My New Toy...I think I'm in love!

My corp, like many others, is moving toward 1-to1 computing with personal devices for all our students. I am very fortunate in that my building gets to pilot the devices, and even more so in that our 6th grade gets the new Lenovo ThinkPad 10" . Our three core teachers get one, and I get one to play with for a few weeks to learn the ins & outs since I am our tech integration specialist. Having said that, I am an iPhone/iPod/iPad person. I have never use a Droid, never really wanted to. All that has changed now, and this device appears to be enough to get me to cross over to the dark side....except that I'll lose my iTunes purchases That iStinks.

I call my tablet a toy because it makes education like playing, rather than work. Toys offer kids the chance to explore, investigate, and just have plain fun. When education becomes like play, students are much more likely to let down their guard, throw themselves into learning and *GASP* enjoy it. 

My initial impression is that this is a high powered machine. Because it's designed for business use, it comes preloaded with software that is very conducive to education, including (from Lenovo's  datasheet on the tablet)...

•Documents To Go: View and Edit MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel documents. View Adobe® Acrobat documents.
• MyScript Notes Mobile: Takes advantage of the ThinkPad Tablet Pen to convert handwriting to typed text.
• USB Data Transfer Utility: Easily transfer files from external storage via the built-in full-size USB port
and this easy to use software.
• Favorite Apps: Enables you to manage your favorite applications.
• User Data and SD Card Encryption: Protects your confidential information stored on your flash media card.
• WiFi Import or Export

I am excited to have one section for 2 extra classes a week, as I plan on incorporating many uses of the tablets in a non-traditional setting. We will blog, create Prezi's with media we create on the tablet, cloud compute, socialize on Edmodo, and much more. The catch, however, is that we'll do it from the courtyard, from the hallway, out front under a tree, etc. Our building is currently being configured for wireless access from top to bottom, so we can work ANYWHERE! 

We'll ask real-world questions & use real-world skills to answer them. While I am trying to stay ahead of the learning curve so I am prepared when my students get their devices in a few weeks, I must say this is one of the most exciting, enjoyable challenges I have ever faced professionally. 

Bring it, Droid. I'm ready!