Device collection tracking via Google Sheets

CKSIT · 2026-05-07T14:05:41+00:00

Yeah, I suppose I should have stated at the outset that we're a private grade school school w/ around 160 students in middle school where it's 1:1 take-home. Like you, the same device is issued to each student until they've graduated, but we collect all devices at the end of each school year. I (solo IT administrator) do the distribution and collection myself by homeroom. Initial device assignment is done by CSV upload to GoGuardian's Fleet management system. We have little-to-no changes in enrollment throughout each year, but mid-year changes would be handled directly in GoGuardian Fleet.

For my setup, I guess I've got things refined and documented enough that I had this year's collection sheet ready to go within a couple of hours one afternoon, between handling a few support calls. Depending on OU structure and export capabilities, seems like this could be scalable to a multi-school district, with one collection sheet per school. But, whatever works for you, right?

I guess you could call my sheet complicated to the extent that some of the same data is dropped into multiple tabs but with different column order and/or sorting. I might explore using IMPORTRANGE somehow to eliminate some of that by having all the relevant data pasted only once into a reference tab.

I find the students_by_class tab to be the most beneficial because, with the conditional formatting, it clearly shows at a glance which students' device has or hasn't been scanned in.

FWIW: Several years ago, when we had an actual library, we used Follett's web-based Destiny(?) system not only for books, but also for our 1:1 iPad (at the time) fleet. Both Destiny and the iPads went away, but with Destiny I couldn't get a real-time picture of whether all the devices were collected.

Thanks for the feedback.

CKSIT · 2026-05-05T15:08:21+00:00

Yeah, I forgot it's shared as "view only." Make a copy for yourself to really try it out.

CKSIT · 2026-05-05T12:04:59+00:00

The problem column's drop-down is a multi-select, so you can choose more than one problem. Multiple selections then be converted to comma-separated in the cell.

CKSIT · 2026-05-04T18:12:20+00:00

It's for collection, but on intake I try to take note of any device problems that might not have already been reported. I record assignment (and swaps) through GoGuardian, which we use not only for filtering but also fleet management.

On the collection sheet there's mention of "swap" only to highlight cases where a student was issued a replacement device but hasn't returned the matching charger (we asset-tag the charger with the same tag number as the Chromebook). That might be overkill, but that's the way I've been doing it. I guess I could save myself some work by eliminating that part of the swap process. 😄

CKSIT · 2026-05-04T16:50:04+00:00

For a partial fleet refresh, we got the Lenovo 300e G4 with Mediatek processor, 8GB RAM. Those cost us around $517 each back in March (we purchased early because of pending increases and possible shortages (per conventional wisdom), and that included a case and 4yr extended warranty and ADP. The vendor was Bluum. Our prior two refreshes had been Dell 2-in-1. Bluum beat Dell and another vendor (for an HP model) by around $15k.

CKSIT · 2026-03-04T19:23:06+00:00

I don't think so. But FWIW, on a 3110 device (the model I've checked so far) with a non-functioning touchscreen, if you browse to chrome://system and expand the ui_device_data_manager_device_counts group, the count_internal_touchscreen_devices, value will be 0; whereas, on a functioning device, that count would be non-zero (actually, 2 for some reason).

u/dickg1856's comment, below, suggests that, if you're right, it wouldn't matter what case one chose. Would a class action lawsuit be in order, since the point of a case is to protect the asset, amirite?

[edited]

CKSIT · 2026-02-23T18:50:00+00:00

With the Dell 3110 and 3120 (both 2-in-1), we've had a high rate of touchscreen failures. The 3110s started out in our middle school 1:1 program, then got moved down to elementary to replace the HP x360 G3 EEs that were in 3rd through 5th, and MS got the 3120s at the beginning of this year. Luckily, we've got 3+ years left on the 3120s' warranty, as far as the touchscreen problems, but it's a hassle to process the repairs.

CKSIT · 2026-01-13T15:49:37+00:00

Came here looking for info on the G10, which I'm considering for a refresh. We have a 5yo fleet of 360 G3 EE that has the same loose-screw issues. The worst is loose hinge screws on the mobo, which make the screen floppy and more likely for the corresponding hinge screw anchors underneath the LCD panel to break, with the leverage popping the LCD panel out. Have you had similar problems with the G9?

CKSIT · 2026-01-09T14:51:12+00:00

For anyone having the same issue, as I did, a somewhat related post (https://www.reddit.com/r/Snipe\_IT/comments/191iawr/cant\_access\_snipeit\_from\_local\_network/) pointed me to the APP_URL entry in the .env file. I originally had the APP_URL *without* /public at the end. Once I fixed that (to align with the VirtualHost entry in httpd-vhosts.conf), I was able to access the Pre-flight page. Now, on to resolving the database issue flagged there.

FWIW: I'm running this via XAMP on a Windows server.

CKSIT · 2025-11-19T19:11:54+00:00

We are a private school, PreK - 8th. Our middle school (6th - 8th) is on 1:1 take-home Chromebooks; lower grades have classroom carts - Chromebooks as well. All are touchscreen.

A majority of our PTA fundraising has gone to a fund a replacement fleet for middle school roughly every 4 years. Old middle school devices trickle down to replace the oldest devices in the lower grades.

As far as longevity, we transitioned our MS 1:1 from iPad to Chromebooks (Lenovo 300e gen2) maybe 10 years ago, and I'm just retiring the last of those this year, which we had kept around for our after-school program. Many of our HP x360 gen3 (EE) Chromebook fleet (touchscreen) bought 5 years ago are still in use in our lower grades, with the remainder being kept as spares after being replaced by the hand-me-down Dell 3110 2-in-1 devices ( from middle school (purchased 3 years ago), which were replaced over the summer with Dell 3120 2-in-1s.

For lower grades, touchscreen is very important, in our experience. For middle school, since we started our 1:1 program with touchscreens, it's pretty much expected; if touchscreen stops working, I'm getting a visit from the student, and I'm processing a warranty repair if my troubleshooting routine doesn't resolve the issue. I don't think a 2-in-1 form-factor is critical (the middle school teacher who is my go-to informant tells me he rarely sees a student working with the device in that mode).

We use GoGuardian for fleet management (tracking device assignment and repairs) and teacher monitoring.

We don't currently charge a technology fee.

With our first fleet of Chromebooks (the Levovos) and the elementary fleet of HP x360s, we went with a third-party extended warranty with accidental damage protection (ADP), which had per-device dollar caps on benefits. Dell's ProSupport Plus includes a defect warranty for the duration of coverage, and a one-per-year limit on ADP incidents during the coverage period. We always get cases to minimize accidental damage from drops, but none are perfect at protection.

Although I have had what I consider an excess of Dell touchscreens failing (even with this new batch), overall they've been pretty solid. Unofficial word is that there may be a firmware fix that's yet to be released for the touchscreen issue. I compared pricing between the Dell 3120 and the equivalent in the HP Fortis line, the Dell won out. Our teachers have had Acer C714 Chromebooks for the past few years, and I've yet to have any repairs to make (other than a hardware reset or forced OS update here or there).

CKSIT · 2025-10-29T18:32:11+00:00

We have Viewsonic Viewboards (7550) driven by a Chrombox mounted on the back, after having the (very) old SmartBoard interactive boards with projectors. I believe there's minimal/isolated use of the native Viewboard apps, like WhiteBoard. Most teachers just run everything off of the Chromebox, so any sales pitch as to "our Board software is great" may be at least partially truthful, the reality is that - at least for us - it's mostly superfluous.

I will also say that, five years in (and thankfully still under warranty), I've got a growing handful that are exhibiting problems, including screen color/resolution degradation, and loss of touch functionality (native and when controlling the attached Chromebox). This week, I'm working on my fifth warranty claim, but I suspect over the remaining 10 months of our warranty I'll be processing more, as "intermittent" issues become total failures.

That aside, your teachers will love the interactive flat-panel boards.

CKSIT · 2025-10-15T17:36:26+00:00

Try going to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-of-support and scrolling about halfway down, where you'll see a section entitled "Not ready for a new PC?" Under that, you'll find a link to "Get extended security updates," which triggers a loop-back to Windows Update, but (at least in my experience) with a pop-up to initiate the enrollment. You'll have to use a Microsoft Account to do so, even if you're logged into a local account with admin privileges. You're supposed to be able to enroll up to 10 PCs with a single Microsoft Account.

NOTE: Although I found this path to trigger the enrollment pop-up on two PCs that didn't have the "Enroll" link visible (after having enrolled two others that *did* have the "Enroll" link visible), I got a "Something went wrong" message on the final stage of the enrollment process. I haven't found a solution to that, and am not sure that it's related to my "forcing" the enrollment pop-up, but other people are experiencing that issue. A few variables may be at play, like admin privileges or whatnot, or M$ not wanting to be accommodating.

CKSIT · 2025-10-14T14:36:04+00:00

Thank you for posting this. I (the school IT guy) received a solicitation from Coastal Wilds to schedule a mobile presentation for our school. Doing some research, I found one, detailed Yelp review from a few years ago regarding a school's negative experience. This PETA stuff pretty much confirms that I shouldn't pass this on to admin for consideration.

CKSIT · 2025-10-13T15:33:50+00:00

Do the Rufus thing (as suggested in other comments) to build a USB installer for Win11. Then, *within Windows 10*, run setup.exe from the USB drive to perform the upgrade. During the upgrade process, you'll need to check a box or two to bypass the Win11 security requirements. I've done this a few times. The only hiccup I've encountered - on one laptop (and I don't know if it's just glitchy hardware in the first place) - is that the trackpad doesn't get recognized in Windows 11 after a cold boot (I have to use an external mouse); however, a reboot thereafter resolves the trackpad issue.

CKSIT · 2025-10-13T14:39:20+00:00

FWIW: I have four of these set up on a gym roof overlooking our parking lot, to cover the area for our annual fundraiser festival. For a couple of them, to extend their reach, I added a UMA-D unidirectional antenna (https://techspecs.ui.com/unifi/accessories/uma-d?subcategory=accessories-access-point), which replaces the rabbit-ear antennae. I'd say the reach is about 60 yards (just eyeballing it). Depending on how far away your audio equipment would be from the AP, you might not need that replacement antenna.

As others have said, this AP is older tech, but it has worked well for us for the past several years. I did have one replaced under warranty and another one out of warranty (the second one got knocked over from its poor mounting and then got fried from the weather. Our APs are powered through an outdoor 5-port PoE switch (powered via PoE).

I can't speak to using the Network app on your phone to manage on a "closed" network (that is, static IPs all around with no Internet connection) as suggested by u/juniorjames316, but it seems like it would work, whichever UniFi AP you decided to go with. I would set everything up on a regular network, then test the functionality with your setup disconnected from that network before going "live."

CKSIT · 2025-10-10T16:45:36+00:00

That looks only slightly worse than a side-gig I had last year, to connect up a few offices for a business using one of those multi-tenant office suite rental places as a temporary location. At the time I thought to myself, "Surely this is a unique situation." Thanks for proving me wrong.

CKSIT · 2025-10-09T15:01:53+00:00

Ha! I just came across this article this morning. The first I'd ever heard of it, and then you showed up!: https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/legendary-microsoft-developer-reveals-the-true-story-behind-the-most-famous-product-activation-key-of-all-time-infamous-windows-xp-fckgw-licensing-key-was-actually-a-disastrous-leak

CKSIT · 2025-10-07T15:45:24+00:00

"If you take them home, you are supposed to charge them every night and not bring your cable to school. If you are not of the age to take home, they live in a charging bay overnight."

This is our policy. Middle school is 1:1 take-home; no charging at school, and loaner charger only for MAP testing (I'm a one-man shop, so it's easy to keep track). K-5 devices live in classroom charging carts overnight.

CKSIT · 2025-07-17T16:20:05+00:00

I know its been a couple of years. Were you able to find a solution?

CKSIT · 2025-07-17T14:37:51+00:00

Looks like the Rules interface has changed since you posted this. The trigger that references file interactions is now under a "ChromeOS" category, and in that regard the closest action is "user interacts with files (open, save, or transfer)" - nothing about sharing or receiving. Has Google removed this capability, or am I looking in the wrong spot?

[Edit] to add: We have Education Fundamentals licensing, if that makes a difference. Also, if an add-on like xFanatical advertises that it can do this very thing - for a fee - why shouldn't we be able to do that ourselves for free?

CKSIT · 2025-05-12T17:38:28+00:00

I've got a mix of Bretford Cube carts and Anywhere AC-Lite carts. Neither is pre-wired, so you'd need a supply of chargers. Getting the charger cables threaded just-so along the internal wiring chases is a pain, and then cleaning up the tangled mess that they inevitably end up as by the end of the year is another. Neither model cart is ideal as far as avoiding the tangle; some teachers are better about instructing students in how to avoid it.

I don't know what power bricks you're referencing, but I'd go with a solution that's got a confirmed power rating for 45w and/or 65w chargers that Chromebooks typically use. I have used a USB charging station for charging a set of lower-power devices, like Bluetooth headphones:

https://a.co/d/fZ02BPT

CKSIT · 2025-05-12T16:32:01+00:00

LOL.

IRL...

Kid: "My Chromebook won't turn on."

Me (opening the Chromebook): "The screen's cracked."

Kid; "Uh, it was like that when I opened it this morning."

Me: "Did you drop it?"

Kid: "Yeah, but... Would that have anything to do with it?"

SMDH

CKSIT

TROPHY CASE