The School Year Is Back In Full Swing:
Technology Tips That Can Help You Today and Tomorrow.

Every year, technology becomes more entrenched as part of the school year, particularly as kids are using technology at younger and younger ages. Today's variety of tech products, including new PCs and digital cameras, are right up there on supply lists with sneakers, notebooks, and pencils.

Some of the newest digital tools provide kids with an edge in classroom academics or allow them to communicate better, while others let them add increasingly personal touches to their schoolwork. The technical skills they hone in school now will remain with them for life.

But before you rush to buy the next latest and greatest gadget, parents should determine how children are using them and what features are most important to them.

Cell Phones

Parents love the idea of their kids having cell phones to provide additional feelings of safety and confidence, as well as knowing that they can get in touch with their children at all times is a comfort. However, parents may dislike cell phones because they worry that their kids are not able to handle the responsibility and will abuse the phone. Children love cell phones as part status symbol and as a way to stay constantly in touch with friends. While teachers on the other hand may be wary as cell phones can be a classroom disruption.

Two of the newest trends in cell phones may help parents and kids resolve the conundrum. First, many of the newest cell phone plans are prepaid and not monthly plans. For kids, this makes sense because they can't overspend. When their prepaid minutes are used up, they are finished until they put more minutes into their account, and kids learn to manage their minutes.

There are also a number of new cell phones designed for younger children. They are clever, fun, and age-appropriate with limited functionality. Typically these phones use a parent password and are designed to limit who their child can call.

Affordable Electronic Learning Tools

From reinforcing preschool skills like doodling and scribbling to helping kids brush up on geography and grammar, today's learning products truly keep up with tech-savvy kids and prove that learning doesn't need to stop when the school bell rings. Today's kids are sophisticated, and they aspire to have the same cool tech items that their older siblings and parents use.

Companies like VTech offer high-quality, engaging educational products, like laptops and video games that help students learn while having fun and reinforce the skills that they learn everyday in school. These products offer great opportunities to sneak a little learning into their downtime, which all kids need.

Music Players

While you might not think of music players like the iPod and other MP3 players as the back-to-school must have, they are surprisingly versatile. Yes, they can store and play music, but you can also download audio books onto them and some let you store photos too. School children can enrich their studies by listening to literature and music from other cultures. They can also use their music players to study vocabulary, learn a foreign language, and prepare for exams.

Notebook PCs

Don't lose any sleep over which notebook computer to get your kids, but do get one if your child is using the computer for homework every single evening. For less than $600, you can get a reasonable notebook PC from Dell, HP, Apple, or others. Just make sure that the machine has a reasonably sized hard drive (at least 30GB), as well as a USB connection, a CD burner drive, and a 14-inch color screen. At this price it won't be the lightest laptop (probably close to 7 pounds), but it will be great to use to study in multiple locations and for use on family vacations.

For parents not yet ready to make the transition or investment into a real computer, VTech's Nitro Notebook is a portable, high-tech electronic learning tool that looks and feels like a first laptop experience. Tools like the Nitro Notebook are designed to reinforce basic school skills and language skills through 80 engaging, game-style activities. With an affordable price of $49.99, parents and kids can't go wrong.

Digital Cameras

Now less expensive than ever, today's youngest students are incorporating digital images into their school reports and presentations. Today kids are using digital cameras to document results of their science projects, create family trees, and photograph family and friends. You can find an inexpensive camera with three megapixels of resolution for just under $100 from most major manufacturers.

Ink Jet Printers

In the digital age, presentation counts for a lot. Teachers will be wowed when your child turns in a colorful report replete with graphics, fonts, and nice formatting. An ink jet printer from a reliable manufacturer can cost as little as $50. It won't be speedy, but it will get the job done beautifully.

Wireless Networks

If you have young kids at home, doing homework is often a nomadic exercise. They want to do their homework at the kitchen table under your watchful eyes and with your helpful comments, or they want to work with a sibling in the family room. The easiest way to make homework portable is with a wireless network. All you need to go wireless is a broadband connection (cable or DSL) and a wireless router (cost is approximately $50.) You'll need your PC to have some wireless capability, either via a wireless chip or a wireless network add-on card. Wireless networks have become very easy to set up and when you plug everything in, the network immediately springs to life and prompts you with a series of questions about your particular service provider connections.

USB Flash Memory

If your child is working on a project that needs to travel between home and school, the least backbreaking and safest way for them to transport their information is on a flash memory disk. Often called keychain memory, these come in various sizes and prices (price increases as the size of the memory increases). You simply plug the memory into your USB port at home or at school and the computer can read the contents just as if the information lived on your PC. Flash disks can be found for as little as $10 to $15.