Submitted by: Hugh Tanner

At the Florida Educational Technology Conference a new educational device was showcased, the Kineo. This device s main objective is for school use. It is run off the operating system, Android, which was created by Google. A lot of their technology mirrors that of Apple, but with a more lax system. Apple is completely confined to having things the way they want it. With Android operating systems, Google wants users to be able to change the devices and personalize them so they fit the customer s lifestyle. They have open sourcing enables other third party information to be shared so the user can customize their devices. Unlike the iPad, this is locked to Apples standards. With this Android device, the Kineo, they can block out any content that is not educational. This is of great benefit to schools and teachers because it takes out the worry of what the kids could be downloading or looking at with an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Apple has been making their way into schools and claiming the benefits that could arise from equipping students with their products. They have amazing educational applications in the Apple application store as well as a flawless and organized operating system. The only problem with Apple s products is that they are not customizable. Schools won t be able to adjust the setting on an Apple product to be able to only allow educational applications to be downloaded. The application store is relatively conservative, as every app has to be approved by Apple and there is no x-rated content. They have a selection of applications that state when you purchase or download an app that you must be seventeen years of age or older to download the particular application, but that warming is a simple yes or no and then it continues to download. These applications are rated seventeen or older mainly because of violence, because of a shooting game, or a dating application, such as eHarmony. So it s not really the inappropriate content that the schools are fearing, it s the distraction that these devices could cause.

With the Kineo, because it has the option of only allowing certain information to be shown this is a great advantage for schools because the students will be able to learn much more easily without the distractions of all the cool applications they could be downloading. Schools are always looking for new technology and new educational devices that will help their students to understand their subjects better and help them to do better on tests. It s very important for school ratings for the students to score well on their standardized test, that s why schools are always investing on new inventions and new educational technology. Since the time is changing and students are starting to relate more to technology than lectures than anything else, it s important for schools to keep their technology updates. If a school doesn t have the up to date equipment and is still relying on chalkboards to do their lectures, parents won t want to send their kids to that school.

About the Author: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit

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