October 9, 2024 - Hamilton County Schools is equipped with a variety of impressive technology supports accessible to students and teachers on a daily basis. Hunter Middle School is just one of the many places you can find these resources, including a new district resource launched last year- Chromebook Towers. With these new FUYL™ Smart Locker System Towers, students can receive quick assistance with their devices, making any tech issue fixes smoother and less disruptive to their school days.
Jacob Owens, a team member who helps oversee the school’s tech support, elaborated on the functionality of the Chromebook Towers in his service area and around the county. These towers provide a quick solution for students whose Chromebooks break. When a device malfunctions, students tell their teachers, who then submit a help desk ticket. The IT team at Hunter Middle School monitors these tickets for 16 schools, ensuring that every problem is addressed quickly. "It’s a pretty innovative solution when it comes to keeping up with Chromebooks," Owens explained. He explained that there is always someone watching the system and that every help desk ticket is typically addressed within 10 minutes, so it can be resolved within the same class period.
Under the tech team’s support, there are around 13 towers across the 16 different schools, and each tower is equipped with 15 slots filled with replacement Chromebooks. If a student's device malfunctions, they can easily swap it for another without missing valuable class time. This new system prevents class disruptions from tech support to entering classrooms to fix devices.
Once the teacher submits a ticket for the student, the tech team reviews the ticket and issues a replacement Chromebook through the tower. The help desk system then automatically sends the teacher and student the relevant information about how to retrieve the device from the tower, including the bay number and code to access it. The student then takes out the replacement device and puts in their broken device. Sometimes, students forget to place their broken device into the tower; in that case, the technician assigned to the ticket will reach out to both the teacher and student to make sure the device is returned. They will also use the help desk system to disable the unreturned device until the device is returned to them for repair. This system can be used for student laptops as well as chargers or any other school issues device, though Owens says the majority are Chromebook-related issues.
When devices cannot be repaired, the tech team meticulously disassembles them to salvage parts. This revitalizes the damaged devices and gets them back into circulation.
The help desk system is capable of resolving nearly any problem students may face with their devices. It also supports new students by providing devices from their first day of school and getting them needed equipment immediately. Their help desk system streamlines processes and assists both teachers and students in tracking device returns and repairs. "Our help desk is very efficient; we can remotely disable devices if a student reports one as lost," Owens added. "Fix any hardware-related issues, minimize student time without a device, and reduce the need to purchase excessive replacement devices."
Later this year, the Chromebook Towers will receive software updates allowing students to bypass the need for staff to complete a helpdesk ticket. This software upgrade will allow students to utilize the Chromebook Tower to make a request directly on the tower screen and immediately receive a replacement.
The effectiveness of this system is evident, as thousands of device swaps and repairs have already occurred across the county this school year. It is a huge advantage to have computer technicians in the schools to provide hands-on support with these issues that each school faces daily, which could disrupt learning if not for their quick responses.