tools.”