Android In Education

[dotcom414]

Hi Everyone. I work in an IT department in a school district in California. We are looking at features that Android tablets would offer education. I myself am pro-Android but I wanted to get the opinion of the community.


What are a few features in the Android Operating System (and other applications) that you feel would benefit Education in a whole?
Would you recommend Android in Education? Why?

Any other additional comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Devinator]

I would recommend Android for all aspects of life, lol.

Seriously though, what level of schooling are we talking here? Elementary, Highschool, or college? If the students are old enough to program (which, in reality, can p;robably be done at some scale as early as 10), you could get them started developing an app or something as a class project.

You could have class outside. Lol.

And, not that this is Android specific, but, Google Drive is great. Document collaberation, and, having access to your docs on your PC, your phone, your tablet, etc. is really handy. It's a big part of my life, and, I could see it being an even bigger part if I were a student. I wish my job used Android so we could use Google docs, at your desk, at meetings, at home, etc.

 

[dotcom414]

Thank You for your response!

We are talking High School, the main reason for the questions is to direct educators in the correct direction when the time comes to purchase a tablet.

 

[Devinator]

If it's highschool, then, that's great. If I were in highschool, and, we had tablets in our programming classes, I would have been thrilled. You could have them all develop their own apps, have a competition to develop the best app, have them develop apps that the school could incorporate. I see lotsa possibility there.

 

[NickA]

Are you focusing more on what the teachers/administrators will use it for, or the students? I've implemented hundreds of both Android tablets and iPads in school districts, and the decision on what to use was based on what the school district's main goal was.

 

[Devinator]

All of my statements were regarding students. Are you looking for ideas how the staff could incorporate them?

 

[dotcom414]

Both Staff and student views. Our Staff are unsure in what direction to proceed in and we want to give them information on what platform to purchase.

Thanks again for responses.

 

[Devinator]

No problem. I'd be curious to hear what ideas you have so far.

 

[NickA]

For administrative purposes, we used the Asus Transformer (the original) with the keyboard dock. Most of the teachers and administrators didn't need a laptop, and the Asus was a perfect companion for them to do what they need to do. Polaris Office was a suitable (and free) alternative to buying MS Office licenses for all the laptops. We found the tablets were getting more use than the laptops, simply because of the speed and portability. And it's great not having to worry about making sure it has the latest security updates/patches like on Windows machines. Remote administration of Android tablets is great as well.

For students it's iPads. Tons of educational and learning apps for students K-12. The OS is very forgiving for students that aren't as advanced as other students. And most students have at least an iPod, so the transition is natural. And before ICS and Jelly Bean, Honey Comb was all there was for tablets. That made the decision to go Apple a little easier. And even now, not that Android tablets are bad (I have a Note 10.1), but iOS is smooth, solid and stable on the iPad. And with 680 students, they don't have to worry about issues with the OS.

 

[Devinator]

Also, you can use Google Drive. It's great. Cloud based and collaborative.

Wow, that's awesome. I wish I had been given a tablet for school, lol.

Yea, I mean, iOS just works. So, it would seem good for something like that. Still, might be more fun for any tech classes to get them some Android devices, because, you can do so much more with them.

 

[Paul627g]

Just from a general pro-Android point of view I would love to see more developers grasp Android when it comes to educational and business related applications as they have for iOS or iPhone/iPads. My wife and her line of work is a good example, she is a graduate BSN Nurse and soon to have her MSN, Nurse Practitioner and Teaching Certificate in Nursing. The one thing that has always bugged her is the limited amount of development support for Android in the medical field. It is growing more but no where near the efforts put into iPhones/iPad's by developers. I feel this is unfair not only to Android but to the Android community in general, because lets face it not everyone wants to necessarily own an iPhone or iPad because they are Android owners, but end up making the purchase into the Apple market because that is where the apps are.

Same I'm sure is said for education. I'm in full support of pushing more Android tablets into the education place both academic and on the administrator site. Android is showing they are constantly improving security, UI friendliness and overall dependability. I think the latest OS (Jelly Bean, Android 4.1.x) has really taken things to the next level in terms of a solid performing OS.

Final thought, I believe at some point education, business & medical fields are going to have to take that "chance or gamble" and support Android more. From a developers point of view they look at the bottom line, "What do the schools, medical or business buy?" Apple is the common answer. So that is where they focus their development efforts first, then they fall back and support Android if their product is doing well. So basically its going to take a some help from not only the developers but the consumers/business/education, etc. to buy into more Android and show developers they want Android support or a "choice" and not always forced into going strictly into the Apple market.

I see it more each day now, a person has an iPhone/iPad in their workplace but then for their personal device they roll with an Android because they like freedom, choices and what Android offers compared to Apple.


Just my thoughts, a parent of 5 children with 4 currently enrolled in school grades 3rd, 5th, 6th & 7th.

 

[Jamie Hibbard]

I know this is an old thread but working in a primary school in the UK i felt the same, so created eduDroid it's available on the app school and can help schools manage a network of devices. we now have 80 devices used for all sorts of lessons.

eduDroid.co.uk

The play store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.bigfishstudios.eduDroid