Purchasing Technology Todd Alexander

As a technology facilitator, you will be asked to make decisions about technology purchases.
Which device do you think will benefit the students and teachers? Once you have determined
this, which vendor or brand will you choose? In this unit we will explore the steps a facilitator
goes through when purchasing new technology. We will have you narrow your search down to
two potential vendors and products and complete a product comparison.

Planning for Technology

Before making product comparisons, you will need to decide what your schools learning goals
are. What technology products might help improve student learning? To do this, the logical
first step is for your school to complete a needs assessment. Where is your school currently
and where do they need to be? Once your needs assessment is complete, you should have a
better picture of what technology will work best with your school to improve student
learning.

Helpful Questions to ask when determining which technology you should choose

How well does this tech support my curriculum?

Is it engaging and easy to use?
Does its longevity match the cost?
Does the tool fit into my schools tech strategy?
Will the tool work with my schools network and wireless infrastructure?
How imaginative is the tool? Is it simply another way for students to write papers or
create static presentations?

CHOOSE A PRODUCT
Tablets We are currently looking at a tablet option for our 1:1 initiative.

RESEARCH
In many instances, you can gain perspective and knowledge from other educators that have
gone down the path you are about to travel. Research the pros and cons of your technology
product as it relates to education. Link at least 3 articles below. Include one tip you learned
from the research.
Link # 1: The Pros and Cons of
Using Tablets in the Classroom

Link # 2 17 Pros and Cons of

Using iPads in the Classroom

Our reason for instituting a 1:1 initiative is to enhance

student learning and engage students in that learning.
This resource explains that tablets extend student
learning by providing flexibility and opportunity to
learn the material. Also, it extends STEM (science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills while
helping prepare kids for the workforce by instilling
technology skills necessary in the 21st century.
Some tablet issues we have concerns about were costs,
technology limitations, and distractions. Providing a
tablet for every student is going to be very expensive,

Link # 3 The Paperless

Classroom: Pros and Cons

which is especially troubling for a school with already

limited funds. Some limitations confirmed on this site
were the typing capabilities, which can be very
frustrating and time consuming. Also, not every textbook
could be made available on the tablet. Finally, behavior
is a point of concern we would need tablets that have
some sort of digital management system to keep the
students on the appropriate tasks.
This source provides a good pro if we convert to using
technology in our classroom rather than paper and
textbooks. Some teachers are for the tablet system
because it would bring their classrooms into the digital
age and teachers can easily manage the materials
distributed in class (i.e. rather than paper, use files).
Others feel that it would be good for the students
because they would not need to carry around multiple
heavy textbooks and can hold on to materials in one
simple device. This article also cites the learning
curve. Some schools have jumped directly into 1:1
initiatives without taking time to come up with clear
policies and direction (i.e. educate the product to
themselves and come up with the policies before
distributing them to the students).

PRODUCT COMPARISION
Apple iPad Air 2
VENDOR Apple (Click Here)
FEATURES (specs)
Size: 9.7 inch LED Screen
Processor: 64-bit processor
Memory: 16 GB to 128 GB RAM
Battery: 7340 mAh
Cost: $500 (minimum)
PROS
CONS
Less screen glare
Cant multitask
Crisper camera
Smaller battery
Greater speed

Minor upgrade from

ipad Air

Google Nexus 9
VENDOR Google Nexus (Click Here)
FEATURES (specs)
Size: 8.9 inch LCD Screen
Processor: 64-bit processor
Memory: 16 GB to 32 GB RAM
Battery: 6700 mAh
Cost: $400 (minimum)
PROS
CONS
High res. Camera
Apps need updating
Great speakers
Construction seems
cheap and its dense
Faster Processor
Battery not user
replaceable

RATE YOUR DEVICES

PRODUCT A
RATING (1-10)
PRODUCT B
PRICE
6
PRICE
FUNCTIONALITY
8
FUNCTIONALITY
USABILITY
9
USABILITY
TOTAL
23
TOTAL
Link to winning features of both devices: Click Here.

RATING (1-10)
7
8
8
23

Evaluate the Vendors

Before choosing a vendor, you need to evaluate their company to be sure that they are a good
fit for your school. Will the vendors maintain a relationship with you after they have made
the sale? Will they be willing to help support the device or software? Do they offer
demonstrations, pilots, or trial periods? What are past customers saying about these vendors?
VENDOR A
Website- Click Here
The first thing you see is a link to the
keynote address by the Apple CEO
introducing the device. The front page goes
through features of the device and provides
information (size, capabilities, features,
etc.) as you scroll through the page. They
are really trying to sell you on the
greatness of their product. Whats really
neat is as the site goes through the
information about the product (in a brief,
understandable, and visually appealing
manner) it provides links to more
information to back up the claims they are
making. The site is easy to navigate and the
support and information about the product
is easy to find. They even have a hotline
to call to receive technical support.

VENDOR B
Website Click Here
The website for the Nexus 9 is mainly
advertising on the front page. It does have
videos that help to sell the product. You
can sign up to receive email news about the
Nexus devices. After some navigating, I
found a support tab (this was sort of
hidden which was not very user friendly).
It has information on updates, the hardware,
and troubleshooting. It also has helpful
information for device support but no direct
contact information.

Support
Support is provided through the website.
Support includes user guides, specific and
easy-to-find support information, and even
online workshops and forums for receiving
help. The availability of support makes the
product that much more appealing because
of the easy access to that information. The
site makes you feel like they want your use
of the product to be successful.

Support
The website has a help tab that you had
to sort of fish for it did not present it
outright. This portion of the website has a
tab with getting started features
explaining how to use the device. The user
guides are complete with instructions and
visual aids and some have videos. The same
features are available for troubleshooting
issues. Again after some fishing for it I
found the Contact Us portion. You can
submit a question through their website.
They even have a help forum where Nexus
users can help each other with tech issues.

Company Reputation
Apple has great name recognition. A recent
survey found that Apple was the top of all
its competitors with regard to the
reputation quotient. Apple is about the
show (they always have big rollouts of
their new products), but its also about the
quality of product and service for their
customers.

Company Reputation
The Google Nexus company has a pretty
good reputation. Its known for putting
forth good technology at affordable prices.
The brand has name recognition and is
relatively popular with an average rating of
four stars out of five.

Product Reputation
A good way to put the Apple iPads
reputation is that it is the gold standard
for tablets. Most reviews say that the
device itself has some enhanced features
(such as better anti-reflective screen,
fingerprint scanner, thinner, better camera,
etc.). However, most say that it is not that
great of a change from the earlier iPad Air.
The popularity surrounding the Apple brand
has certainly translated into this product. In
comparison to other iPad models, the iPad
Air 2 has all the features of the old one but
is more user friendly with greater
appreciation for the new model.

Product Reputation
Some say this tablet looks average its
not much different than most android
tablets. Many customers report that this
device is good because it is visually
appealing, user friendly, fast performance,
and timely updates. Overall, this product
has received positive reviews with very few
cons or bad reviews. The main issue I
noticed that was common was that this
device was no different than other tablets
there was nothing special about this tablet
compared to other ones.
Click for a Review.

Click for a Review.

Which Product is the winner?

Both products have great positives and few negatives. When it comes down to the decision
for my school, there is not much preference of one over the other. We feel that both
devices would be incredibly beneficial. Both devices would be given an equal rating based
on information about the devices and the reviews. Apple does seem to have greater
recognition and reputation with the tablet market (its been in the market longer than the
Google Nexus). Apple also has greater support available for using the device and figuring
out issues with it. Overall, both devices would be equally great for our school system.
However, when considering the finances of our school district we would have to be
incredibly cautious about spending. It would be nice to have the Apple iPads and all of the
luxuries they bring, yet our choice would have to be the Google Nexus. This decision is
based largely on the price value. It seems as if both devices are incredibly similar and they
provide the resources, apps, technology, etc. our school desires. So, if we can get what we
need from a tablet but at a cheaper price, then we would have to select the Google Nexus.