Essential iPad Hardware and Software for Teachers

After two weeks with my iPad, I have sold my laptop and dedicated my mobile life to my iPad. I am an educator by trade. For teaching, the iPad is the perfect tool for 95% of what I need a computer to do, and it turns out that the other 5% probably isn't as important as I thought it was. Converting my lesson planning, teaching, and student accountability paradigms to the iPad took some careful planning and tools, but now that I have a system, I am loving it.

Luckily, the iPad hardware is fantastic, and the user interface and experience are so welcoming, that I had zero learning curve and almost no problems with converting. There are, however, some essential pieces of hardware that I needed, and there are 5 applications that are absolutely indispensable. But now that I have the iPad education package complete, I am actually a far more productive and mobile teacher than I have ever been.

iPad Hardware Needs for Teachers

The Apple iPad - The iPad hardware will set you back a few hundred dollars. The unit itself with be between $499 and $699 for the WiFi only version, and the 3G version will cost you between $629 and $829. I personally opted for the 16GB WiFi only version. I didn't want or need another 3G service cost, and most academic institutions have WiFi available. I have also found the 16GB more than plenty for me with the creative use of cloud storage solutions (more on that later).

The Apple Bluetooth Keyboard - I paid $59 for the a refurbished Bluetooth Keyboard directly from the Apple Store. The new keyboard cost 10 dollars more, but the refurbished model has the same warranty, looks, and functionality. In my opinion, there was no reason to justify spending the extra dollars.

They keyboard is essential because, as a teacher, I do a lot of typing. The on-screen keyboard is very effective for informal typing, quick emails, or even web browsing, but for typing this article, or creating handouts and keynote presentations, the keyboard is a must. The keyboard syncs flawlessly, and works well. I have not experienced any delay, mistypes, or errors. With the proper stand, the Bluetooth Keyboard and the iPad is a far more comfortable and ergonomic computing experience than my laptop.

VGA Connector - This is one piece of hardware that I did buy, and I do use it, but I do not know if it is essential. For $29 dollars, you are buying the ability to play YouTube videos and Keynote presentations on a video projector. Personally, I have a few dozen PowerPoint presentations that I have adapted to Keynote, and I do use them. But honestly, the VGA adapter adds very little to the iPad experience. If you use presentations quite a bit, like I do, it is probably worth the cost, but for many you can skip it.

iPad Stand - There is a $30 dock available from Apple, and I have seen other docs and stands for as much as $100. I could not justify the price for a simple tool to hold my iPad up while I typed. I opted for a plastic business card dispenser from Office Depot. With tax, the iPad stand came to $1.07. I made sure to take the iPad into the store with me to ensure the proper fit and angles. I could not be happier with my choice, and I save at least $29.

iPad Case / Skin - This is the one area that I splurged. I purchased both a silicone skin and a neoprene case for my iPad. Total, the combo cost $30 from Amazon. I know that the device is rugged, and will probably hold up to some gnarly torture, but I do work with Middle School students, and I just wanted the extra protection. The silicone skin is custom designed for the iPad, but neoprene case is just a standard 10" Netbook case.

4 Essential iPad Apps for Teachers

GoodReader - GoodReader is the secret to expanding your iPad storage capacity. With GoodReader you can easily import or export documents, presentations, PDF files, spreadsheets in and out of your iPad storage. It works seamless with both MobileMe or DropBox, but I also use it with my own personal FTP server.

Here is how GoodReader typically works. I create a document at home on my home computer, or I have a presentation that I made years ago. I simply save it to my DropBox, and then I connect to my DropBox via GoodReader. After downloading it to my iPad I can view it, and if I need to edit it, GoodReader allows me to open into any iPad application that supports the document such as Keynote or Pages. Once I edit the document, I can either email back to DropBox, or I can sync with my home computer.

GoodReader is only $.99 from the iTunes App Store. Essentially, for one dollar, you expand your iPad's storage capacity exponentially. That's a steal.

Evernote for the iPad - I use EverNote as my primary note taker, word processing, and to-do list generator. Via Evernote, everything I type is automatically synced across multiple devices and across the web. The software is free and offers nearly every word-processing tool that I might need including bullets, font styles, and paragraph styles.

Typically, I will draft out a piece of writing or a presentation in Evernote, and then paste it into Keynote or Pages for the final touches. But for smaller things like meeting notes or quick lists, I can keep the files in Evernote and view them on the run from my Cell Phone or home computer. Evernote is available at the iTunes store for free.

Keynote from Apple - I use presentations often in my classroom. Not only do I use them to present information, but I also project graphic organizers on my white board to use for student engagement and planning. Keynote is the perfect tool for presentations on the the iPad.

Granted, Keynote on the iPad is limited in what it can and can't do, but I am not ever trying to create art in my presentations. Mostly, I am importing PowerPoint presentations that I, or another member of my team, has created. Importing PowerPoint presentations generally works smoothly, but I do lose some text formatting and graphics options. For example, if I use any Microsoft specific fonts, they are automatically dumped for Helvetica on the iPad.

When combined with the VGA adapter, I have a presentation system that works as smoothly as my Touchsmart laptop did. Apple Keynote is $9.99 and is available at the iTunes Store.

Penultimate - I do miss one thing about my Touchsmart laptop, and that was the stylus input. I know Steve Jobs did not think a stylus was necessary for iPad users, but I still liked the ability to quickly and accurately jot down notes on the fly. Penultimate on the iPad gives me back that functionality.

Penultimate allows me to create and organize notebooks that I ca easily write on with my fingers. Jotting with my "finger stylus" is simple and smooth. I can easily make short notes or write down quick reminders with my fingers. The notebooks can be shared via email or exported which. Essentially, Penultimate gives my iPad the best functionality of OneNote from Microsoft, but it only costs 2.99 from the iTunes store, and I don't have to lug around a five pound laptop.