Why are Charging Stations Necessary in a Classroom?

by Natalie Schlueter

There’s nothing like a student device that is about to die out in the middle of a lesson with no charger in sight. This, unfortunately, is the use case for many classroom situations.

With the rise of 1:1 device management in classrooms, and student expectations for functioning technology for their learning environment, tech solutions that store, charge, and sometimes sync devices are a necessary asset for any K-12 classroom.

A study conducted by Common Sense Education in 2019 found that 95% of teachers use technology for educational purposes on a daily basis in the classroom. Additionally, 54% use G Suite for all student communication with faculty, staff, and administration. On top of that, 60% of teachers use video streaming for their daily lesson plan materials.

These are numbers that cannot be ignored. There is lots of buzz around technology solutions being used in the classroom, but there is hardly any talk around how to manage this large influx of device usage.

We would like to think that devices can be used and can be reused for the entire day with no charging necessary. The reality is, with the complex software that is being used on most devices, combined with the large amount of streaming, it just is not possible.

With that being said, what are the top three reasons to have charging solutions in the classroom? Find out below.

1. Convenience

Having a charging solution that is available at all times in a standard location allows students to become familiar with their specific charging bay, therefore allowing teachers to spend time focusing on classroom materials.

It takes a lot of energy to coralle students into returning their chromebooks, laptops, or other classroom devices into their designated charging bays if the students are unfamiliar with what to do. With a consistent charging solution in the classroom at all times, students can easily plug in their device when needed.

Another aspect of convenience is the ability to have availability of power. Consider having a classroom of 25-30 students. There are not enough wall outlets for the students to plug in their devices all at once. Sure, wall outlets might be convenient for one or two students to plug in and continue working, but more often than not there are no available wall outlets. This is especially true if the teacher and teacher’s aids are using technology to supplement the lessons.

A charging cart would take one outlet, but power over 30 chromebooks, laptops, or other technology devices if needed. It is a time saver, space saver, and overall convenience to allow for more outlets to be open, and more devices to be charged.

If a student were to run out of power during a lesson, and were familiar with the system set up inside of the charging cart, the student could easily get up, grab an available, charged device and continue with the lesson.

Having a solution like the CUBE Cart® Pre-Wired in the classroom would allow for the educator to educate and the students to learn. The convenience of a charging solution in the classroom that can support all student devices and then some allows for non-distracted learning.

2. Contactless IT

For many school environments in the 21st century, post-COVID quarantine, the technology advancements and software upgrades on all classroom devices have taken a huge turn. While the upgrades are needed and provide ample learning opportunities for children, the complex software needs to be updated frequently in order to function properly.

This can be a huge undertaking for a small school IT department and some of the tasks might turn onto the teachers. Having solutions to automate these updates while also providing a secure, safe charge to all devices is important.

Charging solutions that include automatic syncing abilities allows for a quick return of devices back into students’ hands, and ensures that teachers will not be spending valuable time manually updating student devices.

Imagine not being able to continue with the current lesson because it is discovered that some of the student devices have been updated and some have not. This could cause a major halt in the learning environment and cause students to lose the lesson they just learned.

Having distraction in the classroom due to unforeseen circumstances can potentially cause chaos. Make sure that you are organized and ready to go with devices at the beginning of the day with a solution that syncs while charging.

Having a charging station like the PowerSync+® Station in the classroom allows for IT teams to control device updates from one solution rather than individual devices, allowing for tech to be ready and available every morning when students arrive in school.

3. Assurance and Security

1:1 devices in the classroom setting can kick start some really great learning, but what happens when students forget their devices at home or somehow misplace them while at school? It will be very hard to have a full lesson when there are some students without devices to follow along and do the work.

We all have left devices, chargers, adapters and other items for our technology support at home before. Students are no different. Have the assurance you need that there will be enough devices for all students that are ready to go at the beginning of the day to start.

Charging solutions make sure that all the devices are stored in the classroom overnight so that no student brings home their solution and does not return it the next day.

Classroom charging stations also provide accountability and security when it comes to devices. Each bay is numbered. Assigning numbers to each student device to each bay allows for students, teachers, and administration to track where devices are and who they belong to.

Charging stations also provide a locked and secured place to store devices overnight. This allows for thousands of dollars in devices to be secured with ease. Protecting devices from theft and tampering is essential for this large risk.

Locking stations make it easy for teachers to do a final count of devices before students leave the classroom as well with the ability to shut the door to students.
Charging solutions like the CUBE Toploader™ Cart allow easy access for students to put their devices away before the end of the school day, and creates a safe space with an easy-close door for teachers to lock.

Find Your Classroom Solution

Contact Bretford at (800) 521-9614 to talk to a sales representative today. Read about the best technology solutions for the K-12 classroom in our blog, or browse our website and fill out the “buy now” form to get in contact with a specific sales representative for your solution.

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CUBE Toploader™

Charging Cart

Keep Chromebooks, laptops and tablets charged and ready to go. The CUBE Toploader™ charging cart features a top-loading configuration with a soft-close design providing easy access to devices while putting safety first.

PowerSync+® Station

Charging Station

Store, charge, and sync your iPad or iPhone devices with the ready-to-go PowerSync+® Station. Optimized for Apple with pre-wired Lightning cables and connection for Mac for bulk device syncing. This solution stores, charges, and syncs devices all from the classroom.

CUBE Cart® Pre-Wired

Charging Cart

Save time and let Bretford wire your CUBE Cart® with USB-C power adapters so the cables are perfectly organized and ready to deploy out of the box! Smart Agile Power ensures a safe charge on all devices. Save time and ensure safety with this cart.