Touchscreen Electronics Options for Tweens

If you are a fan of touchscreen gadgets, it's not hard to imagine that you'd love to include these in your Christmas gift options for your children, as well.  However, as the technology becomes more widespread, the prices of the gadgets vary greatly.  As the prices vary, though, so do the functions.  What are some of the top touchscreen "toys" that tweens may add to their wishlists?

Skip the LeapPad and Innotab

There are touchscreen toys, aimed at ages 4 to 9.  If your tween is at that 10 and up age level, the kid themed animations will probably not hold their attention.  Though there may be a passing interest, these ipad like toys aren't intended for the tween. 

Ereaders

The Nook Touch and Nook Color offer touchscreen interaction, in the context of reading.  If your tween is a reader, these are outstanding options, and include a bit of web browsing and apps with Nook Color, as well.

iPod Touch

One of the precursors to the iPad, the iPod Touch is popular with tweens and teens, with a vast selection of apps for gaming, ereading, web browsing, organizing, and communications.  A dominant player in the mp3 market, many tweens and teens sink big bucks into their iTunes collections, and are unwilling to sacrifice those investments for a new platform.  (Read about Facetime on iPod Touch.)

iPad

There are many apps that are specifically devoted to iPad, and some of the educational options are amazing.  Additionally, the size of the iPad is a little easier on the eyes, compared to the small print and visuals on the iPod Touch.  Smoothly transitioning from other Apple products, your tween can keep his or her music collection intact, and this will be even more true with iCloud management coming in fall of 2011.  Both iPod Touch and iPad serve as a good ereading interface, as well, with free Kindle and Nook apps, along with iBooks.

Other Tablets

There are many touchscreen tablets available, aside from the Apple products.  You can examine the top rated offerings, and reviews, from the perspective of Amazon customers.

iPad for a Tween, or other Tablet Computers?

iPad 2 for Tweens

Tweens are pretty handy with modern technology, often more so than many of their parents, aunts, uncles, and other older acquaintances.  That said, I'm sure that if you select one of many tablet computer options available,  your tween will run circles around you in figuring out how it works.  However, there is something to be said for the very intuitive Apple products, and with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad sharing so many characteristics and uses, it's much easier to move from one to the other of these popular devices, without difficulty, and with a less steep learning curve.

Without getting into to specs of any of the varied products, and working strictly from the point of view of a parent who has to oversee the tween and his or her use of the tablet computer or touchscreen device, it isn't hard to see that music alone makes it sensible to stay within the same family of products.  Judging by my teens' use of iPod and iTunes, their worlds are wrapped up in their music, which in turn, is wrapped up in iTunes.  To switch to an alternative system could be harsh!  I don't know how many hundreds of dollars these youngsters have sunk into their music libraries over the last several years, but believe me, it's significant.  While there may be some options with other tablets and app stores, the reality is that the experience will be much smoother if the medium for listening is the same, and the time to get it up and running, less frustrating.  When the iCloud releases, this will be all the more true.

There may come a day when they will prefer the type of use many fans of Android tablets desire.  However, for the moment, my perspective is that the tween will use an iPad more for entertainment and research, and not so much for productivity.  If an iPad is within your budget, it's a sensible choice for the tween who already has an extensive iTunes library, along with a set of favorite iPod touch apps. 

iPad for Tweens: Pros and Cons

As a parent, it doesn't take much of an internet search to recognize that tweens love tech gifts and tech gadgets, and that iPad is one of the top tech gadgets for tween wish lists.  Some of us may look and think that it's a pricey toy.  Others of us, fans already of iPhone and other touchscreen devices, may think more in terms of the educational value.  No, it's not likely that our middle schoolers are thinking that their tween iPad is going to help them excel in school.  However, if the tween thinks that this argument will achieve the end result, don't be surprised at their pulling it out!

Apple iPad 2 Tablet:  Newest Model
16 GB WiFi, White
Click Image for Further Detail

On the positive side, iPad, and other touch screen tech gadgets, incorporate multiple learning modalities:  tactile, or kinesthetic learners have a hands on device, which taps into their active learning style, one that is very difficult to teach to in traditional classroom settings, and even more so in upper grades.  Auditory and visual learners, as well, are able to use the iPad in ways that work with their preferred means of learning.  If any educational device meets all of these modalities in one place, it's the iPad. 

Apple iPad (first generation)
32 GB Black, Wifi
Click Image for Further Details

App development for touchscreen devices has multiplied monumentally, and whether your child is interested in the solar system, or in learning Spanish, the iPad has apps for these areas.  Math quizzes, strategy games, graphing calculators, and more...there are a multitude of inexpensive, or free apps that meet educational needs, both generally and specifically.

Apple iPad 2
64 GB Wifi and 3G
Click image for further details.

iBooks provides access to ereading, and Kindle and Nook both have apps for iPhone and iPad, as well.  The iPad provides access to multiple ereader formats, and though much more expensive than a Nook or Kindle for a tween, is much more versatile.  If you were to purchase an iPod, a netbook, and an ereader, you would easily spend as much, or more, than you would for the most basic iPad.  From that perspective, iPad can be an outstanding investment.  Refurbished versions of the early generation iPads can be purchased at prices that take some of the sting out of the investment.  Newer versions are great, as well, and Apple has a track record for continually improving and re-defining already successful technologies.  Tween iPad use is a good means of getting some informal education into your middle school student's recreational activities.

On the down side, tweens can be somewhat irresponsible with technology items, and you really need to evaluate your tween's behavior and responsibility.  An iPad in a tween backpack is scary enough (the abyss of the middle school backpack is downright frightening!)...but when a tween takes a tech item to school, trouble is bound to happen...anything from confiscation by a teacher, to theft by a classmate, to damage in mishandling.  You must set groundrules with a tween iPad owner, and you must be prepared to impose consequences for infractions. 

Otterbox iPad Defender Case in White/Blue
Click image for further information.

Protective enclosures are advisable for the tween iPad owner, and Otterbox is a very good choice, in terms of their protective covers.  Double protection, with a silicone outer shell to absorb shock upon impact, combined with an inner hard case, makes Otterbox doubly protective.  Tweens can be a little clumsy with belongings, and if another iPad isn't affordable, you want to go out of your way to assure the safety of the one you select.

Be sure to check out user reviews of iPad 2, with a variety of insights into the use of the popular tablet pc.