So I bit the bullet…or actually my wonderful husband did-and I got an iPad 2.I have only had it for a few days but I can tell that I love it already. As a result I’m going to be doing some reviews of apps for productivity and also apps that would be appropriate for an education setting as more and more schools are purchasing them.
I don’t have much to say about it just yet, but I will say this – I find typing on this (in landscape mode) to be much easier and more natural than I would have ever imagined. In fact, I have typed this whole post on my iPad with very difficulty. The keyboard is very similar in size to a netbook, so those with large hands may find it more difficult, but the predictive text corrects most of my mistakes and I can type without staring at the keys, something I never expected to be able to do without the tactile guide of physical keys. Longer fingernails get in the way of the capacitive touch on the lower row of keys occasionally, but honestly I will just cut them if it bugs me enough, that is how convenient this keyboard is.
Also, the battery life is amazing on this thing. I have used it extensively the past few days, and not once has it ran out of battery after a full overnight charge. My cell phone cant even do that and it is a fraction of the size. Oh and did I mention that I was streaming HD videos during parts of the day? Yeah you should be impressed. This is a piece of hardware that could easily last through six classes of moderate use without needing to be charged.
Speaking of streaming media, the video quality is great and the speakers are loud enough for my husband and I to watch tv shows on it together. If you are a teacher this could easily be used to set up stations with different videos on them for the students to watch together. Or you can have them create them by some of the apps I will be talking about at a later date.
Now if your a teacher or technology coordinator you may balk at the $500 starting price for the wifi only version, but from what I can see so far, this is not a purchase that you will regret making. There are some downsides (for example the lack of easy or inexpensive repair in case of accidents) however if you purchase an extended warranty with the product that shouldn’t be a problem. Network integration is a cinch, and you don’t have to worry about kids downloading programs that will slow down or screw up the hardware because they have to know the password for the owner account (which you won’t give them!)
So stay tuned for future app reviews, currently I am evaluating a note taking app that, if it works as they claim could be very useful in a 1-to-1 environment, or even in a collaborative group setting.
See you soon!
