LEWISTON — It’s a big deal “to have Google come to Lewiston,” David Theriault, director of instruction technology for the Lewiston School Department, said Tuesday.

The tech company representatives came to speak to educators from throughout Maine during a Google ExploreEDU conference at The Green Ladle, “because we are a school that’s gone Google,” Theriault said. “We told our ‘gone Google’ story.”

Other school districts thinking about buying Chromebook laptops listened to Lewiston’s experience.

The conference happened with help from a company called Connection, a Google partner that has done business with the Lewiston School Department. “They decided, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if they would come to Lewiston’ and started that ball rolling,” Theriault said.

Tuesday’s seminar gave technology educators information about the “G Suite,” Google apps and sites that schools can use for free, Theriault said. They also explained new technology and how it can help students learn.

One app explained was Google Cardboard, a cardboard virtual reality viewer that sells for about $15.

When a smartphone with the app is inserted into the cardboard “glasses,” it can take students on field trips anywhere. “We just outfitted a classroom with cardboard glasses,” Theriault said.

On Tuesday, those attending the conference and visiting Lewiston High School classes were able to see it in action, he said.

Three years ago the Lewiston School Committee decided to test the Google Chromebook with the freshmen class, providing each class member with a Chromebook.

The feedback from students and teachers was positive. The next year all high school students got a Chromebook at a cost of about $200 each, which is a better price than other devices, Theriault said.

High school educators said Tuesday they’re pleased.

“The Chromebooks have been great,” said social studies teacher Michelle Crowley. They are indispensable for students in many classes, she said. “It gives them lots of opportunities to collaborate, get feedback from teachers, do research and more.”

The Google apps, docs, spreadsheets and forms are the most efficient tools for communication and collaboration she’s ever used in class, Crowley said. “Plus, they’re all free.”

Students have done a good job taking care of the laptops, she said.

Assistant Principal Jay Dufour said teachers and administrators are getting more comfortable, and better skilled, with using the laptops. “They’re giving kids and teachers more tools.”

The world is going digital with less paper, and more online. Lewiston students are part of that, Dufour said. 

Lewiston students in grades seven to 12 have computers, and most sixth-graders have Chromebooks, Theriault said. This year Chromebooks were provided for each elementary teacher, and the district hired three technology coaches to work with elementary teachers.

Depending on future budgets, the goal is to expand laptop computers to the lower grades, Theriault said.