Best Practices for Chrome and Device Management

Is there a tool to remote into a Chromebook and troubleshoot over the Internet (like a student’s home network)?

The only available tool is Chrome Remote Desktop, but both parties must agree to the screen share, and it isn’t Admin-controlled.

 

Can I force an update if I have a Chromebook behind the current Chrome version?

Two actions cause a device to reboot and update if a device is waiting for an update:

  1. Move a device to disabled. 
  2. Clear the user profiles from a device.

With either of these, if the device is connected to the Internet and checking in with Google, it will sign out all users. The device will reboot and update if it is waiting for an update.

 

How can I keep up with the Google updates impacting my Chrome devices?

The easiest way to keep up with key EDU-impacting Google updates is to join the CDW Education Collaborative. They do learning sessions 2+ times a month, a monthly updates review, and provide a platform for over 2500 admins to help each other solve problems. 

 

Students can’t open files from outside the district. (sites, docs, slides…) Is there any way to allowlist an organization so they can open files from that organization?

Yes, you can go from block-all to allowlist domains in the Drive sharing settings. List the domain you want to share with, and that will open that pathway.

 

Can I query via the console by LAN IP address?

You can’t in the console, but you could do this by searching Gopher for Chrome reports.

 

Setting device hours will not block students from signing on at certain times correct?

That is correct; it just won’t apply settings during that period.

 

Do the Safe Browsing settings still take effect when the device is not on the district network? 

Yes, Safe Browsing settings connect to User profiles.

 

How do I ensure properly configured settings for managing my remote devices?

An Audit of your Google Workspace environment is the only way to know if you have correctly configured your core and secondary application settings. CDW Amplified for Education recommends auditing your system once every 2 years, as Google pushes 200+ updates yearly, including those that impact security, remote setting configurations, and other compliance settings.

 

GoGuardian specific questions:

Can I mass update the Asset/User fields in GoGuardian? 

There are ways to do updates within GAC, or you can do a lot of bulk editing/assigning within GoGuardian Fleet

 

Does GoGuardian have a campus-wide filter (inline)?

GoGuardian has a DNS option people have used as their on-prem filter for Guests and BYOD in conjunction with Admin policies. It is cloud-based at this time.

 

Does GoGuardian have a plan to add Bullying/Violence to Smart-Alerts? 

GoGuardian added Threats & Violence Categories in 2021.  

 

Is the GoGuardian Parent app an add-on?

It is free for parents when a school uses GoGuardian Admin and has the parent app enabled.

 

With GoGuardian, does an admin have the ability to see what Extensions/Apps are installed in a Student Chrome account? 

Yes, within GoGuardian admin.

 

Does GoGuardian work with iPads, Windows Azure laptops, and Chrome devices?

Yes. This situation requires a session with the enablement/onboarding team to ensure setup across operating systems.

Document Version Date Description of Change
1.0 1/9/2024 Edits for clarity, verified article.
1.1 3/12/2024 updated name and link to CDW Education Collab
1.2 7/1/2024 Verified terminology for consulting
1.3 1/20/2025 Minor text edits, link check, reverify

 

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