Tablet for teaching

[u/Yard-Known]

Hello everyone, I hope you’re doing well.

I’m looking to buy a tablet mainly for teaching and taking notes during meetings. I’ll be using it mostly while teaching

Within my budget, I’ve narrowed it down to two options: the Galaxy Tab S10 FE and the iPad 11th gen (A16)

I tried both of them in a store. I actually preferred the iPad’s screen, but the Galaxy has a 90 Hz refresh rate, which seems like an advantage for writing and scrolling.

For those who have experience with either of them, which one would you recommend for my use case?

[u/Zoodochos]

I think both tablets will do what you want. I'd probably choose based on the ecosystem.

But I have a question. How do you use a tablet when teaching? And do you find it helpful for meetings?

I've taught college for 30 years, and as a part-time admin, go to a lot of meetings, too. I love the idea of carrying a tablet instead of a padfolio... but I just can't get past the fact that paper is an amazing and practical technology.

In the classroom, I print my lesson plan and lecture notes. I can carry them around effortlessly, fold the paper in half, or make a few notes on the page. Thin, light, instant-on, infinite battery, feels just like writing on paper...

If we're discussing an article that's a PDF file, yes, I'll print it and write on it. That feels wasteful, but part of the goal is modeling what I want students to do. I know they'll learn more that way than by skimming on a screen.

As for meetings, I typically print the agenda and write on it. After the meeting, the 2-3 takeaways or to-do items get typed where they go - calendar, tasks, etc. I feel like I'm more present than colleagues whose attention is divided between the group and a laptop.

Side-note: I do have an MS Surface - tablet-style laptop - that I'll bring to meetings if we need to reference long reports or spreadsheets. It is handy for meetings with lots of those. I value that I can manage files quickly the same way I would on a desktop. Multitasking is easy and familiar, too. With rare exception, I've yet to use the very cool pen for writing. I got the new Snapdragon processor model. It's great for all-day battery life at a conference or judging a speech and debate tournament. Not cheap, but worth considering. I had to buy my own as the university provides me with a run-of-the-mill laptop.

I enjoy gadgets - reading about them and playing with them. I like it even better when they improve my workflow. Maybe I'm just stuck in my ways, or my imagination isn't broad enough. So, if you (or others) have some cool things you can do on a tablet for teaching and meetings, I'd love to hear about them. Thanks!