What Is New For Schools In 2013?

As 2013 rolls in, school administrators across the country are making decisions on how to spend their truncated budgets and figuring out how to make the little money they have work best for their students.

The past 10 years have provided a wealth of technological innovations for learning, but unfortunately schools often must pick and choose which ones they can afford to invest in based on how well they serve their pupils.

Here are 4 investments that schools desperately need in 2013, and why in a perfect world schools would be able to invest in all 4 to make their schools true ivory towers of learning.

Tablets for special education students

While we are not yet at a time when schools can afford to furnish all of their students with expensive tablets, for select students like those with learning disabilities tablets can truly make the investment worthwhile.

Special education departments are investing more and more in tablets because research shows that children and teenagers with learning disabilities can learn better via tactile and interactive tablets than they do via pen and paper. Tablets are an investment, but they give great returns when invested in those children with special needs.

Updated lab tech

The infrastructure in too many high schools laboratories is outdated, meaning that learning across all the sciences is being stunted by an inability to carry out practical work. More and more schools have resorted to an over-reliance on textbook learning because they can’t meet the required health and safety standards due to old equipment.

This year is the perfect time for investment in the laboratories in our schools, as basic items like petri dishes and fume cupboards will enable teachers to really get kids enthused about science and show them that biology, chemistry and physics are so much more than just pages of boring equations.

Wi-fi connectivity

The number of schools that still lack wi-fi connectivity is stunning considering how commonplace wi-fi has become in public places. Wi-fi allows students to bring their own laptops and tablets to school so that they can work on their own equipment in their own style.

Even better, the introduction of wi-fi frees up many of the desktop computers that schools do own - meaning more children can get online during breaks and lunch to work on projects and homework.

Online suites

Often the most useful tools to tech wise teenagers are ones found online, and that is why more schools should be investing in the online tools they use to bring information to students. Many schools and most universities use software like blackboard to host virtual learning environments where students can download course materials and assignments (saving on paper and nixing possible ‘I lost the assignment’ excuses) and also submit homework and interact with their teachers and fellow students.

All in all, there are many investments school administrators can make to improve their schools, but unfortunately they must choose which ones suit their particular needs best and place the rest on the back burner.

The above 4 suggestions are ideas that can work in any school environment, and hopefully with future investment schools will one day be able to choose all 4 innovations and possibly others to make schools the best they can be.

   Nate Miller

About the Guest Author:

This is a guest post by Nate Miller, a part-time guest-blogger and a huge tech enthusiast. He currently works for Tecomak, which is a marketplace for quality developers and companies.