Tablet PC Purchase

Updated for the 2021-2022 School Year

Click the play button in the image below.

Dear CCDS Students and Parents,

This year we’ve moved the tablet PC purchasing schedule forward about a month. As you may know there’s a computer chip shortage internationally, so we have an increased sense of urgency for parents completing their tablet PC purchases as soon as possible.

Seven years ago, we were early adopters of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, and in fact were among the first people in the world to use these devices. Microsoft produced this video at CCDS as we were testing it. An interview I did six years ago continues to be shared via Twitter, and it really is a great overview of Country Day’s powerful learning environment. It is worth a read: The Device Matters. Based on our experience we have deployed successive generations of Surface Pro tablets over the past six years, and we can say with confidence that the Surfaces have exceeded our expectations. We will be deploying the Surface Pro 7+ for the coming 2021-22 school year.

For those of you who are planning to purchase a new Surface Pro 7+ this year, please watch the purchasing video above and then place your order here. See the FAQ for details. We recommend paying by electronic check (ACH) to minimize service fees. The ordering deadline is Friday, June 4, 2021. Important details about purchasing requirements and deadlines are shown in the tables below.

The Surface Pro 7+ is the thinnest, lightest, and most powerful tablet PC that we have ever deployed at Country Day. It makes for a lightweight information consumption device with 10-point touch sensitivity. With its Intel Core i5 processor, it retains full laptop functionality with digital inking capabilities — the writing, annotating, sketching, and highlighting functions on which our teaching and learning have come to depend.

Research continues to show that this is often the best way to learn. A study by Pam Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel Oppenheimer of UCLA showed that students who took notes with paper and pen recalled material better than those who used keyboards, even when the students using keyboards were given coaching on how to type better notes. Mueller stated:

I don’t anticipate that we’ll get a mass of people switching back to notebooks, but there are several new stylus technologies out there, and those may be the way to go to have an electronic record of one’s notes, while also having the benefit of being forced to process information as it comes in, rather than mindlessly transcribing it.

I have compiled in Microsoft Office OneNote Online some more examples of great pedagogy with tablet PCs here. An older video, the CCDS Tablet Showcase, is one that Microsoft has used internally and with other educators all over the world to highlight the benefits of tablet PCs in education.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns at (513) 979-0217 or at bakerr@countryday.net.

Sincerely,

Rob Baker