Within the first two months of school, Rogers High School has already dealt with dozens of Chromebook issues between both students and staff. With every student’s password being reset at the start of this year, the library has faced more Chromebook-related problems than they have in years past. Between mechanical issues and students simply forgetting their passwords, the librarians have seen many students walking in with a Chromebook in hand.

“We have definitely had more Chromebook issues this year than we have had in the past,” said Hallie Jarvis, library media specialist.

With the addition of Minga, special Chromebooks have had to be programmed to only allow the software. Additionally, librarians have seen many mechanical issues that should have been fixed long before the Chromebooks were checked out to students.

“When we check Chromebooks in the spring, the students powerwash them, they clean them, we double check all that. We check and make sure that the screen comes on, that the mouse works, that the keys are all in good condition, and then if things are broken, there’s a form for us. Technicians work on that in the summer, but this year, more of the ones that we passed out to students have problems and we didn’t really understand why, because the ones we checked in should have been in good shape. The ones that we repaired over the summer should have been in good shape,” Jarvis said.

While many students have been having problems remembering their passwords, not everyone is bothered by the changes.

“It affected me at first. I was like, ‘Oh! I can’t get into anything,’ but once I got it, it was fine,” said Addison Jones, 12.

To handle the influx of Chromebooks needing repairs, the librarians have a designated area for any Chromebooks that need repairs, allowing for students to trade theirs in if it has a mechanical problem.

“We typically have that shelf so when a student comes in and their cursor doesn’t work, that’s a problem that we go ahead and switch them out for. We always have that shelf over there because we leave those for our tech person to fix, and so he knows those are the broken ones. But normally, we do not have to use all three shelves,” said Jarvis.