Technology is a prominent factor in almost everyone’s daily lives, it helps us make our jobs easier and it is certainly a must-have in order to keep up with today’s trends.
Of course, teaching is also incorporated with the use of gadgets. Many teachers have been using different gadgets to make their job easier and effectively teach students through the use of multimedia.
One of the most popular gadgets used by teachers is a tablet. A tablet is closely similar to a personal computer but it is a portable gadget that anyone can bring anywhere. But what specific features should be present in a teacher’s tablet? Please read further down to find out what you should be looking for.
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What Specific Features Should Be Present In A Teacher’s Tablet? 5 Most Important Things To Look For
Reliable Battery Life
As a teacher, you need a tablet that can work for long periods of time because you are not just handling only one class, but you handle and teach several classes in a day.
You need your tablet to keep up with the daily activities that you need to provide for the students, and you would not be able to effectively teach if your tablet ran out of battery.
There are some tablets that are fast to charge, however when you always open it and run some applications it can go from 100% down to 50% in only a short amount of time.
Personally, I would go for a 4000-4500mAH battery because it can last a whole day just keep it closed if it is not in use. Lowering the brightness as much as possible so battery life can be conserved is ideal too.
Many tablets are already equipped with a power-saving mode, so just choose a tablet with that feature and good battery life then you are good to go.
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Fast Processor
If you want to multitask on your tablet, which you will probably do on a frequent basis, then you will need a fast processor in order for your tablet to keep up with your heavy-duty work.
There are some applications as well that require a good and updated processor so that it can smoothly be run by your tablet, that is why choosing a good tablet needs to have a fast processor.
Tablets with a fast processor usually are not priced cheaply such as Apple products. But now, both Apple and Samsung have promo discounts if you donate an old phone or tablet to them so if you have an old tablet that you are willing to donate then you can then after that, they will give you a discount for the tablet of your choice.
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Vast Storage Space and RAM
Pick a tablet that has a decent amount of internal memory because being a teacher means you have many files of students, not only in one class but in different classes as well, plus the paperwork needed in the department will definitely eat up some memory in your tablet.
A 16GB memory space is not enough for a teacher, keep in mind that the amount of available space in that 16GB memory will most likely be only 12GB because the tablet itself needs to eat up some memory in order to operate.
That is why I recommend having at least a 32GB internal memory just to be on the safe side, it is better to have excess storage than a limited amount of storage which can slow you down.
The same goes for the RAM of the tablet, 6GB RAM is a good minimum for a teacher’s tablet so that it can run any teaching applications smoothly. It will also determine if you can multitask on the tablet, turning on many applications at once will require a high RAM so that the device will not hang or lag upon use.
The higher RAM there is, the smoother and faster the tablet will operate.
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High-Quality Camera
With all of the academic institutions conducting online classes, having a good quality camera will be a good investment so that students will still be able to properly interact with the teacher.
If you do not have the money to invest in a laptop or a computer, then using your tablet to conduct online classes will be just enough.
However, keep in mind that there are some tablets that do not have any camera installed that is why when buying a tablet for the flexible learning approach you should keep in mind that you will need a tablet with a camera.
But do not just pick any tablet that has a camera installed, if you are going to buy a tablet with a camera then it is better to find one with good quality.
This is to ensure that you will be able to properly impart learning to your students, and it is also a good feature to look out for because there are some things that you cannot properly teach without some visual representation.
So if students are having a hard time understanding the lesson, it is either you discuss it again which will take time, or just simply show them what the lesson is all about through the use of the camera feature.
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High-Grade Speakers and Microphone
We all got to admit that at some point in our lives, we had a gadget that is not as good as it seems in terms of sound quality. There are many gadgets that are priced low due to that fact; the sounds of those gadgets can be compared to the sound of a can and of course, we do not want that at all.
If you are going to buy a tablet, we should thoroughly check the sound that it produces as well as the state of the speakers attached to the tablet as well.
Check if the tablet’s speakers are in the form of big holes—this is necessary to check because if the speaker has big holes then it can easily be clogged by dirt and potential bugs that can affect the sound it produces. It is preferable if you would get a tablet with smaller holes so dirt would not enter that easily.
Microphone sound should also be clear, try recording your voice through the tablet’s voice recorder then judge from there. If ever you do not have any alternative microphones to use, then you can just easily use your tablet’s microphone.
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Conclusion
Purchasing a tablet will deal a heavy blow to your budget, which is why there are some specific features that you need to consider in order to make your investment in the gadget worthwhile.
The brand of the gadget does not have to be a high-end one, there are some precious gems under those famous brands that have the same features but are priced cheaper so take note of that.
Of course, a high-end brand does not mean that it is any better, just stick to the features that you need and then go from there.
