Using Some Peripherals with the Surface RT

The summer really kicked off for me when I attended the ISTE 2013 Conference in San Antonio the end of June. It has been a busy summer doing workshops, consulting and working with new hardware and apps. I was fortunate to receive a Windows Surface RT from the Microsoft Education Team at ISTE 2013 and have been exploring its feature set and how it could be used in the classroom. Using the Windows Surface RT, I have become accustomed to using Windows 8 on a tablet and have enjoyed learning the new operating system which has some nice features. Unlike the Windows Surface RT's big brother
the Windows Surface Pro- you can not install Windows 8 legacy software on the Windows Surface RT and are relegated to downloading apps form the Microsoft Store. While the number of educational apps is growing there is still a need for more high quality apps for use by educators. Having said that, there is still a good base of apps for students and teachers to utilize on the Windows Surface RT especially since the Surface RT, comes standard with Microsoft Office. I would imagine that many students will be coming back to schools which have invested in the Windows 8 tablet platform and will find themselves needing to get up to speed. 

From an instructors perspective you will find it easy to use the Windows Surface RT as an instructional tool and I would highly recommend that you go out and purchase a HDMI to VGA cable that will enable you to plug your Windows Surface RT into your data projector. There are many companies on Amazon that sell this cable for a couple of dollars that will

really make your life easy using the Windows Surface RT in the classroom. For that matter you can also plug the Windows Surface RT into a larger external monitor and use it as an alternative to a laptop. The Windows Surface RT also has an audio out jack making it easy to plug it into an external speaker. If you are so inclined you can also pair your Windows Surface RT to a Bluetooth speaker giving you complete flexibility. I was quickly able to pair the Surface RT with my Hidden Radio Bluetooth speaker and enjoyed watching videos on my Surface RT. For those of you who would rather use a mouse with your Windows Surface RT you may find the Microsoft Touch Wedge mouse a good alternative. The Microsoft Touch Wedge mouse is small Bluetooth enabled device that lets you scroll both vertically and horizontally utilizing the Windows 8 operating system. Pairing the Microsoft Touch Wedge mouse was fast and easy and it worked well on all of the surfaces I tried it out on. As much as I enjoyed having access to the Surface Touch Cover, I found that it just didn't work for me and I went out and replaced it with the Surface Type Cover which adds minimal weight to the device. Having access to the Type Cover gives me a great working experience when I am typing or using Microsoft Word on the Surface RT. 

Using the various peripherals with my Surface RT enabled me to customize my working environment when using the tablet and made for a much more enjoyable experience. If you were one of the lucky teachers to receive a Surface RT at the ISTE 2013 Conference stay tuned for some other ideas and tips and tricks of using the Surface RT in the classroom.

 

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Kicking the Tires on the Microsoft Surface RT

ISTE 2013 is long gone and is now just a fleeting memory- but wow was it fun! The ISTE conferences by and large remains one of my most favorite conferences to attend. This year was a lot of fun as I had a chance to meet educators from around the globe who see the potential for creating environments in the classroom and beyond that engage and enlighten students. No doubt we are moving into a post PC world which was evidenced by the sheer number of companies showing off their tablet solutions for the classroom. One of the companies which certainly made a big Public Relations splash this year was Microsoft. As part of Windows in the Classroom Surface Experience Project, Microsoft gave away 10,000 Windows Surface RT's to educators who attended the ISTE conference. It was quite interesting to see educators at the conference carrying their iPad in one hand and their new Surface RT in their left . I even spotted a group of teachers in the hotel one night sitting around the table figuring out how to get started with the Surface RT and Windows 8.  I will disclose that I was fortunate enough to meet with Cameron Evans, National Technology Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Education, Cameron Evans, who is responsible for shaping and executing Microsoft Corp.’s technology and policy strategy in U.S. Education. Attending the ISTE Conference as Media, I had a great conversation with Cameron and he shared with me Microsoft's dedication and commitment to the education marketplace, understanding that his company had to become more focused and amplify the message as to the range of products and services that educators could rely on from Microsoft to achieve their goals in the classroom. At the end of our meeting Cameron was gracious enough to give me a Surface RT to take home and use. 

For those of you who know me-you know that I was an early adopter of the  iPad since it was released and own an iPad 1, iPad 2 and an iPad Mini. The iPad revolutionized how we work and  it has been a real boon for the work I do in the field of assistive technology. With that having said, I wanted to be open minded to the Surface RT and give it a test drive to see how it would perform. Overall, I have been pleasantly surprised and am really enjoying using the Surface RT around my home and when I travel. The Surface RT is very well constructed and made of a type of magnesium alloy that gives it a great look and feel. The Touch Cover is an innovative and functional cover/keyboard all rolled into one. At first glance you are not too sure you will be able to use the Touch Cover effectively but with a little practice you will find that it works quite well. The kickstand which is part of the Surface RT always is there when you are ready to read or type and having a full USB port makes it handy for the times when you want to transfer a file to your Surface RT from a thumbdrive. While I am familiar with Windows 7, Windows 8 is a whole new operating system that took me a little bit of time to figure out (well about 10 minutes give or take a few :-)). Its use of colorful tiles for apps and live feeds is innovative and very inviting.Using the familiar swiping action lets you navigate through the screens as you would expect and customizing the tiles is as easy a dragging them to the desired location. It did take a little getting used to the idea of the Charms on the

right hand side of the screen but I have found it a welcome addition to Windows 8 to help me navigate through the Surface RT. While many have lamented about the look at feel of Windows 8 (Metro style) I found it to be attractive and enjoy, having real time feeds appear in the tiles from my various social networks which are linked to my Windows 8 account. Having access to the touch enhanced versions of Microsoft Office Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote is another helpful perk especially when I am concerned about not losing the formatting going between different systems. I have found that the Surface RT has wonderful battery life and connecting it to various WiFi networks was fast and fluid. Bering able to switch from one app to another by swiping is a great short cut and one that I use often. While Apple has decried the use of Flash on their iPad, having access to Flash on the Surface RT has been great especially the way it is integrated into Internet Explorer. If I had any gripes I would like the Surface RT to have a faster processor so that screens are rendered faster. There are times when you wait for the information to show up on the screen.

One of the areas which needs to be addressed is that there are far fewer apps for educators that are available for the Surface RT in the Microsoft Store. One of the short comings of the Surface RT is that since it sports an ARM processor it is not possible to install legacy Windows 7 or 8 applications that you might want to. Therefore the only applications that you can install are those that have been written specifically for the Surface RT. While most of the major apps that you would expect to find are currently there, (ie. Kindle, Amazon, Netflix, Evernote etc.) there are still too few apps for the classroom especially in the area of assistive technology. Yes, Microsoft did embed a lot of accessibility features into Windows 8 (Text to Speech, Narrator, Zoom, and Speech Recognition)  there needs to be more work done to persuade developers to provide educators with a range of apps so that we can use on the Surface RT with students with special needs. 

As much as Microsoft has taken a hit in the press with regards to writing off $900 million dollars due to poor sales of the Surface RT- it was necessary for Microsoft to show the industry that it could design and develop top of the line hardware so that they can control its destiny in a post PC world. The Surface RT is an interesting tablet with a lot of functionality but one which was not really well defined or understood from the outset. This in my opinion cost Microsoft ground in its race to achieve market share in the tablet space. Now that Microsoft has lowered the price of the Surface RT to $349 dollars it has an opportunity to refocus its marketing and communicate to educators and consumers the value proposition of owning a Surface RT, compared to the other tablets in the marketplace. While this may be a formidable task- one gets the real sense that Microsoft is in this for the long haul and is just getting ready to rock and roll! 

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Belkin Sets the Stage!

As the iPad takes hold of the classroom, educators are looking for new ways to extend the functionality of the device and take advantage of it's powerful feature set. While many of us have utilized the camera on the

iPad for still photographs or for taking classroom videos- companies like Belkin want to extend the reach of these capabilities and help teachers get the most out of their iPad investment. With this in mind Belkin has just released the Belkin Tablet Stage which turns your iPad into a document camera and presentation system. Having had a chance to work with the Belkin Tablet Stage first hand, I am impressed with the quality and attention to detail of the design.

Putting together the Belkin Tablet Stage took about 10 minutes and was rather straight forward using the step by step directions in the booklet that accompanied the device. The Belkin Tablet Stage cradle can accompany a wide range of tablets, everything from the iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy, to the iPad Mini. The cradle can easily be pivoted from landscape to portrait mode making it easy to use when using apps or as a presentation tool. The Belkin Tablet Stage has an easy to use release button that allows you to easily and quickly remove your iPad or tablet from the stand. The Belkin Tablet Stage base is securely weighted to ensure that your tablet stage does not fall over. Teacher who prefer, can secure the Belkin Tablet Stage to the desk with screws, with the cut outs provided  in the base. Zooming in and out with the Belkin Tablet Stage is easily accomplished by pressing down on the latch on the post and moving the arm up or down.. The designers of the Belkin Tablet Stage took into account that teachers would be connecting their tablets via a cable and have provided a cabling management system that works well and keeps it out of the way when using the stand. As a nice touch, Belkin has also included a light that affixes to the post which can be turned on when you need to illuminate an object or page under the iPad. Teachers will really enjoy the freedom of this device when the iPad is paired up to an Apple TV which allows you to use Apple Airplay technology to wirelessly send the video and audio to the data projector.

While teachers can utilize any number of apps that takes advantage of the iPad camera, Belkin has also released a free app called the Belkin Stage app which compliments the stand. Stage is an easy to use app that can be utilized to mark up and annotate whatever is under the camera. Its innovative user interface pops out from the sides when you are using the various tools and then slides back to the sides so that it doesn't get in the way. While you have the traditional pen tools with various line widths and a laser pointer the really nice touch is being able to create label flags ahead of time that you can then pull out from the drawer to highlight important features of your pictures or objects that are under the camera. Once you have annotated the image you can capture the image and save it to your camera roll for later viewing. One of the unique features of the Stage is the ability to record a video complete with annotation and audio. This does require an in app purchase but is definitely worth the cost of $1.99 for the video and recording feature. Teachers that are moving to providing students with videos for a flipped classroom model will enjoy using the Stage app and the annotation feature for crafting their videos. The Stage app also allows you to use the app as you would a blackboard and you can even bring in pictures from your Camera Roll and annotate them as well. Here is a video demonstration of the Belkin Stage that I prepared utilizing the Belkin Tablet Stage.



All in all, there is a lot to like about the Belkin Tablet Stage and is it a great iPad accessory for the classroom that you will enjoy using. While working with the Belkin Tablet Stage, I did have a tendency to want the be able to swing the iPad around the post which is in a fixed position. In order to rotate the iPad from a portrait or landscape mode you need to rotate the frame which takes a little more time. I also wish as a presenter, that there was a lighter travel version of this Belkin Tablet Stage which would make it easier to transport from classroom to classroom. I also did note that when working in the Belkin Stage app that the Flags did not always rotate to the right orientation when going from Portrait to Landscape mode. Except for a couple of minor issues, the Belkin Tablet Stand and Stage app are a strong contender to move to the top of the class when it comes to iPad accessories for classroom use. If you are attending the ISTE 2013 Conference stop by the Belkin Booth #5247 so that you can see first hand what a great product they have designed.

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ISTE 2013- What I Will Be Packing!

Well it is hard to believe that another year has come and gone and I will be off to ISTE 2103 Conference in San Antonio in a couple of days! It figures to be an exciting venue with over 18,000 educators attending. I am sensing a lot of energy this year which should make for a great show. I put this Haiku Deck together to give you a glimpse of what I will be packing. Enjoy-and stay tuned for some new product announcements on my blog!


www.haikudeck.com

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