To help schools get more out of their limited resources, Google is extending the length of time it plans to support new Chrome OS education devices with security and platform updates. Starting this year, the latest education devices from Lenovo and Acer will get automatic updates until June 2028, and it seems that other new devices could receive similar support as well. Before today, Google guaranteed to support most devices with at least six years of automatic updates. To pay for the additional support, the company is increasing the price of its Chrome Education Upgrade, a one-time license school boards can purchase to get additional support from Google, from $30 per device to $38 per device. However, all new devices will get eight years of support, whether a school buys the Chrome Education Upgrade or not.
The first Chromebooks that will come with eight years of software support include the Lenovo 10e (pictured above) and Acer Chromebook 712. Alongside the new devices, Google is introducing new search features to the Chromebook App Hub that the company says will make it easier for teachers to find specific programs. The new filtering tools allow educators to narrow down an app search by school subject, availability of Google service integrations as well whether they take advantage of specific hardware features. Teachers are also able to filter for apps based on whether they comply with regional privacy laws like COPPA and GDPR.
Additionally, the company is starting to roll out originality reports, a feature it began beta testing this past summer. Google designed originality reports to help both students and teachers spot plagiarism. For students, that means they'll be able to see if they've plagiarized something by accident, either by poorly paraphrasing a source or by not properly citing it. Teachers, meanwhile, can compare a student's work against online materials, and, thanks to a beta feature, work submitted by students in other classes and past years. English users will get access to these features over the next month, while Spanish, Portuguese and French users can start beta testing them.
Update, 1:30PM ET: This story and its headline have been updated to clarify that while some new Chrome OS devices will receive updates for eight years from manufacture date, it isn't a guarantee for all new devices sold going forward. It'll be up to the manufacturer to detail exactly how long its devices will receive updates.
Source: Google (1), Google (2), Google (3), Google (4)
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