New Chromebook Strategies for Schools

Speaker A: I do think we're seeing what I would say is more student fluency, uh, with using devices at a much earlier age, uh, which allows them to focus on the learning as opposed to the device, which is just a conduit.

Speaker B: Hello and welcome to episode 42 of Education Excellence. I'm Michael Evan Epstein and I'm the creator, producer and host of this podcast. For those of you who might be new to the podcast, Education Excellence is a safe, nonpartisan national forum for discussing complicated, uh, cutting edge issues in education. We provide real life examples of actions you can take every day to solve the problems that you face every day. Today we're going to discuss one of the most important issues in this space. What's new and exciting in the world of Chromebooks? This issue is important to so many of you educators, parents and students alike on the K to 12 level. And fortunately, we have just the right guests to guide us in our journey today. So let's meet them right now. Up, uh, first is Michelle Manson. Michelle brings more than 20 years of award winning marketing expertise in the technology industry. Previously, with both larger technology companies and smaller edtech firms, she's helped to drive brand awareness and demand every day at her new position at ctl. Welcome to Education Excellence, Michelle.

Speaker C: Thank you. We're really glad to be here.

Speaker B: Also joining us today is Jason Mendenhall. Jason brings a strong background in the education technology area and a successful track record for scaling companies. He started out as a teacher and has previously led product teams at Mind Research Institute and nwea where he developed and then delivered successful programs for millions of learners. Today he's the CEO of uh, ctl, guiding the transformation from a hardware manufacturer to a complete technology life cycle provider. Welcome to Education Excellence, Jason.

Speaker A: Thank you, Michael. It's an honor to be here.

Speaker B: So the question for both of you I'd like to begin with is that CTL has, uh, been a boutique manufacturer of Chromebooks for over a decade. What are some of the new directions the company is taking or will be taking as we head into and are now in 2026?

Speaker A: Yeah, thank you, Michael. It's a great question. Uh, I've been CEO at CTL for just over a year now, and we're really moving into significant expansion mode. And we're doing that in several trajectories. Uh, the first one is focusing on more services. What we've recognized over the years is that schools don't just need devices, but they need the services that support those devices to make sure that kids are able to learn anytime, anywhere, and so we've expanded from just being a Chromebook manufacturer to not only focusing on making great Chromebooks, but offering more services to help our customers with their entire technology lifecycle journey. So we like to think of it as, uh, taking care of your technology all the way through the beginning of purchase through responsible recycling and destruction of data and devices. Uh, we've spent the last year building new capabilities and we're excited to bring those to market in 2026. Uh, we're also bringing new devices to the table. CTL is providing our own branded Chromebooks and multiple models for students and teachers. However, this year we'll be bringing in complementary models of other brands as well. And that really allows us to focus on what is the best solution for every customer. One example, uh, is that we'll be able to bring Lenovo Chrome OS tablets with detachable keyboards. And so that's something that customers could not have gotten from CTL in the past that they'll be able to get now. Uh, and then the third thing is we're really focusing on local representation. So we're expanding our sales teams and ensuring that reps are in the regions that they are serving so, so that our customers can have face to face uh, relationships with their account managers, uh, in their time zone and familiar with their local needs. Uh, lastly, we're partnering with Chromebook repair service providers around the country to ensure that maintenance and repair can be done quickly and locally. I think one of the challenges we've seen is that when Chromebooks need to be repaired, oftentimes that requires shipping, uh, and logistics for devices across a long, uh, distance where we want to make sure we're partnering locally so we can get devices back in the hands of kids as soon as possible.

Speaker B: Thank you for that answer. Uh, Michelle, is there anything you want to add to that?

Speaker C: Well, I just think it's um, important to think of ctl, uh, as in a significant growth phase. And you know, I think of one of those kids balls that like expands in all directions at once. And that's a little bit like what we're doing right now with the new services, new devices. Later we'll talk about one of our specific new CTL branded devices, um, and also just making sure that we have the people in the places where they're needed to best serve our customers.

Speaker B: Okay. And um, right now how many school districts um, have uh, Chromebooks as part of their offerings to their students?

Speaker C: Well, I think uh, the statistic that we have seen from Future Source is it's in the 60 percentile range. Um, 60 to 70% of schools are all using um, Chromebooks. Ah. And the Chrome OS ecosystem at this time, um, it kind of varies year to year, it goes up, it goes down. Um, but it is the majority of uh, school districts in this country are on the Chrome OS ecosystem. Jason, do you have any other data for that?

Speaker A: Yeah, just over the last uh, three to five years what we've seen is anywhere from 60 to 65% of learners uh, in the country use Chromebooks. And uh, then when you think about adding educators to that mix, that can vary a great deal across other device types.

Speaker B: So uh, I also want to talk today about um, the Life Cycle, uh, issue that you guys are dealing with in Chromebooks. I know you're doing some, some exciting things on Life Cycle. Why don't you talk about that a little bit if you don't mind. And Michelle, we'll start with you and Jason, if there's anything you want to add, please do so.

Speaker A: Yeah, Michelle, you should talk a little bit about the student repair program because I think that's unique and important.

Speaker C: So you know we've always offered award winning Chromebooks and Chromevox devices and we've also always offered provisioning and deployment and repair services. But we're really working on rounding out our life cycle services offering around the technology. And one new thing that we're doing um, is we've added a new service for CTL customers. It's a repair program, um, called the CTL Chromebook Care course. And what this is is it's a course, a curriculum that we're offering to help. We uh, know that the demand for CTE is rising. Right. And so this is a value added program. Ah, it's free for CTL customers and it's a win win for schools. We help IT staff, uh, set up their students for basic Chromebook repairs and then the students in return get workforce ready IT skills that can translate to real full or part time jobs immediately. Um, and we've done this with several schools, uh, it's in piloting around the country right now. Um, the curriculum is really customizable and flexible. It comes with different components. There's an advisor component, um, to help them teach the course, decide on the program format. Are they going to offer a full CTE class or are they going to offer an after school club? It gives them all of the quizzes and assessment materials as well. So that's the advisor component and then the uh, student component is 11 modules of learning. Um, and you might think okay, how Hard can it be to repair a Chromebook. But we take it beyond the basic Chromebook repairs and we have a module on what is good customer service and how to give it, how to write a good trouble ticket, for example, um, how to diagnose a technical issue using the funnel method. We talk about potential career paths and more. We also do teach them, you know, all about the tools and how, and certainly how to repair Chromebook with video tutorials. But we're trying to give it uh, make this very well rounded, uh, to create a full service student help desk, help desk for Chromebook repairs. Um, and so at the end of it the students uh, end up with a certification from CTL that they can repair CTL Chromebook. So they're, they're called student, uh, certified CT student technicians. And then they also end up with a professional portfolio that they can take to a potential employer that says here's the work I've done and that uh, has video demonstrations so that they can prove their skills to any future employers. Uh, right now the program is free to schools with 50 or more CTL brand chromebooks, uh, but we are exploring offering it on other um, branded Chromebooks in the future because of the popularity. So that, that is something that's really not about CTL and charging for services that's more value added services that we're giving um, to CTL customers. And so um, Jason, I think um, this might also be a good time to talk about our new IT asset disposition service as well.

Speaker A: Yeah, and we talked a little bit about life cycle and technology life cycle. And so what I always encourage our customers to do is think about how they can get dollars and value for their aging technology before they make a new purchase. And so we really start our process there, uh, with our IT asset disposition capabilities we can not only sell customers new devices, but we can take them back at end of life, uh, and then we repurpose them to give them a second life as refurbished devices or we will responsibly recycle them. And I think that's been kind of a missing link in this life cycle. Uh, and it's one of the great values of the Chrome operating system is a refurbished device gives kids all the same access to the learning tools that a brand new device does. So by investing in that refurbishment we can provide lower uh, cost value to our customers. And so uh, that would be my big advice uh, to uh, IT directors out there is as you're thinking about new purchases first, think about how you get value for your aging technology. So that you can better fund your new purchases.

Speaker B: So CTL is a B Corporation. What exactly does that mean? And how does it translate, uh, into action for your customers?

Speaker A: Yeah, we're very proud to be a B Corporation, and it's very unique in our space. We're the only Chromebook manufacturer, uh, certified as a B Corporation. And I like to think of it very simply, which, it means that we put people in the planet on par with profits. Uh, with the number of devices out there. We want to make sure that things like lithium batteries, for instance, are finding a responsible home and not ending up in landfills. Um, our B corp status means that we think about sustainability and build that into our model and our processes every step of the way. Uh, for us, that really translates to dedication into circularity of electronics. So we want to assure that we're not only building great products, but we do whatever we can to ensure that those devices stay in use as long as possible. And then when they're no longer useful or valuable to our customers, we want to responsibly recycle them with our certified R2V3 recycling process. R2V3 is, uh, an acronym a lot of folks are not familiar with. Uh, but really what we do is ensure data destruction for every single device that comes back to us. We, uh, think of student, uh, information and school data, uh, to be essential from a privacy perspective. Perspective. So we guarantee that we'll take care of data destruction as a part of our recycling process.

Speaker B: Yeah, I, I want to compliment you on the, the emphasis on sustainability. We had, uh, someone, uh, on the podcast, uh, a little while ago, uh, and she is a sustainable, um, sustainability director, uh, at a, um, major metropolitan area school district. And uh, it's just fascinating because that's becoming, uh, more of an issue for school districts as they, you know, head into situations in which they want to seem to be, uh, aware of what's going on outside of the classroom, if you will, in terms of sustainability. So that's great that you're doing that.

Speaker A: Well, I think it's also, Michael, just to add to that very quickly. Sure. I think it's also important for schools to recognize that there's value in aging technology. And that's one of the conversations we have with our customers often. Uh, and we're a little unique in this space, but we're willing to take back aging technology and give our customers credit toward the purchase of new technology. So we're not only being sustainable with the devices themselves, but we're creating a more sustainable budgeting Processes for school districts where we know, uh, budgets are very, very tight.

Speaker B: I'm glad you brought, uh, brought that point to light. That that's very helpful. So we're going to take a short break right now, but don't go anywhere because we'll be right back.

Speaker C: Foreign.

Speaker B: We're back and we're talking to Michelle and Jason from ctl. And um, one of the questions I want to ask both of you now is, uh, talking about the new devices and the existing devices you have to offer to your clients. Um, what are some specific new tech, um, can we expect in classrooms in 2026? I know we went over this a little bit prior to the break, but perhaps we could take a little deeper, dive into it.

Speaker C: Uh, I want to back it up a little bit and start with what we released last quarter. Um, so as you know, we're an oem, um, Chrome OS boutique OEM and we release products almost every quarter. Uh, last quarter we introduced something that is new for education market. It's called chromevox Ops and it's a device that fits into your digital displays. So maybe you have aging smart boards or other, you know, branded digital displays that are used in the classroom and maybe they're no longer supported. This is a, um, literally a device that slides into the back of your display if it has an OPS slot. So it fits in a specific slot and it turns that display into a Chrome OS native device. So it has native integration with teacher devices, um, student devices, so they can continue to get a second life out of that original smart board that maybe have proprietary software. We're quite excited about this. We've got people trialing this all over the country right now. Um, the version that we released has an i3 processor in it. And uh, so looking ahead, we are also going to be introducing another Chromevox Ops with a more powerful processor, i7, which, um, can also be used in schools and also enterprise. And so this is a new device. Google's pretty excited about it. We're pretty excited about it and it fits very well with our B Corp, um, you know, sustainability focus to, in terms of how can we, you know, repurpose that older equipment and give it a second life. So, so that's what we did this past quarter is chromevox Ops. And then looking ahead, we have a couple of other things that we're going to be talking about, um, that we're going to be releasing. The, the biggest one that we have for this year is, um, an update to our existing ctl, uh, LTE Enabled Chromebook. So this is a Chromebook that has a modem in it that um, and we're updating the modem, we're updating the hardware, we're updating everything about this Chromebook. Um, more ram, more capabilities. But uh, the integrated modem is the special sauce. And so that means that a student can carry connectivity with them wherever they go. They don't need a separate hotspot to manage, which is pretty hard when third graders have to manage a hotspot. Um, so any IT director I think will tell you that that ah, is a big challenge is managing all these additional hotspot devices, um, to give kids connectivity at home. Um, and so this has an integrated modem. And the integrated modem is very new, just certified like in the last couple of weeks. Um, and it will be, it will deliver 4G come to E capability, same as our last Chromebook. It will also deliver 5G. And on top of that, CBRS, which is um, a band 48 technology that's used for private wireless network. So let me give you an example of use cases for these LTE connected Chromebooks. Uh, the first one, um, that we talked about won an award for at Cozen last year, uh, which is, it was a school in Utah, Murray City, Utah, where they had a section of students who were home insecure. And so they wanted to give these home insecure LTE Chromebooks so that they could take that, uh, Internet connection so that they could do their homework and submit it after hours, um, and not rely on having to be in the building for connectivity because they could have been spending the night in a campground, you know, grandma's couch, a hotel, name it, any number of scenarios. And so, um, we worked with them and to play off of what Jason was saying about services, we helped them source a special charging cart so that they can have one device during the day and then they could turn it in and get a freshly charged device for the evening because electricity is also a problem, especially if you're at the campground, um, so that these students could take it. And then they started turning in their homework, they turn their brakes. It was transformational for this population, uh, of students. And that's kind of an edge, you know, niche case. But you know, I'm sure a lot of the larger public school districts out there definitely have a similar situation where there is a segment of students that would benefit from an LTE enabled Chromebook. So that's scenario number one. Scenario number two is we're seeing, and I'm sure everyone else is Seeing this, the rise in virtual schools, whether it's a virtual charter school or it's a public school district that has created a virtual ARM or at home learning for students who do better in that environment. For example, that's where an LTE Chromebook comes in very handy because again it takes the connectivity with them. They don't have to rely on the student having um, connection at home. Additionally, there's no competition for that bandwidth if they have their own already on their Chromebook. And so that's where we're seeing a lot of capability and desire for these LTE enabled Chromebooks is in virtual schools and virtual charter schools. So those are just a couple of the use cases. There's any number of use cases for LTE devices. But we're planning to start shipping our new Device uh, in Q2 and so we'll be talking about that in the months ahead.

Speaker B: That's, that's really fascinating. I'm, um, I'm wondering whether or not, ah, you know, as one of the results of the pandemic is that more and more people are working at home some. So you know, I think it's changing a little bit back to the way it used to be where you know, you were expected in the office five days a week. But it, but in many places it's not complete and is a hybrid. And I think that might, you know, play into what you were saying. Uh, because if the parent is at home, uh, and you can have, you know, the Chromebooks functioning the way they are at home, I think that probably most parents would appreciate that. Um, I'm wondering if you've thought about that at all.

Speaker A: No, I think that's a really great point, Michael. Uh, I think of it as, I'll use myself as an example. Most parents don't consider themselves technical support. So ease of use is really, really important. And that's what's so great about the Chrome ecosystem is you really turn on the computer and it's ready to go. Uh, and all of those uh, services and apps are in the cloud. So there really is no on device management which makes life very, very easy for parents.

Speaker C: And I also think on the connectivity piece. So we've seen changes with E Rate for example, and for a while they were funding hotspots, so there was a big influx of hotspots. Now I think they're discontinuing that. Um, so this is a way that schools can continue to deliver that connectivity piece with the Chromebook. It's just integrated without having to deal with hotspots issues we've heard about, uh, with hotspots are, you know, it's easy to lose, it's easy to come uncharged. You know, uh, they come to class and they don't know where it is, they lose the corridor. I mean, just pick something, right? I mean, sometimes these are pretty young kids trying to navigate. Okay, I turned on my Chromebook. Now I need to figure out the connectivity piece. So this, like, removes all of that pain and friction. They just open it, they're instantly connected. Um, however their school administration wants them to be connected again. 4G carrier, 5G carrier, CBRS, private network. And it's just instantly connected and it works. And there's no sharing of bandwidth. So you're right. It is easier on the parents not to have to share bandwidth with three kids. Right, who are also at home doing their homework. So.

Speaker B: So one final question, uh, we have time for is, um, you know, if very young kids now, I'm talking about preschool or, um, you know, kindergarten, first grade, um, they are growing up with either access to devices, electronic devices, or they figured out how to use them from their older brothers and sisters. And it's quite remarkable what somebody who's like five or six can do on a device. And I'm wondering whether that translates into kids, uh, ability to make the most out of Chromebooks at an earlier age. Any thoughts on that?

Speaker A: Yeah, we definitely see kids with, uh, more exposure to technology at a very early age. I like to think of it as a lot of kids come into school already being digitally native, uh, and knowing how to use devices. So that can jumpstart their ability to do it. Uh, from an equity perspective, though, I think we have to be careful about assuming that and making sure that we're giving all kids, uh, training, uh, in how to use devices and how to leverage them. But I do think we're seeing what I would say is more student fluency with using devices at a much earlier age, which allows them to focus on the learning as opposed to the device, which is just a conduit.

Speaker B: Right, right. Well, thank you for that point. And, uh, lastly, I, uh, want to give you guys an opportunity to say anything that you, you wanted to say to our, our listeners and our subscribers and also tell people where they can find you. So in case they're interested in getting a Chromebook repaired or to buy a Chromebook or some of the new devices you have or services you have, where can they get ahold of you?

Speaker C: Sure, I can take that. So, um, next week we'll be at FETC uh, we're right on the main aisle, will be really hard to miss and we will be showcasing all of our new devices and services there. So we encourage that anyone who's heading to Florida for the annual, you know, education technology kickoff, uh, of buying season will be there. Come by and talk to us. They have cookies, hot cookies and presentations and all those good things that trade shows make it, um, and then beyond that, yes, anytime. Our URL is very simple to remember, ctl.net and we have um, chat on the website as well. For immediate response you can um, call. We also have forms, so multiple ways to get a hold of us. Um, most people want to request a quote and we will assign an account manager to get started to really dig in and understand what the customer challenges are and then custom craft a set of solutions, um, to solve that challenge. It probably will include devices, but additional services, specific warranty plans, um, accidental damage protection, all of those things to help make that EdTech, um, process smooth and easy for EdTech.

Speaker B: Thank you, um, Michelle and Jason, uh, for being guests, uh, on Education Excellence today and that I urge our uh, many subscribers and uh, listeners to, if you're attending that conference next week to uh, check out Michelle and Jason and check out ctl. I want to thank our assistant, uh, producer Sam Hofmeister. We urge you to subscribe to Education Excellence so you won't miss a single episode. Remember, it's free and available on all your podcast platforms. We welcome and value your feedback, ideas or questions for future episodes. You can contact me@michael.levenipsteinmail.com or just ping me, um, on LinkedIn. Remember, if you'd like to be a guest marketing partner or sponsor, we want to hear from you. We appreciate it if you would give us a five star rating on itunes and tell all your friends and colleagues about us. It really does make a difference. And most of all, thank you for listening today and we'll see you next time on Education Excellence.