More and more students have begun to use their Macbooks instead of their Chromebooks at school.

“I don’t like the Chromebook because it’s slow, heavy and not as good as the Mac overall,” senior Will Richmond said.

Even though Macbooks are more powerful and weigh less than Chromebooks, the school cannot allow students to bring Macbooks,Director of Instructional Technology Stephanie Griffin said.

“When you allow students to bring their own device it creates a lot of complexity and inequity in the classroom,” Griffin said.

According to one of the school’s technology surveys, 65 percent of students share devices at home, so another challenge with a “bring your own device” policy is many families would have to buy more computers for their children to use, Griffin said.

Chromebooks also take about a quarter of the time to set up for students and cost significantly less than Macbooks, Griffin said.

When a student is using a Macbook, the teacher can only see what they are doing on their Chrome browser, and the school’s web filters do not work on Macbooks, Griffin said.

“Chromebooks allow the school district to put on different filters for the elementary schools, middle school, high school, and students who abuse the internet,” Griffin said.

Senior Drew Lalli does not like the Chromebook’s keyboard, so he brings his Macbook instead. Lalli has talked to his teachers about using his Macbook instead of his Chromebook in class, and all of his teachers are okay with him using the Macbook.

Mac user and sophomore Diana Lim suggested that the school updates the Chromebooks, because some of the newer Chromebooks are thinner and faster.

Griffin said the school would be willing to do a student focus group to hear what students want to be changed.  This could improve the network speeds to make the Chromebooks faster for the students.