Learning and Leading - February 2012

BUYER’Sguide

T he January 1982 issue of Class- room Computer News had an article titled “Schooldays 1991: Vision of Student Life in the Next Decade.” In it, Ricky Carter wrote about children in the distant 1990s, “carrying a dynabook: a book-sized electronic device with a display screen and a small touch-sensitive typewriter keyboard.” Students could edit and illustrate a story; use a spellchecker; compose music; participate in tele-conferences; receive alerts about their schedules; and communicate with teachers, other students, and a national network. Thirty years later, these prophecies have come true in the form of tablet computers, along with many functions that would have boggled our minds back in the 1980s.

Today there is a growing number of apps that are ideal for the classroom. For no cost, you can have instant access to History: Maps of the World, Shakespeare: The Complete Works, every conceivable reference book, and more than 25,000 free classic books. The reading experience is enhanced with images, audio, and video. Students can write in “the margins” and use an integrated dictionary.

Organizational tools, such as Evernote, store notes, images, and websites. Tegrity, a lecture capturing tool, lets you bookmark important segments of a talk. These, like other cloud-based apps, store information at a secure location, and can be accessed by computer, phone, or tablet.

Almost half of all educational apps are free, and the majority of other apps are less than five dollars. Some companies offer a free version as well as a premium edition that may have more functions or no advertising.

Exciting possibilities come with advances in hardware. Several manufac-

turers include features missing from the iPad, such as SD card readers and a USB port, though there are now iPad accessories to address these needs. Most tablets have accelerometers, which detect the tilting of the device in three dimensions. Combined with a built-in GPS and maps, the feedback that tablets provide makes navigating the world an interactive delight.

Because of their portability and lower cost, students are more likely to read digital textbooks on tablets than desktop computers. Tablets incorporate e-reader software but have many other functions. The Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble nook tablet are examples of e-readers that have evolved into tablet-like devices with email, internet browsing, and a growing number of available apps.

All of the models included here have touchscreens and Wi-Fi capability. Other than the Fire and the nook, these units have an option for cellular connectivity that requires a short- or long-term contract for coverage.

Most devices have adapters for projectors that turn a tablet into a classroom presentation device. For those of us who prefer a traditional keyboard, there are wireless Bluetooth options, including a fold-up, soft rubber keyboard that is resistant to liquids.

Carter’s prediction was spot on, but even he did not anticipate that you would be able to download an app such as Star Walk that would enable you to stand under a starry sky; point your tablet to the heavens; and identify the stars, constellations, and satellites. Move over, Sir Isaac Newton. Our students will soon be writing apps that will do even more.