Affordable Technology For Your Educational Needs

The exponential growth of the Internet has freed up information like never before, giving anyone with a network connection access to essentially the sum total of human knowledge. Likewise, the cost of the hardware necessary to interact with all that information has dropped significantly in the past decade. Long gone are the days when a laptop was seen as a luxury. Today, it's an absolute necessity for those pursuing a degree or just taking some classes at the local college. Below you'll find a brief summary of the many ways students and lovers of learning can get their hands on the technology they need for their education without going broke.

Affordable Notebook PCs

The last big trend in notebooks focused on education was the nimble netbook. Netbooks feature 10” to 12” screens, chiclet keyboards, and ample storage space. They're the perfect size for taking notes in class, and they're a great budget alternative to full notebooks since they're almost always under $400. If you need a more full-featured notebook, many more powerful models with 15.6” screens can be had from manufacturers like Toshiba, Asus, and Acer for under $600. It's entirely possible to purchase a brand-new laptop with 500 GB of storage, 4 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a speedy Intel Core i5 processor in this price range.

Tablets and Accessories

Things keep getting smaller and better in the technology sector, and that's especially true for tablets. Tablets are perfect for learning in a group setting, pulling up educational materials on the fly, and watching instructional videos. The iPad may be a bit out of your price range, but there are tons of Android-powered tablets that are just as good for far less. Makers like ZiiO, Coby, and Toshiba offer tablets for under $350 that are perfect for students. As for printers, scanners, and other peripherals, Amazon features many cheap but rugged options that will satisfy most educational needs.

Final Thoughts

When shopping around for the best deals on technology for educational purposes, take a tip from savvy consumers everywhere and use a time-tested tool for finding bargains. In other words, look for coupons. Online coupons, like these Dell coupons, are a terrific way to achieve even greater savings on laptops, tablets, and peripherals. The web is ultimately your best tool for ferreting out the greatest deals possible on the equipment you need in order for your educational path to become a successful journey. Those deals are out there, you just have to look hard enough for them. If you need a new laptop or tablet for class, there's no shortage of options on the table.

The New Site for EdTechReview

If you have been directed here in search of a specific article from the previous EdTechReview.com and can not find it here, I'm sorry. I have neglected the previous site for far too long, and am focused on this new more comprehensive teaching site. I originally was going to leave the old site up but it's Wordpress installation was corrupt so it would not upgrade correctly leaving it open to security flaws. When it successfully was hacked into a few days ago I immediately pulled it down and downloaded the database of blog posts.
I decided that it would be good to make EdTechReview a part of a site I am actively updating rather than putting it back together to sit and languish in obscurity. As I prepared to import tho old stories I looked through the list to find that many of the articles are totally obsolete, or are ads or press releases from companies and products that do not fit well. I have since decided that I will go through and only load articles that I think still have some value. They may not talk about the current version of a product but they still direct you to valuable resources. If you happen to find that the article you were looking for isn't here it's OK it probably wasn't that good anyway.

A Cool way to Multiply (Video)

Website: http://www.glumbert.com/media/multiply

Grade: A

I found this video that teaches a new method of multiplication. It has worked time and again as I have tried it. Give it a try.

glumbert.com

Murphys Law for Teaching

Site: http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-teaching.html

This is just a fun list for teachers, because it seems to be true to life. I copies just a small portion, please visit the site for the full list.

• The clock in the instructor's room will be wrong.
• Disaster will occur when visitors are in the room.
• A subject interesting to the teacher will bore students.
• The time a teacher takes in explaining is inversely proportional to the information retained by students.
• A meeting's length will be directly proportional to the boredom the speaker produces.

Continued at: http://www.murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-teaching.html

GPS Technology in the Classroom and Geocaching

In my previous article I talked about one of my new favorite hobbies, Geocaching.  If you are not sure what geocaching is or how it works please visit geocaching.com for more details.  I pondered on how this cool technology could be used with students.  I have noticed that my own children's knowledge of directionality, judging distance, and map skills have significantly increased since we began Geocaching.  The challenge with integrating Geocaching into the classroom, is that we are relatively limited in where we can go.  I'm quite sure that a bus couldn't't make it to the places I have been, and the liabilities of taking a fourth grade class climbing up a 30 foot cliff  are just a little to great.  I think you will find that with a little searching you are likely to find a safe Geocache withing walking distance of of the school.  If not you can always create one or two.  I have thought about using the concept to create small learning stations scattered throughout our school grounds and then we could do an activity where in small groups students can find the learning stations using a GPS then complete the activities.  I also think it would be fun to set up a geocache of our own as a class.  to make it interesting for visitors we could include a book of student works such as poems or short stories .  As people visit they will leave feedback and comments about your Geocache site that students can check periodically.  These are just a few ways I have thought of to integrate GPS and geocaching in my classroom activities next year.  Please ad your suggested activities in the comments.