Back-To-School Technology Trends

The end of August radiates with late-summer heat and sunny days. But September, with cooler days and welcome fall breezes, ushers in the fall. And with fall comes nostalgia for those back-to-school jitters. The smell of wood shavings in the pencil sharpener. The feel of a brand new notebook in your hands. The comforting straps of your backpack resting on your shoulders. While a sharp pencil and clean sheet of paper may conjure nostalgic autumn memories, these tools don’t quite capture the reality of back-to-school in 2017. Here are two of the biggest trends in student technology this year:

TABLETS

Ever since Apple introduced the iPad in April of 2010, tablets have been one of the fastest-growing technologies in classrooms—adding heated competition to the textbook industry’s desire to control costs. Tablets are a $72 billion industry.  And in a 2015 report by Pearson—a major educational publishing company—83% of surveyed college students expressed the belief that “tablets will transform the way college students learn in the future.”

Tablets offer students time- and money-saving tricks by making textbooks both digital and rentable. Rather than paying one big check for one big textbook (and then lugging it around all semester), students have the option to rent a textbook online—and read it on their tablet. Saving their money and their posture.

2NDGEAR offers new and refurbished tablets in many price ranges.

CLOUD-BASED SYSTEMS

As cloud-based systems become more common and more familiar to us, schools are adopting their capabilities to allow students more streamlined ways to save, share, and submit their work for grades.

To deliver the cloud-based content that instructors, professors, and teachers are asking for, students need a reliable computer—a desktop, or even better, a more mobile laptop—to complete their schoolwork and make the grade.

2NDGEAR offers a range of new and refurbished laptops, chromebooks, and all-in-one computer systems.

A sharpened pencil has always served as an apt metaphor for a sharpened mind. And by using the best technologies available, you can continue to sharpen your skills and extend your education well beyond the classroom.

Do you still celebrate “back-to-school” time? What technologies do you wish had existed when you were a student?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below, or get in touch at Info@.2ndgear.com!