Android in Education

[rabidhunter]

I serve on my local board of education an am an Android enthusiast. I was reading through a journal I get regarding education. In this journal, there was an article highlighting technology in the classroom. The article talked plenty about tablets and smartphones in general but specifically mentioned iPad several times. It made mention of Google Drive and Google Applications, but nothing specifically mentioned about Android.

This, I think, is very sad. I know that Android can be and is being used in the classroom; however, it seems like it takes the back seat to Apple products. I know with the open-source of Android, it makes a great platform for educating future innovators.

So I would like to open up discussion on how Android is being used in education. I would love to hear from teachers, administrators, and education professionals, as well as those with a stake in education.

***Note*** Mods, sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place, I searched did not find a this type of thread. This might make a good sub-forum.

 

[AntimonyER]

Hey, since this is Android related, I moved it to our Android Lounge

Google announced some education initiatives at their keynote this year. The cornerstone is Google Play for Education, so they clearly are trying to get into education.

I think a tablet like the nexus 7 is perfect for education, it's much cheaper than an ipad, and much more flexible to setup for a classroom environment. Plus pogo pins yield itself to easy docking and storage charging solutions.

 

[rabidhunter]

I wish I could have convinced my district to purchase Nexus 7's rather than iPads for the summer school program. Maybe later I will be able to convince the administration. Thank you so much.

 

[jhawkkw]

The textbook industry is really hard on college students. I really wish that a deal can be struck between Google and major textbook companies to make more e-book versions of their hard copies at much more affordable rates. That way a student going to college can buy a single tablet for 500 or 600, then like 20 dollars per book instead of the usual 100-200 per book.

 

[gtbarry]

Education market reminds me of the B2B market a decade or two ago. Back then, no business buyer ever got fired for buying IBM. Now, it seems like the easy and safe default choice is apple.

Price alone should convince people to not purchase over-priced apple products. But I think the education initiatives mentioned by antimonyer will help. With it, a teacher can demo an app and then instantly send it to all the tablets in her class via the attached accounts.

It's certainly not a price (Android is by far the better price) or performance issue (Android dpi is better - ipad mini is 163 dpi and Nexus 7 is 216dpi). It's just perceived value of the apple logo.

But like IBM hardware purchases in B2B, this too shall pass.

 

[gtbarry]

The textbook industry is really hard on college students. I really wish that a deal can be struck between Google and major textbook companies to make more e-book versions of their hard copies at much more affordable rates. That way a student going to college can buy a single tablet for 500 or 600, then like 20 dollars per book instead of the usual 100-200 per book.

It's not just the texbook companies. A lot of professor's rely on the income from their books being printed and the guaranteed sales that come with it. Which creates a vicious cycle. Professors rely on the income and push publishers to push the books. Publishers pay out advances to the professors and bank on the income from sales.

Everyone involved in the selling side knows the best profits will come from the sales of hard covers.

 

[mrex]

You can use Android also in education:

For example:
1) Flinga Nordtouch
2) Socrative socrative.com
3) using Splashtop -software

And yes, i don't know why they prefer Apple. Do they really think that kids have ipads in their bag or schools buys them? Come on guys!? We need an ecosystem for an education for Android too. Apple has already done it, but Android devices and software are missing(?)... Flinga has good start, but we need more!

 

[rabidhunter]

Speaking of textbooks, there's the Kno Textbooks app that comes stock on the SG Note 10.1. That's something that I hope gets more support in the future. I also hope that Amazon gets in the game more as far as textbooks go. If anybody can stand up to publishers for lower prices on text books, it's Amazon.

 

[mikedt]

Speaking of textbooks, there's the Kno Textbooks app that comes stock on the SG Note 10.1. That's something that I hope gets more support in the future. I also hope that Amazon gets in the game more as far as textbooks go. If anybody can stand up to publishers for lower prices on text books, it's Amazon.

I wouldn't necessarily trust Amazon to be the good guys and to want to lower the prices.
Amazon offers ebook refunds in price-fixing settlement | PCWorld

After that settlement, they might think twice about forming a price-fixing cartel with Apple. Although it's a guaranteed market, students must have textbooks, and they'll probably seek to maximise profits from it.

 

[mikedt]

I serve on my local board of education an am an Android enthusiast. I was reading through a journal I get regarding education. In this journal, there was an article highlighting technology in the classroom. The article talked plenty about tablets and smartphones in general but specifically mentioned iPad several times. It made mention of Google Drive and Google Applications, but nothing specifically mentioned about Android.

As an ESL English teacher in China, I use technology in my classrooms. I normally use a PC at the moment. It would actually be difficult for me to use Android. Simply because Android seems to be poorly supported for good quality professionally written educational software, especially on the free stuff. Paid apps from Play are NOT available here. Even showing things like PPTs on Android can be very hit or miss. I've found Android office suites can often have major formatting problems when showing PPTs, especially when they have Chinese in them.

I'm seriously thinking of buying an iPad or iPad Mini, especially for my private classes, because of the really good range of top quality educational software for iOS. I've got a Macbook, the two would probably go well together.

 

[RonCorter]

We use Android tablets in our school and have been happy with them, as opposed to iPads. We did struggle finding a tablet cart that stores, charges, and secures them from theft when they are not in use because most companies only make carts for the iPads. Upon getting some recommendations, we purchased a few carts from Datamation Systems. These carts are suitable for a variety of Android tablets. The value and functionality of the Datamation carts are great, so I wanted to spread the word to other educators using Android tablets.

 

[mrex]

btw... geogebra is now working also with android =)

 

[boathead]

it bothers me how slow google has been to implement any initiatives. i've been holding out, hoping and hoping. i'll give it another year, and if nothing, i'm off to apple for my 4 year old.

from what i've seen, the ios educational apps are light years ahead of anything android.

 

[ImpKali]

When you give a child an iOS device, you're giving them something that's in the end going to be extremely expensive to replace if it gets broken, putting more financial strain on the parents than if they got a Nexus device. Not to mention that Apple's management tools for iOS devices are a joke. Google released their Admin tool for Android sometime just last May, which would allow administrators to manage all rights and authentication to Google Apps for Androids and Chromebooks; seems much more powerful a solution.

Bottom line, you're wasting valuable money if you invest in iOS devices for education. The money you spend on one iPad Air will buy two Nexus 7s or two Chromebooks.

 

[mikedt]

^^^^^
Or you can buy 10 Shenzhen cheapies. If the child wants an iPad Air, he/she can get a paper round or start washing a few cars or something.