Day 4: My Favourite Piece of KIT

Is KIT a UK acronym? I’ve never heard it here in Canada. If you’re from Norther America or elsewhere in Europe, do you use this acronym? I’m going out on a limb and will assume it means Key Information Technology. I think, and have seen a few responses so far that support this hunch, that many edtechs will say their phone. After all, it’s such an integral part of our lives and has become so powerful over the years. I still remember sitting in class in my undergrad when I saw my first ever iPhone. I can’t believe my classmate actually handed it to me. I poked around the interface, not really sure what to make of it. It was neat (I was still writing notes on paper in these classes), but seemed largely impractical if I’m being honest. A couple years later, I recall a student of mine had an iPod touch and so I asked what they liked about it, what apps they had, etc. At the time they said they had the Facebook app and I couldn’t figure out why. After all, I just went to Facebook using Safari on my iPod touch, why would you need a whole app for that?

Times have really changed.

However, as important as my phone is, my answer for this question thinking about my role as an ID and less about my personal life I’m going to say either my laptop, or my iPad. Why not the phone? I’ve spent the last couple of years stripping my phone down from being an everything device. In fact, I don’t have social media apps on my phone anymore (unless you count chat apps like Signal). I now use my phone like a phone+ as opposed to an everything device. I can get information that I need when I need it from maps, duck duck go, and call and message people. My usage has completely changed, and honestly it’s for the better.

I first started dragging an iPad around when I went to Helsinki Summer School in 2012. My laptop at the time was a tank and I had no interest in dragging that around. I find with the key board attachment that my iPad can do like 99% of what my laptop can do (at least for what I use it for). Some processes are less efficient but I find the size and workflow pretty good for average uses.