Affording tablet computers as a CRT.

"iPads aren't cheap..."

I've heard this so many times from CRTs who would love access to something like this to use in their classroom.  Unfortunately the "powers that be" have decided that the iPad is the tablet to go for and they are the standard in Victorian schools and, believe me, this isn't without it's share of controvercy.  It's not just the price either, there's a range of technical issues as well.  the "powers that be" have simply decided that the iPad is a better source of educational apps (which is again a little controvercial).

For CRTs of course, being part time workers, the price can be a very big issue.  Many just don't have the money to be lashing out on things like iPads.

http://store.apple.com/au/buy/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad

The cheapest on offer is $539 (or $679 is you want to be able to have mobile internet).

Of course there's also the iPad mini which is significantly cheaper.

http://store.apple.com/au/buy/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad_mini

$369 looks a lot more inviting ($509 for the cheapest with mobile internet).

So how did I get my iPad then?  Well, I simply got one on a "plan" the same as a mobile phone.  I signed up on a contract and am paying the iPad off over time.  This made it far more affordable for me by being able to pay it off over time.  Many phone companies are doing the same and it makes it a whole lot easier to be able to afford something like this.  It's the first affordable point of call as far as I am concerned.

What can you do if this is still out of reach for you?  It's becoming more and more clear as time goes on that Android devices are rapidly putting tablet computing into the hands of just about everyone.  Of course we are teachers and iPads are what's primarily used in Australian government schools so...  How do they check out for us?

A while ago now I posted that I made a move to tablet computing. Most of what I say there still holds true even though I have since also bought an iPad for various reasons.  I still feel that for teachers in general it's "still not enough" to have just a tablet and you also need a laptop or home PC.  Tablets are pretty much still about convenience in the the classroom though things have certainly gotten better (with my husband currently trialling an ASUS TF300T android tablet for general use).

This means apps and Tablets as a tool for you to use in the classroom are the more important aspects after price as far as I am concerned but there's still plenty on offer for your students with Android apps.

Some apps for the little ones!

• Kids Numbers and Math Lite: Educational game maker Intellijoy offers this free game to effectively teach preschoolers numbers, addition, subtraction, and more without sensory overload.
• AniWorld: A look at animals covering what they eat, where they live and their growth cycles..
• Kids ABC Letters Lite: Another offering from Intellijoy, Kids ABC is a "trace me" game with letters, numbers and shapes.
• Learning Letters for Kids: This is a straightforward app for teaching children the alphabet.
• Kids & Toddler Puzzle Puzzingo: A BestAppsForKids award winner, Puzzingo is an addictive yet educational game to engage the mind of toddlers with 25 professionally illustrated puzzles.
• Kids Pedia – Color Magician: Language learning, science, geography, art, math, health, and more all rolled into one with games designed by professional educators.
• Kids Piano Lite: Don’t neglect your child’s music education! This app reproduces those little toy xylophones in the bright colors kids love.
• 123s ABCs Handwriting Fun: Children learn basic handwriting by tracing letters, hearing them spoken, then shaking the screen to erase and repeat.
• Pepi Bath Lite: It’s never too early to start teaching your toddler hygiene education, and this app is a great tool for that.
• 0-10 Numbers Baby Flash Cards: Toddlers might as well get used to studying with flashcards. This app uses them to teach them the first 11 numbers.

Most of these work just fine on an android phone and it's a great way to check out what you'll have access to before buying a tablet!

As usual I've tried these out on my daughter (now 4 yo) and it's a little hit and miss but the apps do their job as well as any iPad app.

Note:  I got this list from here as I'm out of touch now that I have an iPad.  All up there's 50 apps currently being used in schools the world over going further up the chain of education including higher grade levels and educational organizations (national geographic, NASA, TED talks and others).

I also have to mention:

Kid Mode from Zoodles.  You're taking your own personal device into a school so you need some way to protect everything you don't want younger students (or your own children) to have access to.

Kid Mode is a combination "child safety lock" and "kid safe games organizer".  You also get periodic reports about what's being played, the curriculum areas they cover and more.

Click here to go to the Education section of the Google Play app store (includes free apps).

The conundrum.

You can't buy an android tablet for every student and to stay current with what schools are doing you need to be familiar with the iPad.  In some respects this means that iPads are still the "go to" tablet in some ways.  Unless more schools start accessing what Android tablets are offering it's not going to be a "major tool" as far as apps for students are concerned but more of a sideline.

The thing is, tablets aren't all about the students so I'll recap on a point I made earlier this year.  Although I've shown this video in a previous post it belongs here too:

(Watch this video on youTube)

Cameras are standard features on tablets and the larger screen is a lot more appropriate for showing things to a class than a phone.  It doesn't really matter what type of Tablet you have (iPad, Android, Windows) most of what's described in this video is perfectly suitable to any of them.

When I go to iPad workshops this is something that I feel is all too often ignored in favour of apps which you can use in the curriculum.  Of course this is understandable in many ways as teachers have access to other classroom technologies as standard so it's not a "popular" subject in many ways.  Especially in schools that don't make it easy for CRTs to use the Interactive Whiteboard, tablets make a really good (and sometimes better) classroom tool for you as a teacher.

In this department, Android tablets will still serve you very well and I don't think CRTs should balk at doing a little bit of research on them and seriously consider getting themselves one.

Although the DEECD only has iOS and Win8 based tablets in it's "Curriculum Tablet Authorised Suppliers", there are already Victorian schools deploying Android Tablets and their use is bound to get more widespread.

A small word of warning though, buy from a reputable supplier and avoid online purchases from "fly by night" operations.  It's one of those things where the cheapest you can buy is usually cheap for a reason...

Saving some money on Internet capable tablets:  

If you already have a smart phone with 3g/4g and a decent data allowance, you can set up your phone as a "wi-fi hot spot" to connect to the internet.  You can secure this connection with a password to prevent everyone from accessing it.  You can then let your Tablet use your phone's existing internet connection saving you some money on buying a tablet with it's own 3g/4g modem and SIM card.  It does tend to use your phone's battery pretty heavily though so it's a good idea to have your charger handy when doing this!

This means you can save yourself some hard-earned dollars and avoid a more expensive mobile internet capable version of a tablet and yet another SIM card to pay for.

At home, of course, you can use your wireless internet connection just like you do for a laptop.

A starting point:

Added on edit:  Sorry, Harvey Norman no longer offers this document as it has integrated more features into it's website to help make the choice.

To help you get off the ground it's a good idea to have a look at the Harvey Norman Buying Guide for Tablets.  It will help you understand some of the things you are looking at if you aren't so technically minded!

Regards,

Mel.