Category: Tablets

These computing devices have touch screens and are typically operated through touch rather than a keyboard. They come in a variety of sizes but are generally smaller than a laptop but larger than a mobile phone.

Manufacturers and models:

• Apple (iPad)
• Amazon (Kindle Fire)
• Barnes & Noble (Nook Tablet)
• Samsung (Galaxy)
• Sony
• ASUS

Pricing: $199 – $800+

Strengths:

• Intuitive ease of use
• Well-suited to reading and multimedia viewing
• Very mobile
  

Weaknesses:

• No built-in keyboard
• Consumption-oriented
• Generally not robust enough for advanced multimedia creation, such as video editing
• Frequent changes in models and technology

Killer applications:

• Ebooks
• Multimedia viewing
• Google Apps (word processing, spreadsheets, presentation)
• Anything Web 2.0
• Robust curriculum content

Things to consider and some opinions:

• Reliable wireless is essential.
• Consider the form factor.
  The form factor of a touch-based tablet with no keyboard may work for some applications (e.g. reading, multimedia viewing) better than others (e.g. extended writing). In some schools, younger students have been found to like tablets better than older students. The most important things are to think about your curriculum goals (see below) and get a few devices to test with students and teachers. See what they like and what meets their needs.
• Think about your curriculum goals before deciding on any devices.
  These devices come with different operating systems (Android, iOS, etc.) and have different applications available. If you start by thinking about what you want to accomplish with the devices and then look for a device that has applications that support that purpose, you’ll be ahead of the game.

The post Mobile devices: Tablets appeared first on K12 Handhelds.

I got it as a personal device, but was immediately struck by its potential as a tool for mobile learning.

With the popularity of Apple iPads in schools these days, the comparisons are inevitable. The Kindle Fire runs Android, while the iPad runs iOS, but functionally, they’re pretty similar. The iPad has a camera, which the Fire doesn’t (which isn’t necessarily a disadvantage for schools, but stay tune for the next version). The iPad is somewhat larger (7.3″ x 9.5″; 1024 x 768) than the Fire (7.5″ x 4.7″; 1024 x 600). The iPad can be configured with 16 GB to 64 GB of memory;  the Fire has 8GB. (Again, stay tuned.) They both have beautiful, brilliant screens.

Currently, there is more software available for iOS than for Android (and particularly the Fire), but there hasn’t been much that I really wanted that I couldn’t get on the Fire. One minor annoyance with the Fire is that the Android Marketplace apps aren’t readily available (without rooting the device). Amazon has seemed to have begun to seen the error of its ways on this, and hopefully it will be resolved soon.

To me, a very big issue is PRICE. At $199 list, the Fire is well under half the cost of the cheapest iPad. Relative to education:

• Somewhere around $200 is the “sweet spot” for school pricing where one-to-one starts to make sense.
• I would generally rather see more devices in more kids’ hands; lower cost facilitates this.

For any of these tablet devices though, the question remains: Are they well suited to mobile learning?

Some have said that tablets are primarily media consumption devices and don’t inspire the kind of deeper creation that we want kids doing.

My responses to this are several. First, it’s hard for me not to think about all the great work, including writing and other work, that I’ve seen kids do in the past on Palm and Windows Mobile handhelds. And these handhelds of yesteryear are vastly inferior in every way to the new tablets. It’s one of the things that excites me most about these devices.

Secondly, there are a lot of great creation tools available for tablets. You can write using them with Office-type tools. (Google Docs is a favorite of mine.) You can collaborate and communicate with others. You can create graphic organizers, outlines, and notes. You can make presentations and even record audio and video. True that these devices aren’t well suited to editing and creating full multimedia presentations; that’s really a job for a more powerful laptop or desktop computer.

Finally, there are aspects of learning that do involve consumption — what we need is more differentiated, interactive consumption. Think about a textbook that is customized for each student’s needs and interests and includes opportunities for interactive practice and collaboration with others. That is the potential of tablets.

Now, if you are evaluating tablets against laptops for a one-to-one project, I personally would go with laptops in many, if not most, cases (especially for secondary students). There is little question that even a low end laptop has more capabilities than a Kindle Fire.

However, in a typical classroom, which is not one-to-one and which includes a variety of computing devices, including some laptop and desktop computers, I think the Kindle Fire is a cost effective tool that can greatly improve learning for many students.

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