Our Tablet

Our school district received a large grant for tablets to implement a PLE for our students, and it decided to purchase the Asus Amplify tablet. If your school is in the market for tablets or new technology, I would check it out! It is geared specifically towards education through a specific component; I don't know what else to call it other than Amplify (that may very well be its name) but it is a class feed that gives teachers a lot of control over their students' tablets.

The picture here shows some of the controls that teachers have:

• eyes on teacher: the students' tablets freeze and display the text "eyes on teacher". What is expected of them is obvious :) 
• app control: teachers can lock/unlock specific apps to help students stay on track and use their resources appropriately
• timer: displays a timer on all student tablets
• quick poll: 2-4 answer choices to get a quick response from students
• short answer
• spot check (displayed on right): takes place of "thumbs up/down"
• call on: chooses a random student to call on and takes out the "you never pick me!" problem
• count off: randomly assigns students a number instead of having to walk around room counting off
• reasearch

The way that the tablet knows which students to target is that your class schedule is programmed into your tablet, as is theirs. When they get to your class, they "check in," which provides your connection. Students who are at home sick can also check in and stay on top of things. 

Teachers create playlists (much like your lists of songs in iTunes) for their resources that they send to students. Once they are shared with the students, the students can download them and access them at home, whether or not they have internet. 

Check out the website for the tablets here.