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Part I Back To School Tips for Today and Tomorrow

What technology does this school year hold in store for your children?

Published: September, 2005

Every year, technology becomes more entrenched as part of the going back to school ritual. Today, new PCs and digital cameras are right up there on the list with sneakers, notebooks and pencils. And kids are using technology in school at younger and younger ages.

Some of the digital tools offer an edge in classroom academics, others let kids communicate better and still others let them at add increasingly personal touches to their school work. The technical skills they hone in school now will remain with them for life. Here are just of few of this year’s hot trends in school plus some ideas that are just now on the radar


Flash memory like this will let children cart work to and from school.

But, before you rush off to buy the next latest and greatest gadgets, you should find out how children are using them and what features you should be looking for.

Cell phones

Parents love them because provide cell phones can provide additional feelings of safety and confidence. Knowing that you can get in touch with your children is a comfort. Parents don’t like cell phones because they worry that their kids are not able to handle the responsibility and that they will abuse the phone. Children love their cell phones as part status symbol and as a way to stay constantly in touch with friends. Teachers are wary because cell can be a classroom disruption.

Two of the newest trends in cell phones may help parents and kids resolve the conundrum. First, many of the newest cell phone plans are prepaid and not monthly plans. For kids this makes sense because they can’t overspend. When their prepaid minutes are used up they are finished until they put more minutes on into their account. Kids learn to manage their minutes.

There are also a number of new cell phones designed for younger children. They have clever, and fun, but some limited functionality that makes them age appropriate. Typically these phones use a parent password and setup to limit who their child can call.

Music Players

While you might not think of music players like the iPod and other MP3 players as the back to school must -have, they are surprisingly versatile. Yes, they can store and play music, but you can also download audio books onto them and some let you store photos too.

School children are enriching their studies by listening to literature and music from other cultures. They are even studying vocabulary, foreign language and prepping for exams on their music players.

Notebook PCs

Don’t lose any sleep over which notebook computer to get, but get one if your child is using the computer for homework every single evening. For under $600 you can get a reasonable notebook PC with from Dell, HP, Apple or others. Just make sure that the machine has t a reasonably sized hard disk (at least 30GB) , a USB connection, a CD burner drive, and a nice 14 inch color screen. At this price it won’t be the lightest laptop (probably close to 7 pounds) but great to use to study in multiple rooms in the house and take with you on weekends and vacations.

Digital Cameras

Less expensive than ever, even the youngest students are incorporating digital images into reports and presentations. For example, kids are using images to document science projects, create family trees, photograph events they attend. You can get an inexpensive camera with 3 megapixels of resolution for just under $100 from most major manufacturers.

Ink Jet Printers

In the digital age, presentation counts for a lot. The teacher will be wowed when your child turns in a colorful report replete with graphics, fonts and nice formatting. An ink jet printer from a reliable manufacturer can cost as little as $50. It won’t be speedy, but it will get the job done.

Wireless Networks

If you’ve got young kids at home, doing homework is often a nomadic exercise. They want to do their homework at the kitchen table under your watchful eyes and with your helpful comments. Or they want to work with a sibling in the family room. The easiest way to make homework portable is with a wireless network. All you need to go wireless is a broadband connection (cable or DSL), a wireless router (these now cost about $50). You’ll need your PC to have some wireless capabilityh — either a wireless chip or a wireless network add-on card. Wireless networks have become very easy to set up. When you plug everything in the network immediately springs to life and prompts you with a series of questions about your particular service provider and connections.

USB Flash Memory

If your child is working on a project like a report or presentation that needs to travel between home and school the least backbreaking and safest way for them to travel with their information is on a flash memory disk. Often called keychain memory these come in various sizes and prices. (Prices increase as the size of the memory increases.) You simply plug the memory into your USB port at home or at school and the computer you’re using can read the contents just as if the information lived on your PC. Flashdisks can be found for just $10 or $15.