Touch Screen Tablets
Today touch screen devices are all the rage. Most of today's new smart phones, tablets, mp3 players, digital cameras, and computers have touch-sentsitive screens that allow the user to interact with the devices by using their fingers, a stylus, or a digital pen. Because these touch devices respond to finger motion, they are very user friendly. A child for example isn't going to have to use a mouse to select information on a screen, or use a keyboard to zoom in; all that child will need to do is tap their finger on what interests them to select, or pinch their fingers to zoom in or out on the screen.
Not only are these devices user friendly, they are also incredibly intriguing to children in this digital age.Touch enabled devices are the most up-to-date machines, and children naturally are engaged when working on them. For these reasons I think incorporating touchscreen devices into the education curriculum is a great idea that will enhance student motivation, engagement, and ultimately result in higher performance in many subject skills.
Touch screen tablets are number one in my mind when I think of incorporating touchscreen devices into the classroom. These devices do not take up much space (less than a computer, and monitor) and they can easily be help in the hands of elementary children. Today even Apple's ipad mini is available, and would be ideal to give to first through third grade students. The original ipad, larger in size would be more appropriate for grades four and up through high school. There are also other touchscreen tablets available for students such as the Dell Latitude 10 tablet, and the Samsung Galaxy Note II.
Below is a youtube video giving us feedback from a 5th grade teacher, and her students on how they feel about using ipads in the classroom. See for yourself how these touch screens can engage young minds as well as yours.
As these students were explaining in the video, there are endless ways to use touch screen tablets to enrich their curriculum. I also want to share a link to the article, 25 Ways To Use Tablets In The Classroom. I particularly like way #25 from this article: using tablets for current events. My school is doing away with Scholastic News next year, and we are trying to find a way to keep our students up-to-date with current events. We could use touch screen tablets in the classroom to allow students to work in pairs to research current events on kid friendly websites like Time for kids, or discovery kids.
Every teacher can use tablets in their classroom in at least one way, and many teachers will probably find more than ten ways to use touch screen tablets. I know that each classroom is different, and that's why these tablets will fit nicely into those classrooms. They are versatile, and exciting for students of all ages.
-Lisa Costello