Handheld Devices

There are a wealth of handheld devices out in the world these days, ranging from cell phones to tablets. Many of these devices are being used in our schools to assist with teaching and learning. While I'm sure there are great uses found for almost any type of new technology in schools, my vote is for the Kineo by Brainchild.

The Kineo is a 7" tablet computer/e-reader, somewhat similar to an iPad. It is sturdy, well-protected, and very portable, which are all wonderful attributes of a computer being used in school and touched by many young hands. It is very reasonably priced at $325 per tablet (Brainchild, 2011), making it a wonderful choice for any campus on a budget. To think that our campus could buy about 30 of these tablets and stay within our $10,000 budget is very exciting!

A very important characteristic of the Kineo is the amount of access that students have to internet sites. By this, I mean there is no unauthorized searching to worry about, no random pop ups to deal with, and most importantly, no chance of anything other than educational content being viewed by the students. The Kineo was specifically designed to be used in an educational setting. The content of books and lessons on the tablets is controlled by school officials, and there are no messaging or camera abilities on the tablet. It is a device to be used for educational purposes only.

One more amazing feature is that the creator of the Kineo offers curriculum and content to be used on the tablet that is specifically designed to meet standards for the state in which it is being used. Think how fabulous it would be to have material that is already geared towards achieving our state goals! Not only would the students love getting to use these tablets themselves, the teachers and staff would have multiple uses for them, as well. Classes could use them to take book quizzes during library visits or simply have their own "copy" of the book being read aloud by the librarian. Teachers could use them as support tools to test their students' understanding of a subject matter or to give an interactive presentation in the classroom. Faculty and staff could use them in meetings to take campus surveys or sign up for upcoming events. The uses are almost neverending!

I hope my enthusiasm for the Kineo has been evidenced by now. I can't think of any better choice for a purchase of handheld devices on our campus than this product.

References

Brainchild. (2011). Kineo Android Tablet. Retrieved July 1, 2011, from http://www.brainchild.com/KineoPage.html