Recently, I was asked an interesting question about buying technology for a classroom. This classroom was in another country, and they have no technology to speak of yet. So, I was asked, what would be the best way to go?
This is usually not the question I get asked. Usually, a classroom, or school, already has the technology, and they are looking for ways to integrate it better into the curriculum. The basic plan of this classroom was to try to get as much tech into the classroom as possible, and have the students primarily using it.
Im my mind, I started thinking about the decision being between laptops, chromebooks, and tablets, either Apple or Android. Since my friend didn't really know the details and differences between these choices, I thought perhaps there are others who are also wondering what is the best choice when starting out. So, from my perspective of a classroom teacher who uses tech with my students, here are my thoughts about each choice.
First, all of these choices have some things in common. They are all mobile, they all need the internet for most purposes, and they need to be plugged in. So after you make sure you have the infrastructure for that, there are some differences.
Laptops have more memory. You can download programs which don't need the internet to run. You can save your information to the hard drive, but then you need that exact computer next time. But, they can be expensive, and their operating systems need constant updating, which is usually done one laptop at a time.
Chromebooks are generally cheaper than laptops, mostly because they do not have a large hard drive. They need to be connected to the internet to funtion properly. You save your stuff to the cloud, which also means you can access it from anywhere, any computer, any time. The operating system (Google Chrome) is automatically updated, and there is a way to easily manage large or small numbers of chromebooks.
Tablets come in 3 flavors: Android, Apple, and Microsoft. This means that they run that company's operating system. Most popular apps will have a version which works on all 3 of these. If you are starting from scratch, and price is important, then Android is probably the best choice. Their tablets have SD card slots for easily transferring information, and you can change batteries. They are usually cheaper than Apple iPads. Apple products are designed to be more of a closed system. Sharing must be done using the Cloud, or a variety of adapters. It is easy to connect iPads so you can project them through a projector. Most accesories are more expensive than their Android counterparts. Microsoft has joined the tablet field with the Surface, which I have limited experience with (just a 2 day workshop, not about the tablet). It worked well enough, although it seemed to be aimed more for people who use Microsoft products, like Office 365.
If it were my decision, and this classroom has access to the internet, I would most likely go with the chromebook. Not that I would fight off having tablets, but the chromebook seems to come with the fewest maintenence issues (updating), is inexpensive, and versatile.
What would your choice be?
This is usually not the question I get asked. Usually, a classroom, or school, already has the technology, and they are looking for ways to integrate it better into the curriculum. The basic plan of this classroom was to try to get as much tech into the classroom as possible, and have the students primarily using it.
Im my mind, I started thinking about the decision being between laptops, chromebooks, and tablets, either Apple or Android. Since my friend didn't really know the details and differences between these choices, I thought perhaps there are others who are also wondering what is the best choice when starting out. So, from my perspective of a classroom teacher who uses tech with my students, here are my thoughts about each choice.
First, all of these choices have some things in common. They are all mobile, they all need the internet for most purposes, and they need to be plugged in. So after you make sure you have the infrastructure for that, there are some differences.
Laptops have more memory. You can download programs which don't need the internet to run. You can save your information to the hard drive, but then you need that exact computer next time. But, they can be expensive, and their operating systems need constant updating, which is usually done one laptop at a time.
Chromebooks are generally cheaper than laptops, mostly because they do not have a large hard drive. They need to be connected to the internet to funtion properly. You save your stuff to the cloud, which also means you can access it from anywhere, any computer, any time. The operating system (Google Chrome) is automatically updated, and there is a way to easily manage large or small numbers of chromebooks.
Tablets come in 3 flavors: Android, Apple, and Microsoft. This means that they run that company's operating system. Most popular apps will have a version which works on all 3 of these. If you are starting from scratch, and price is important, then Android is probably the best choice. Their tablets have SD card slots for easily transferring information, and you can change batteries. They are usually cheaper than Apple iPads. Apple products are designed to be more of a closed system. Sharing must be done using the Cloud, or a variety of adapters. It is easy to connect iPads so you can project them through a projector. Most accesories are more expensive than their Android counterparts. Microsoft has joined the tablet field with the Surface, which I have limited experience with (just a 2 day workshop, not about the tablet). It worked well enough, although it seemed to be aimed more for people who use Microsoft products, like Office 365.
If it were my decision, and this classroom has access to the internet, I would most likely go with the chromebook. Not that I would fight off having tablets, but the chromebook seems to come with the fewest maintenence issues (updating), is inexpensive, and versatile.
What would your choice be?