The Compute Stick

First Impressions 

Looking at the Intel Compute Stick for the first time, I was total amazed at the size of the device. It is hard to believe that a whole computer can fit in the palm of your hand. The Compute Stick runs Window's latest operating system 8.1(Windows 10 is coming soon) and offers 32GB of storage with 2GB of RAM. There are even ports for micro USB and standard USB. It is an incredibly small computer for $150.

It's impact on Education

I am trying really hard to find a place for this in my classroom, but I feel like there are many more options that are much more feasible. Let's analyze this…. In order for the compute stick to be of any use, you must have some kind of display. In most cases, you need an HD TV to display content from this device since it uses an HDMI port. Sure you can find a cheap HD TV out there, but you are now up to at least $250 for the Compute Stick and the TV. I believe that a Chromebook is a much better purchase for the money. The price of the Acer C720 Chromebook is $229. It is much different than the Compute Stick because it runs its own Google operation system. Google has its own document suite which is all saved in the cloud. The document suite (Google Drive) is free with 5 GB of free cloud storage. It has all of the functionality of a normal computer, it is just based online and needs wifi for its functions. This laptop is light-weight and very portable. Other options that make since are this Asus Transformation tablet that can convert from a tablet to a laptop with a full keyboard. The refurbished price for this tablet is right around $250. 

Here are a couple videos you can watch so you can see some comparison between the Compute Stick and the Chromebook.

Google Glass in Education

My Thoughts on Google Glass

When thinking about my first encounter with Google Glass, I can remember being excited about it but, on the other hand, I really didn't think that it would become something that many people used. I say this because of the shape and how it is worn. I remember the team from Google sky dived and parachuted wearing Google Glass, while at the same time they were streaming video from Glass in a Hangout, talking to a huge group of people as they were falling.

Info About Google Glass

Google Glass pairs to your smartphone for its internet capability and can also connect through wifi. You can't buy Google Glass right now, but when it was available, the price was somewhere around $1500. The battery life is a concern when thinking about purchasing one of these devices. It has a touch pad on the outside of the plastic housing, but can also be controlled by voice. I think that the hands free feature of Google Glass makes it unique. Google Glass can be used in the same way that many smartphones can now, but it adds another dimension when the device is hands free. I like the feature that allows one to translate objects that you might see. If there is something written in a different language, you can translate it by asking Glass to translate.

Google Glass in Education

In terms of education, I can see many ways it could be useful. Virtual field trips could be completed with hangouts from one person (or more) and streamed to a classroom to show many students at once the place one would be visiting. I can see science projects being documented as the student records themselves hands free preforming an experiment. If students are working on a task, and are not able to complete that task in school, they can complete the task at home and record using glass to show that they have completed it. I'm not sure if this is a device that will be affordable by many school systems as the $1500 price tag is a big concern. I would be great to get a class set of these and just explore to see what students can come up with in class assignments and projects!