Like many Chromebook educators, I often find myself interacting with Microsoft Office documents in a less than satisfactory way. Fortunately, that experience is about to undergo an upgrade.
Mission Possible: Android Apps on Chromebooks
As Dr. Bruce Ellis reported in his March 2017 blog entry, Running Android Apps on Chromebook, future Chromebooks will run Android apps.
According to the Chromium Projects, starting this year, all Chromebooks that become available are supposed to work with Android. Even if you don’t see your Chromebook on the list, it will still receive updates until its Google-determined end-of-life, which should be about five years after it debuted.
The ability to load Android apps on your Chromebook enables access to a host of Android apps for education. These apps expand the Chromebook’s viability for younger grades and students (source). Teachers will also have access to many Android apps, as well as specially-designed cloud apps. These include Adobe Creative Cloud apps (such as Photoshop Mix, Lightroom Mobile, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, Adobe Comp CC, and Creative Cloud Mobile).
Furthermore, one more inducement for some educators and students exists. That is the ability of Chromebooks to run the MS Office Android apps.
MS Office Goes Chrome via Android
Research (via Chrome Unboxed) revealed in November 2017 that MS Office Android apps are working on the following Chromebooks:
Microsoft reports that they “…are partnering with Google to deliver the best experience for Chromebook users and plan to make the apps available on all compatible devices by general availability” (source).
Windows Programs on Chromebooks
If Android isn’t enough for you on your Chromebook, you may want to give another product a try. In my early days as a veteran GNU/Linux and Macintosh user, I often found myself trying to run Windows programs. Those experiments involved WINE (Wine is NOT an Emulator), as well as tools like Codeweavers’ Crossover product. Not familiar with Crossover? Here is a quick overview from their website:
Don’t let dual-booting or a virtual machine slow you down. CrossOver will open your Windows software. Launch Windows productivity software, utility programs and games natively. CrossOver doesn’t have the overhead of the Windows operating system like a virtual machine, which means that Windows programs run at native speed, games play at full fps and you don’t need to purchase a Windows license.
After trying Crossover in various situations, I can say it worked…barely. Now, Crossover is available for Chrome OS:
The CrossOver Chrome OS beta will let you run Windows software on Intel-based Chromebooks and Android tablets. Seamlessly run full-featured Windows software that is not available in the Google Play store alongside mobile apps. Run Windows utility software like Quicken and Microsoft Office, or DirectX games, like Wizard101. Games from your steam library will run with CrossOver Android at native speeds. Get rid of remote sessions and multiple devices! With CrossOver Android you’ll only need one device to run your Windows programs and mobile apps. Watch the video.
In most situations, running Crossover for the lone district administrator or campus staff member was not worth the trouble. You just have to spend the money on a computer that is not under-powered.
Ready to Try?
If you’re ready to give it a try, you have two options for exploring Microsoft Office 365 on your compatible Chromebook. For the occasional user, a Chromebook running Android versions of MS Office may be the solution.
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that the option to access the Google Play Store on your Chromebook is enabled in the dashboard. You can check your Chromebook by going to Settings. Scroll down until you see the Google Play Store (beta) section. If the option is greyed out, then you’ll need to bake a batch of cookies to take to the domain administrator and ask if they can enable the feature. (Giving cookies increases the chances of having this feature enabled by 64 percent.) If you log in with your personal Google account on the Chromebook, you’ll notice that it is already enabled. But you do NOT want to use your personal account with your students and other teachers. For safety reasons, you always want to use your district account, even if that means bribing the domain administrator or waiting a few days for it to be enabled. 
Once the option to enable is made available, you’ll be able to enable it in Settings and manage Android preferences (similar to if you were setting Android preferences on an Android phone or tablet).
Yippee! You have it enabled. So where it it? Click on the Launcher icon which, by default, is the icon on the bottom left on the shelf. You will now see the Play Store (beta) icon. This beta Play Store is currently a stipped down version of the Play Store you would see if you accessed it through the browser. And yes, you will need to use the beta Play Store to install Android apps. When accessing the store via the browser, your Chromebook will not be an option in the dropdown list of compatible devices. Once you click on the beta store, you will recognize the various categories to help you narrow down what type of app you are looking for. If the developers have not completely finished updating the app in question, it may be available as a beta version. When I spot checked several of the Android apps I have on my phone, almost all were available and ready in the Play Store. You might even find that some app developers have made their product available as a Chrome app (that you install via the Web Store) and an Android app (that you install via the beta Play Store). Either way, once installed, they will appear in your launcher window.
Autodesk SketchBook – Whether it is illustrating, diagramming, or sketchnoting, you’ll find this to be a simple app to use. When done, save the image to your Chromebook.
Trello – More than just a to-do list app, Trello can help you keep track of projects. You can work alone or collaboratively with classmates to keep track of project-based learning activities.
Trading Cards – This isn’t your traditional trading card maker. Templates provided include fictional person, real person, fictional place, real place, object, event, and vocabulary. Once you enter information on the front and back of the card, you can share it as a photo to your photo gallery.
Pic Collage – Share your message with pictures! Pic Collage lets you start by selecting your photos and then adding them to a grid with templates (start with a themed background) or freestyle (begin with a blank slate and add to it). You can also easily add text and search for photos on the internet to add to your collage.
Diamante Poem – This type of poem is in the shape of a diamond. Each line uses specific types of words (adjectives, -ing words, etc.). What makes it especially nice is that it doesn’t have to rhyme. This app has some examples to illustrate how to write a diamante poem, and it leads you through creating your poem step by step. When you’re finished, you can save the poem as an image to your photo gallery. 
Acrostic Poem – Think of a word and then write a word or phrase for each letter in the word. This app will lead you through creating an acrostic poem and even helps you brainstorm words. Acrostic poems are often used when students write their name vertically and then write out adjectives going across that describe them, but the uses are endless. 
Haiku Poem – This app makes writing this Japanese-style poetry super simple. Walking you through the steps of brainstorming words and phrases and making note of the syllables, you’ll find that constructing one is easy and can be very profound. 
Poems By Heart from Penguin Classics – This well-crafted app introduces students to a wide variety of poetry. Even without the premium downloads, the free ones supplied each come with audio that highlights the lines as the poem is read with inflection. Students can record themselves reading the poem and even earn poetry points by memorizing them. 
POETRY from The Poetry Foundation – Let students encounter a wide variety of poetry in this app. They can discover titles by spinning the category wheels (emotions and events) or by searching for a specific author in the index. Poems that have audio are indicated with a small speaker icon, great for extra support for struggling readers/writers as well as students who may benefit from hearing it read aloud. 
As with any tool, the strength of the learning that results comes from how much thought students have to put into it in the first place. So they should definitely be asked to storyboard their cartoon first and have it peer edited for clarity, flow, and understanding. The app encourages students to use “Story Arcs” in planning their masterpiece. According to the website, “A Story Arc is a scaffolding tool that helps you map out a story’s plot. Whether they’re learning Language Arts or Science, kids can practice communication skills using story arcs as formulas for convincing arguments.”