A device that facilitates online education has fast internet, and a good processor is fast becoming a necessity for kids and young adults.

There are a few factors that are to be considered before deciding on a device to buy for your kids. Let us have a quick glance at the primary factors to be considered.

• School: Is your child going to be going to school regularly? Do you plan on homeschooling your kid? Or is it gonna be online schooling?
• Extracurricular: Do you plan on having your kid take coding lessons? Is there anything else that you or your kid plan on doing after school that requires a device?
• Entertainment: That old adage “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” is very true. So consider the entertainment of your kid too before making a decision.
• Space: Does your child have their own space? Or are they going to have to move around with the device?
• Cost: Last, but not least, your budget is an important determining factor.We are now going to make a list of those for you so that you can make an informed decision when you finally buy a product for your kid.

Advantages

• In places where a desk or workstation is not available, tablets can still be used with considerable ease due to their portable specs.
• Their smaller screen sizes and weaker CPUs guarantee a longer battery life.
• Most tablets nowadays come with ports for plug-in keyboards which allow for intensive working.
• They are highly cost-effective, especially if you are on a tight budget.
• A 2019 survey, undertaken by Comparitech, found that tablets are indeed more popular than both desktops and laptops among kids with over 62% of the surveyed kids owning a tablet in comparison to the 34% that owned a desktop or a laptop.

Disadvantages

• Essentially a larger variant of a smartphone, tablets are inconvenient for lengthy periods of work.
• They have fewer ports with some tablets having no ports at all.
• The glass screens of tablets are more damage prone which might render them useless.

Advantages

• Portability is of essence in the case of a laptop. All you need is a surface, even your legs folded in front of you would suffice.
• You have to commit no sacrifice in terms of computing power. Laptops have similar processors as their desktop counterparts and can run heavy duty programs and games smoothly.
• A cheap laptop with a basic CPU is more than enough for a kid to learn the basics of coding and other online activities.
• They come in all sizes. So you can choose the model that suits your kid.

Disadvantages

• It is expensive. A laptop with similar specifications of a desktop is going to cost significantly higher than the desktop.
• You lose functionality in exchange for portability. Laptops have fewer ports – be it USB, HDMI, or ethernet.
• The battery lives of laptops are paltry.
• Laptops are not conducive to good health as without a proper work station they induce bad posture.

Advantages

• Desktops are the most powerful devices amongst the three mentioned in this article. This makes them ideal for running multiple processes and programs at once without having to worry about crashing or lagging.
• A desktop can be assembled with a basic knowledge of computers. This makes them easily repairable.
• You can upgrade and customize a desktop continuously. This means everytime a new operating system or a new model comes to the market, you do not have to go after it. Instead you can just assemble the hardware that you want from those systems into your own desktop.
• An ethernet connection with a desktop is the best way to work and learn without having to worry about wi-fi connectivity.

Disadvantages

• This is the biggest issue with a desktop system. Especially in this hybrid situation where online or offline classes are not regularized and are constantly being changed depending on the situation, desktops become a burden.
• You have to buy all the parts separately if you wish to assemble your own desktop.

At the end of the day it all depends on the conveniences of you and your child. But considering the current scenario, a desktop is not feasible because of the lack of portability. And a tablet is, in essence, a bigger smartphone. So, for any work or study related issues, a laptop is the safest bet. Especially considering the rise in the number of kids opting for after-school coding programs, a laptop is the safest bet.

Check out our website today to learn more about the utility of these devices for your kids.

At SCRATCHPAD, we like you to step into a space where creativity knows no boundaries. Here, you can enrol your kids based on their skill level and not their age. We will provide a number of session timings to choose from for your convenience. Get in touch with us to learn more about our program modules, or book a free trial!