Helping Parents Buy the Right Kinds of Technology for Their Children

(Originally titled “A Buying Guide for Parents”)

In this Educational Leadership article, Doug Johnson, who serves as technology director in a Minnesota district, suggests that schools planning to have students use laptops, tablets, and smartphones as part of the learning process should send detailed specifications to parents. This might be especially helpful as families gear up to give children technology items as Christmas presents. Johnson believes the most important items on a school list should be:

• The kinds of learning tasks students will be asked to do with their personal device;
• The systems with which students’ devices need to be compatible;
• The power and capabilities that will be necessary to perform instructional tasks.

Johnson also suggests letting parents know where they can get access to technology if they are not able to purchase the recommended devices. For example, in his area, an organization called PCs for People www.pcsforpeople.com provides computer equipment to qualifying households.

“A Buying Guide for Parents” by Doug Johnson in Educational Leadership, November 2014 (Vol. 72, #3, p. 86-87), http://bit.ly/1FGHOO0; Johnson is at doug0077@gmail.com.

From the Marshall Memo #563