Searching for "tablet"

Nokia tablet

Nokia N1 Android tablet: an iPad mini lookalike with the first reversible USB port

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/nokia-unveils-n1-android-tablet-an-ipad-mini-lookalike-with-the-first-reversible-usb-port-9867400.html

Visually the tablet is a dead-ringer for the iPad mini, but the N1 actually manages to be both thinner and lighter than Apple’s tablet – just 6.9mm thick and weighing in at 318 grams.

The N1 looks very healthy spec-wise, with a 2.4GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and 8-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras on the back and front.

‘Z Launcher’ software: essentially a customized lock screen that studies your habits to give you the right app at the right time of day (eg, email in the morning, Instagram at night) while also letting you launch apps by scribbling the first letter of their name.

The N1 is launching first in China February 2015 for $249 (around £160 – the same as the iPad mini) but it’s not clear when it’ll be making its way to the US or UK.

tablets

Hands-on with the new Apple iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3

http://www.cnet.com/pictures/apples-refreshed-ipad-line-pictures/

Apple created the A8X processor specifically for the iPad Air 2. The new chip has a second-generation 64-bit architecture, houses 3 billion transistors, and compared to the iPhone 6‘s A8 chip, has a 40 percent faster CPU, while its GPU is 2.5 times faster.

rear 8-megapixel iSight camera boasts a new sensor to capture 3,264×2,448 resolution photos and 1080p HD video.

Apple added an impressive anti-reflective coating to the iPad Air 2, which allegedly reduces glare by 56 percent.

Review: Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 Merges Power and Productivity

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2014/10/review-microsoft-surface-pro-3-packs-punch

250-gigabyte hard drive, the Surface Pro 3 offers 15GB of online storage through Microsoft OneDrive

12-inch screen’s 3:2 aspect ratio

Intel Core i5 that could crunch large Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint files with ease

 

Educators Weigh iPad’s Dominance of Tablet Market

Educators Weigh iPad’s Dominance of Tablet Market

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/11/22/13ipad_ep.h33.html?tkn=LUCCCAu94sJXhXwoBrDRG%2BmCJBT04YYozBRQ&cmp=clp-sb-ascd

Susan Einhorn, the executive director of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, a Bellevue, Wash.-based organization that supports schools in developing and improving 1-to-1 computing programs, disagrees.

She said that “iPads are a consumer device; I don’t feel they’re really designed for education.” Ms. Einhorn favors tablets with what she calls “greater functionality,” such as Microsoft’s Surface tablet.

As a “technology-agnostic” organization, the International Society for Technology in Education does not take a position on specific devices, but CEO Brian C. Lewis observed that, “within a short period of time, tablets have become almost ubiquitous. What we forget is that, in another three to five years, another new thing will transform not only our world, but what’s happening in the classroom.”

Mr. Lewis said he has heard too many stories of schools and districts that purchased technology before planning how to use it to drive learning.

My two issues:
– why is an educational media such as “Education Week” outright advertising commerical products?

– why is “Educational Media” not bursting the bubble of such reckless purchasing of products without plan and idea?

Tablets (iPADs) in the Classroom

From: Perry Bratcher [mailto:bratcher@nku.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, November 06, 2013 9:01 AM
To: ‘lita-l@ala.org’
Cc: Michael Providenti; Michael Wells; Millie Mclemore; Perry Bratcher; Stephen Moon
Subject: [lita-l] RE: Classroom iPads

All – Thanks to each of you for your responses to my email regarding classroom use of iPads (see email at the bottom).  Listed below are is a summary of the comments I received.  I cut/pasted and have reconfigured these comments for this email, so some may be taken out of context.  NOTE: My systems staff have adamantly opposed using the Microsoft Surface.  We have a campus “tech bar” where student/staff can check out new devices for experimentation.  My staff said that the Surface doesn’t work in our particular situation for a variety of reasons and they prefer the iPad tablet option (if we go the tablet route).

Before deciding on implementation of PCs vs. laptops vs. tablet for use in a classroom setting, one needs to consider the motivation for doing so.  Space? Portability? Availability of apps?  Is there a demand for using personal devices for research, etc?  What type of portable device to use (iPad, Microsoft Surface, etc.)

Pros for using iPad/tablets:

  • Keep a few in there to provide examples of how to search on mobile devices.
  • The amount of apps and types of apps out there. Great education apps exist that do not exist elsewhere online or on other platforms (Android or Windows).
  • The iPad is flexible and allows you to regain that floor space you lose with computers and give the user privacy.
  • If setup correctly, the devices can be erased when they are returned so any private data is wiped.
  • Users can download additional apps, even purchase apps if you allow them.
  • They hold a charge much longer then any laptop or ChromeBook on the market.
  • Apple sold 94% of its iPads into education – the reason being that it’s a great education and research tool.
    • Another advantage that I can see boot up time. The iPad is instantly on and connected to the network. Perhaps this most applicable to last-minute library instruction or ad hoc group research?   However, if I had the choice, I would equip a classroom with MacBook Air SSDs
    • Understand how they need to be configured and the tools needed to do so. I created a kit for this not long ago for public libraries: http://www.macprofessionals.com/new-library-ipad-checkout-solution/   Thank you Chris Ross, Macprofessionals
    • UVA has been using iPads for instruction for about 2 years.  They have been very pleased with the results.
    • Our electronic classroom is very small, so we purchased 30 iPads over a year ago to allow teaching in our larger meeting room. There are definitely distinct advantages: flexibility, mobility, lack of technical infrastructure needed (wires, ports, etc.), and the myriad possibilities of apps.

 

Cons for using iPad/tablets:

  • Most mobile devices have not become “workhorse” devices as of yet, so much of the students’ research will still need to be done on a computer.
  • We haven’t seen any advantage to having them either – but our librarians use them sporadically for instruction.
  • Charging, syncing, configuring, Apple ID’s, erasing, cases, restrictions, printing, presenting, etc. For example if you want to present with these, you will need an Apple TV or an adapter. If you want to print you will need AirPrint supported printers or software. If you want to configure and erase you will need a Mac.
  • The challenge I have found is trying to use an inherently personal device in the typical one shot classroom environment. There are lots of things you need to consider. How will they access the wireless? What about taking notes? What about apps that require login? And much more.
  • Someone on staff is equipped and has the time to manage them.
  • We have a pool of 30 loan laptops, recently we have supplemented this with 11 loan iPads. The iPads have generally been very popular but wouldn’t work as a substitute for laptops. As many have mentioned when it comes to getting real work done they are inferior to laptops and people have commented as such.
  • As a complement to laptops though they are great – they are more portable and our nursing students love being able to carry them around and quickly access medical apps, take notes, check calculations etc. I definitely see them as being a valuable resource but if it’s an either/or proposition then I would go on the side of laptops.
  • My personal opinion is that it’s not a bad idea as a supplement to existing systems, but I’d be wary of  replacing more flexible with more limited ones, and am particularly wary of committing to one operating system/vendor (particularly one that tends to charge half-again to twice as much as their competitors with only limited advantages).
  • In a classroom setting (e.g. instruction room) I see little advantage of tablets;  their sole advantage from I can figure out is their portability.   Why force people into a limited device if it is only going to be in one room anyway?

 

Edtech going global

The Next Wave of Edtech Will Be Very, Very Big — and Global

https://www-edsurge-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.edsurge.com/amp/news/2021-07-30-the-next-wave-of-edtech-will-be-very-very-big-and-global

India’s Byju’s

Few companies have tackled the full range of learners since the days when Pearson was touted as the world’s largest learning company. Those that do, however, are increasingly huge (like PowerSchool, which had an IPO this week) and work across international borders.

Chinese education giants, including TAL and New Oriental.

The meteoric rise of Chinese edtech companies has dimmed recently as the Chinese government shifted regulations around online tutoring, in an effort to “protect students’ right to rest, improve the quality of school education and reduce the burden on parents.”

Acquisitions and partnerships are a cornerstone of Byju’s early learning programs: It bought Palo Alto-based Osmo in 2019, which combines digital learning with manipulatives, an approach the companies call “phygital.” For instance: Using a tablet’s camera and Osmo’s artificial intelligence software, the system tracks what a child is doing on a (physical) worksheet and responds accordingly to right and wrong answers. “It’s almost like having a teacher looking over you,
My note: this can be come disastrous when combined with the China’s “social credit” system.

By contrast, Byju’s FutureSchool (launched in the U.S. this past spring) aims to offer one-to-one tutoring sessions starting with coding (based in part on WhiteHat Jr., which it acquired in August 2020) and eventually including music, fine arts and English to students in the U.S., Brazil, the U.K., Indonesia and others. The company has recruited 11,000 teachers in India to staff the sessions

In mid-July, Byju’s bought California-based reading platform Epic for $500 million. That product opens up a path for Byju’s to schools. Epic offers a digital library of more than 40,000 books for students ages 12 and under. Consumers pay about $80 a year for the library. It’s free to schools. Epic says that more than 1 million teachers in 90 percent of U.S. elementary schools have signed up for accounts.

That raises provocative questions for U.S. educators. Among them:

  • How will products originally developed for the consumer market fit the needs of schools, particularly those that serve disadvantaged students?
  • Will there be more development dollars poured into products that appeal to consumers—and less into products that consumers typically skip (say, middle school civics or history curriculum?)
  • How much of an investment will giants such as Byju’s put into researching the effectiveness of its products? In the past most consumers have been less concerned than professional educators about the “research” behind the learning products they buy. Currently Gokulnath says the company most closely tracks metrics such as “engagement” (how much time students spend on the product) and “renewals” (how many customers reup after a year’s use of the product.)
  • How will products designed for home users influence parents considering whether to continue to school at home in the wake of viral pandemics?

AR/VR collaboration

Campfire announces summer Demo Days to allow companies to experience its AR and VR platform

https://www.auganix.org/campfire-announces-summer-demo-days-to-allow-companies-to-experience-its-ar-and-vr-platform/

Space is limited so enterprise guests can register here to request an invitation for the below events:

  • July 14, Brooklyn,  9AM – 7PM
  • August 11, Austin, 9AM – 7PM
  • September 8, San Francisco, CA  9AM – 7PM

Campfire brings a new approach to AR/VR collaboration with innovative devices and applications designed to visualize and collaborate with 3D models and data. The company states that the resulting experience helps to advance the visual experience, ease-of-use, and workflow integration for users. Features of the Campfire platform include:

  • The Campfire Headset, which has a 92° diagonal field-of-view in AR, and a new level of comfort in VR;
  • The Campfire Console acts like a holographic projector to bring the intuitiveness and robustness of traditional monitors to shared holographic experiences;
  • The Campfire Pack turns a phone into a hand held controller to reduce the learning curve of dedicated controllers and gestural interfaces;
  • The Campfire Scenes app enables users to create, share, and control scenes composed from 40+ types of CAD/3D files;
  • The Campfire Viewer app enables users to work within 3D scenes alone or during video calls using a Campfire Headset, tablet, or phone.

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more on immersive in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=immersive

Use memes w students

Can’t get enough Bernie memes? Have your students create their own.

Posted by ISTE on Friday, January 29, 2021

https://www.iste.org/explore/classroom/5-ways-use-memes-students

Meme-creation apps are easy to find for laptops, tablets or smartphones. Search “meme-creation program” in the Apple App Store, Google Play or on your laptop, and many options will come up, including
Meme Creator, https://imgflip.com/memegenerator
Meme Generator: https://imgflip.com/memegenerator
Quick Meme: http://www.quickmeme.com/

Here are some ways you can use memes in your classroom.

Create class rules.

Make a meme for each rule and post them in the classroom. As an alternative ice-breaking activity on the first day of school, ask students to create their own memes based on the rules and share the best ones with the class or post on the bulletin board.

Learn new vocabulary.

Students can create memes to define or use new vocabulary. Display the word at the top, and place the definition or a sentence using the word below.

Identify the novel.

Students can use memes to dramatize a point from a novel or short story they are studying. Teachers can break the class into groups and have each group create a meme from assigned chapters in a class novel.

Emphasize a historical event.

Teachers and/or students can import an image into a meme-creation program and make their own meme with a witty subtitle.

Use as a device to check for understanding.

Students can also create memes as a way to review the material or to explain math formulas or science concepts.

Harvard EdCast: Online Learning

Harvard EdCast: Making Online Learning Work

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/20/10/harvard-edcast-making-online-learning-work

  • Create opportunities online for students to connect with each other as part of the school day. 
  • Keep lines of communication open and constructive between teachers and parents/guardians. 
  • Focus on core skills at home. 

There’s a distinction between online and using technology versus distance learning.

It’s going to become a lot more interactive, a lot more personal, and then teachers are going to be able to zero in a lot more on what the kids need.

A lot of teachers feel a lot of pressure to have these perfectly planned lesson plans that go exactly as intended when you get into the classroom. In this environment, it’s okay to not have the planning perfect. It’s okay if things get a little bit extemporaneous, a little improvisational in the classroom.

If I’m a teacher looking at the pie of time and energy that I have in a given week, I would try to minimize the energy that I have to put into things where I’m not interacting with students …

Teachers putting a lot of time and energy getting a setup like I have with a microphone and a pen tablet and all of that. That takes a lot of work, a lot of energy, and it’s energy that once again gets taken away from time that they could be interacting with students.

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more on online learning in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=online+learning

handwriting to text

OneNote
OneNote is the obvious choice for anyone who is using a Microsoft Surface or other Windows-based tablet. It is also available to use on iPads and on Android tablets. The option to have handwriting converted to text is an outstanding feature.

Google Keep
If you’re a G Suite for Education user, Google Keep. It doesn’t have the handwriting-to-text function that OneNote offers.

Zoho Notebook
Zoho Notebook doesn’t have the name recognition of OneNote or Keep. Zoho Notebook has the most intuitive design or organization options of the three digital notebooks featured here.

The downside to Zoho Notebook is that the handwriting option only appears on the Android and iOS platforms. If the handwriting option worked in the Chrome or Edge web browsers,

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more on screencasting lecturecapture in this iMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=touch+screen

screen time and brain development

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2018/12/early_results_of_study_show_sc.html

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study tested 4,500 9-10-year-olds in its first released dataset. The ABCD study is the largest long-term study of brain development in U.S.

Early data from the study, analyzed by another group of researchers from the CHEO Research Institute’s Healthy Active Living and Obesity also showed that kids who spend less than two hours a day on screens, participated in 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity, and received nine to 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep had higher cognitive abilities.Cognition was measured by language abilities, episodic memory, executive function, attention, working memory, and processing speed.

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