Tech
5/4
1. The
tablets that the school uses may be used in a variety of ways, so the ideal
tablet will have access to apps, book, internet, newspapers, video, and
music. The problem is that none of the
tablets offer all of these at the same level and with a low cost. So then the essential pieces need to be
determined.
a.
The most practical use of the
tablets may be simply to use them as an alternative to textbooks. This would save the school money in the long
run and it would make the texts more accessible to the students, while
requiring them to carry a smaller load.
b.
Another issue is cellular
capability. It would be great to have
tablets with cellular capability for students who do not have internet access
at home and for when the internet connection is rocky at the school.
c.
Apps would provide a wide base of
possibilities for use in the tablets for education. Apps would potentially fill in the gaps of
tablets because they are the result of hundreds of niche groups finding very
specific uses for the tablet. Ideally,
our tablet would provide a rich source for education apps.
d.
Magazines and newspapers are
useful in a variety of classrooms so this would also be something desired.
e.
Videos, along with learning apps,
may be the thing that pushes the classroom into the next generation of
education. The internet offers an
abundance of learning resources today through groups like, Kahn Academy and
Crash Course. Videos can become an
important part of the learning process for students as they can simply pause
and rewind the video if they are unclear.
So video capability should be high on the list of requirements.
f.
Music may not need to be as high
on the list as videos because if something is public domain it is usually very
easy to find on YouTube anyway.
2. For
the rest of the assignment, only the larger devices will be considered.
3. IOS
a.
Positives
i.
Has the most apps specifically
for learning and these apps are not available in other operating systems.
ii.
The system is easier to use if
one has not had experience with tablets.
iii.
The apple stores offer some
assistance.
iv.
Offers cellular.
b.
Negatives
i.
Does not come with flash.
ii.
Most expensive operating system
Android
Positives
Can
be used in a variety of tablets (Kindle, Nook, generic)
Barnes
and Noble has exclusive rights to some textbook companies.
The
Nook is the most supported device.
Barnes and Noble staff will come in to the school and train teachers as
well as offer support at any of their 1400 stores.
Kindle
has the most total titles.
Negatives
No
cellular for Nook
Kindles
are not supported in the larger Android market environment
Microsoft
Positives
Has
Microsoft office, which will likely be a familiar system.
Is
something of a laptop hybrid, has a keyboard.
Large
memory space.
Negatives
Largest
tablet (not necessarily bad thing)
Since
it is so close to operating like a laptop, it really will not educate the
students in the use of tablets. If we
want them to learn how to operate tablets, this might not be the best option.
From this article, I learned that the
big factor in favor of Nooks is the support that Barnes & Noble
offers. They will send staff to the
school to train teachers and they will offer face to face assistance in any of
their stores.
http://allthingsd.com/20110718/amazon-tires-taking-the-kindle-to-school-again-with-textbook-rentals/
This article is about ho kindle is
getting into the textbook industry by creating a rental system. This system will charge people based on the
amount of time they will be using the product.
This is an important step for a company that already dominates the ebook
market.
http://www.ipadinschools.com/338/ipad-changing-schools/
The author of this article believes that
the Ipad will do a lot to change education.
He writes about the vast number of education apps available and provides
a number of articles that show how there are many schools moving to use Ipads
in their curriculum.
Uses of Ipads in education
I
learned in this section that the major reason for switching to Ipads is their
implementation for textbooks. On a
tablet, a textbook is cheaper and there are more ways to interact with the
students with the text. I also read in
this article, www.eclassroomnews.com/2011/06/02/newjersey-district-plans-ipad-only-algebra-course/
that a New Jersey district is planning on going to an iPad only curriculum for
their algebra course. They are doing
this because they believe tablets are the way of the future in education and a
way to produce higher achievement.
In this
article, http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/05/interesting-ways-to-use-ipad-in.htmlutm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29&utm_content=Google+Reader orhttps://docs.google.com/a/tonykrug.info/present/edit?id=0AclS3lrlFkCIZGhuMnZjdjVfNzIxZ2RrNWp0ZDg&pli=1 I learned about several free apps for the iPad that can be used by
teachers. There is Class Dojo, which allows
the teacher to award merits and demerits electronically. There is Remind 101, which is essentially a
texting system designed to give teachers the ability to remind students of
upcoming events and encourage them. And then there is Trello, a project managing app.
4. Cellular is essentially mobile data. This is data that is being used away from WiFi or when the WiFi is not connecting for whatever reason. One can purchase mobile data with a plan that will normally last two years and provide 250mb, 3G or 5G of data. Data can also be purchased on a prepay and postpay plan. The benefit of mobile data is that a student would not have to be near a WiFi source to access the internet. It would be advisable to have cellular if the intended use of the tablets will require the students to access internet, because there are still many students that may not have internet in their homes.
5. The best option in my opinion is to use the Android operating system and one of the tablets in that system. This is a good option because Android is an inexpensive system that has both the Nook and Kindle offered under them. I believe from their the Kindle is the best option. Amazon offers the largest number of books and the renting option puts it over the top as the best choice. Not to mention the Kindle offers cellular service which will be helpful for students who do not have internet in their homes.
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