In the last decade, we have seen the rise in popularity of the tablet as a computing and entertainment device. Unbelievably the history of the tablet stretches back as far as 1987 with the launch of the Linus Write-Top, which featured a stylus to write on its screen. While not considered compact and lightweight in comparison to modern tablets, this is the point in tech history where most people consider that the tablet age began. Today tablets are found in most households as they begin to challenge the laptop for overall popularity for a variety of tasks. Schools, too, are steadily beginning to incorporate tablet use in their educational programs. When looking to buy a tablet for educational purposes, here are some of the key points to help you make an informed purchase.

The battery life of the tablet

One key factor that should determine your choice of an educational tablet is the device’s battery life. If it is being used for school activities and after-school homework tasks, it needs to be able to perform effectively for most of the day, ideally without needing to be recharged. Look for tablets that boast the ability to watch 8 hours or more of video playback, as this type of application can use significant amounts of power from the battery. If your educational laptop can do this, it is likely to be able to function without charging for the school day at a minimum.

Storage space

A tablet stores its apps and programs via its internal memory. Depending on the type of memory used (solid-state, HDD, or flash memory, for example), most tablets can store between 8GB and 64GB of data and applications. For educational tablets, more memory is clearly a better choice to enable the downloading of a larger variety of educational apps and resources. One key point is to determine if the tablet you are considering buying has expandable memory capacity. If your tablet has onboard flash memory slots, it will be able to benefit from upgraded storage space by purchasing additional memory sticks.

Internet and network connectivity

All modern educational tablets will be required to connect to the internet or school networks to facilitate study, so it is wise to double-check what connectivity and network options the tablet comes with. Ideally, the tablet should have dual-band Wi-Fi which will enable it to connect to both 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio bands to access the Wi-Fi networks. Some tablets operate only on cellular networks. This does not give the ideal solution to connectivity as there may be fees involved to connect to specific networks. Another connectivity feature to look for is Bluetooth functionality. This is an excellent feature to have on your educational tablet, especially when you are away from Wi-Fi networks. Bluetooth does not require you to be connected to a mobile service or have an internet connection to enable the transferring of data between Bluetooth-equipped devices.

In Conclusion

Here are just some of the key features you should consider when looking to purchase a tablet for educational purposes. There are an immense range of modern tablets on the market today, and by checking the specifications of your next educational tablet, you should ensure that it is suitable for your intended purposes.

By Manali