We started using computers with keyboards in class in grade 2-3.

Current school laptops also have touchscreens for drawing and other activities. It’s a cheap feature.

Pen input is the one factor that forced one of my kids to a Windows laptop for school (a Surface Pro). It was a required feature for his school. Seeing how much he uses it for note taking, I get it. So yes, drawing is a key feature for schools.

Another school uses iPads with keyboards for the same purpose, so I'm not sure where the school market is for these. Maybe only older kids, but a lot of edu-tech is expecting some kind of touch/pen input.

It might be a fine laptop when you are on the move. I have an educational Lenovo for that purpose, but I would appreciate a Mac for that same use. When I need more power away from my desk I can use the MacBook Pro or my Lenovo T series (both a lot heavier than I’d like).

I just wish the Mac had 16GB of RAM but my tiny Lenovo has 8 and it’s been working OK so far - I haven’t even set up a proper swap partition and it’s running on zram.

wow. are elementary school kids using chromebooks? my kids is in pre-K this year. i dont know about the elementary school chromebook thing.

Yes, my kids all started using one in Kindergarten, although it took to 4th grade before my oldest started bringing home one every night.

They take standardized tests on it. Questions have a button to speak the question. Same with answers.