This week I got the opportunity to try out a set of new Nexus 7 tablets to evaluate their potential for use in school. I run a 1:1 classroom with Chromebooks which I have found ideal for school use but I also use an iPad and a MacBook Pro so I have no particular allegiance to one system or another; just an interest in what works.
The new Nexus 7 is an Android based tablet from Google. Is has a 7” inch screen with amazing display performance and audio that is superior to the iPad. It has front and rear facing cameras that take both stills and video. I was initially worried that I would be put off by its small size but I did not miss the extra real estate after using it for a few minutes. Its size and light weight make it exceptionally portable. The specs claim a 6-7 hour battery life which is less than an iPad or Chromebook but still adequate to get through the school day on a charge.
Account Management
The Nexus 7 allows up to 8 user accounts to be set up on each device. One of the new options is to create restricted accounts where the primary user can restrict access to certain apps. This was designed for parents to use with kids and not necessarily for schools but it could come in handy especially at the elementary level when you only want to offer a few options. One negative aspect to using it with students would be that those who sign in to restricted accounts aren’t synced to their own Google Apps accounts but they can still access them through the browser.
The account management feature that I really liked was that when I signed in as the primary account holder on multiple devices all of the apps that I had downloaded were automatically set up on each new device that I set up. This is a much better setup than the iPad offers since multiple accounts on each device is virtually impossible and syncing apps across devices is a headache.
App Quality
The selection of Android apps is not as great as the selection that has been built up in the Apple ecosystem. Key iPad apps such as iMovie and GarageBand are missing but there are still many that work almost as well in the Android environment. I tested out many educational apps and found a lot of free ones that would be very well suited to the elementary level. Google also recently announced that a Google Play Education store is in the works for this fall. This focus promises to offer more to teachers in the near future.
Some apps of particular interest:
- Video/Photo Editing -WeVideo is a cloud based video/slideshow editor that has been upgraded consistently over the past year. It syncs automatically to Google drive and has become the go to video tool for my students. The android version lacks some of the capability of the browser version but I found it to still be highly functional especially when combined with Animoto and Aviary for photo editing.
- Note Taking -Evernote, and my new favorite Springpad both allow students to take notes and organize their work. Both can also be used to capture audio, photos, and video which would make them ideal for capturing what is happening in class. Springboard was also very easy to use to capture web resources and other media that would very helpful in tracking research. Simplemind is a good tool for mind mapping and StudyBlue works for making and sharing notecards.
- Socrative- Teachers can use this app to pose questions and have students reply via their device. Questions can be multiple choice or open ended and responses can be tracked in real time on the teachers screen which can also be projected. Socrative recently received $750k from investors for improvements and this has the potential to be an even more killer app that would replace stand alone classroom clickers.
- Splashtop Whiteboard- This was the only paid ($9.99) app that I took a look at. It allows teachers to use the tablet as an interactive whiteboard with annotating capabilities in the classroom.
Collaboration Potential
Collaboration should be a key component in a 21st century classroom so any devices used need to be able to support it. Google Drive has always been my go to solution and I was disappointed to find limited abilities to use it in the Android operating system. Documents and spreadsheets can be created, edited, and shared but presentations and drawings can only be viewed. I frequently have students collaborate on presentations and I have not yet found a solution that would support that.
That being said it still has seamless resource sharing functions. Apps and the browser are all synced so that resources can be shared across a variety of social media and note taking :
Creative Potential
One of my concerns about tablets has been that they make great consumption devices but are less than desirable when it comes time to creating robust content. Some of my go to options such as Glogster, Voicethread, and Prezi, are not supported on the Nexus 7 but there are enough app options available through the Android store that students can still make and share high quality videos, slideshows, and podcasts.
WeVideo student work example:
- No Flash- Android no longer supports Flash so this unfortunately puts it in the same league as the iPad. Many educational resources including the iCivics and Mission U.S. games that my students play would not be accessible. There are workarounds to this that I found but the average teacher would not be willing to go to such lengths.
- No Projector Output- There is no output feature that would allow a projector to be attached. However this should not really be a factor at this point, videos created with apps such as WeVideo are cloud based and can even be synced to Google accounts. Students would just have to sign in from a classroom computer hooked to a projector and go from there. Additionally, the new Chromecast could eventually have potential for sharing screens in the classroom. Right now Chromecast only supports a few different apps but that is bound to grow with the attention it has been getting.
- Testing Software and Textbooks-They are not going to run your PARCC or FAIR tests. Shame on you if that is what you are checking these out for anyway. Textbook support would be variable by publisher but there are many free digital textbook options available out there and intrepid teachers can make there own digital texts fairly easily.
- Lacks the Cool Factor- Many teachers are familiar with iOS and may not want to give a tablet other than an iPad a second look. They will have to invest some time getting to know a new operating system but I found the learning curve to be minimal.
Except for having a better system for managing user profiles, the Nexus 7 will not do anything that an iPad cannot. That being said, I think it can stand toe to toe with the iPad for most uses and is a tremendous value for schools at $230. With the new iPads still priced at $499 and the the minis starting at $329 the Nexus 7 blows them out of the water for the cost. My school has been purchasing both Kindle readers and classroom clickers but you could get a tablet that does both of those things and much more for a little bit more of an investment. Looking at it another way, you could get a new Chromebook for $249 AND a new tablet for the same price as one new iPad.
Tablets haven’t yet superseded other solutions for a true paperless classroom but are great for most 1:1 initiatives. If the solution that you are seeking is a tablet I would highly recommend checking out the Nexus 7 as a true competitor to the iPad.
 |
| Size Comparison: RAZR, Nexus 7, iPad |
No comments:
Post a Comment