"Turn an old computer into a Chromebook"

Families in NI have had a difficult time during 2020, through 'Lockdown' and subsequently from additional disruption since returning to school in September.

Children have been expected to engage in 'Remote Learning' with an expectation that families can provide suitable devices for all children in the household to use, along with suitable broadband.

The issues faced are well documented.

Schools in NI have been providing materials to pupils via Google Classroom, an online learning tool. C2K are the service provider.

Neverware are a company, now a part of Google, who provide an operating system called 'CloudReadyOS' which will turn older computers into 'Chromebooks'. C2K already provide a paid service using Neverware to extend the life of school computer hardware.

As well as the paid-for Education and Enterprise editions used by business, Neverware also provide a free 'Home' edition of their operating system. This still works well on older, less powerful computers.

Families may already have older hardware lying at home that struggles to run Windows10. Businesses or Individuals may have older unused systems which they would like to donate rather than destroy.

On an older computer running CloudReadyOS, children can log in to their school Google Classroom accounts and complete the learning tasks set by their teachers using Google Docs etc.

The process of installing CloudReadyOS wipes all data from the harddrive of the donated system.

I would like to provide a service to the NW community where:

• Individuals or businesses can donate older laptops/desktops (no earlier than 2010 please)

• These donated systems are wiped and then have Neverware CloudReadyOS Home Edition installed.

• Families or community organisations can register for donated computers.

• Training sessions / resources provided so families can use the systems with confidence.