That is what teachers and students at Heritage High School said Oct. 1 as they were the first in the Marysville School District to receive the technology. By Thanksgiving, thousands of students in sixth- through 12th-grades will have Chromebooks signed out to them.

Heritage seniors Mikaylee Pablo and Samantha Marteney, who were fortunate enough to use the technology last year, predicted the other district students will love them.

“You’re more organized,” Pablo said. “It saves work for you, so you don’t lose papers or a journal.”

Marteney added: “It’s easier to gather information and turn in stuff by email.”

Humanities teachers Thomas Miranda and Marina Benally predicted teachers will like the Chromebooks, too. It is especially nice that teachers don’t have to try to interpret students’ sometimes messy handwriting.

“That helps a lot,” Miranda said. “They were more excited to be on Chrome than to have to write out a long paper.”

Benally said what she likes about the Chromebooks is that students get excited about using them. Instead of asking teachers everything, they are more likely to research information themselves.

“They have access to more information. If there’s a question they Google search and grow each other’s thinking. I’m more of a facilitator,” Benally said, adding teachers do have to make sure students use valid sites as sources.

Miranda said, “It’s more student-centered.”

Pablo said she feels privileged to have used the devices last year. “It helped my concentration to research and type on the same device,” she said.

Marteney said she appreciated the computer because she doesn’t have one at home. It was a little frustrating to learn it, but it didn’t take long to get used to it.

“If I missed a day I could watch a video that I missed,” she said.

District technology director Scott Beebe said about 140 teachers have received some training in how to use the Chromebooks in the classroom. About 150 more will be trained in October and the same number in June. He predicted most teachers would start using Chromebooks right away, even without the professional development, because the kids will want to use them.

Benally said the school didn’t have a place with computers. There were seven school-wide that were shared. Students used flash drives.

“It’s opened a lot of doors,” she said, adding she also likes the feature that students can watch her edit their papers while she’s doing it. The two students said they liked the immediate feedback.

As a history teacher, Miranda said the computers are great for comparing history to current events. “History didn’t occur in a bubble,” he said.

Benally said Chromebooks bring more student engagement. “It makes education exciting for students,” she said.