Day 17 – Getting real work done with a Windows 8 Tablet
A Windows 8 Tablet for Teaching and Learning - Day 17
FrIday, December 21, 2012
Today was a long day. It was the last day at work before I get to take a few days off to enjoy the holidays. I had a ton of work to complete today before taking a few days off.
One of the projects I am now working on is updating inventory for technology replacements within our college. We use an aging inventory analysis to keep our equipment up-to-date and equipment is turned over on a routine basis. Each year we replace approximately 25% of our inventory to keep things fresh and also so we do not get hit in any one budget year with a huge dollar amount of replacement charges.
This proactive management of inventory keeps our faculty and students on the leading edge of technology use to improve the teaching and learning process. It also reduces maintenance costs and prevents end user frustration as older equipment is replaced before things begin to breakdown and equipment goes out of warranty.
To do this I have a large spreadsheet with computer numbers and room locations to check inventory. With over 500 devices to manage within our college this is no small task. One of the huge benefits of this tablet is that it runs the full version of Office 2010. This tablet is not limited, I use the same standard office applications that I routinely use on my regular PC. I had a co-worker help with some inventory tracking using an iPad but the iPad app could not read the larger spreadsheet files we were working with. Many apps are crippled, as was the case with this app that only allowed for up to 50 items in a spreadsheet. That is a limitation that is not practical to get routine office work done.
Being able to take the tablet with me from room to room made it easy to check and update inventory. The lightweight and long battery life gave the tablet an advantage over a laptop that I normally use. Because it is compatible with our business systems I can also login to access and edit reports needed to get the job done. The Samsung Ativ 500T tablet has easily handled the heavy office applications that I use in my day-to-day work.
There is a hidden and non-glamorous side of teaching where it is often necessary to buckle down and write that report using Word, or update that spreadsheet with Excel, or create that presentation with PowerPoint, or grade those papers using the digitizer Pen that comes with this tablet. Because the Ativ 500T uses an x86 processor it can run all of the major Office programs that have become de facto standards and does not suffer the limitations of the app world. The apps are there if you need them, but so are the full blown applications.
A long day, but a productive one.
Keep on Learning,
Tom Grissom, Ph.D.
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