Ten Thousand Dollars for Handheld Devices? What to buy, what to buy?

Your technology director has given you a budget of $10,000 for the purchase of handheld devices in your library. Using the prices in Chapter 5 of Courtney as a general guideline, what would you purchase and why? Your grade for this blog entry will be based on your justifications for what you purchase and your creative ideas for how to use the handhelds in the library, whether by students, faculty, and/or staff. A line-item budget is not necessary. However, it is important that this entry is written in narrative paragraph style (e.g., not a list). 

 Ok, in creating my fantasy list, I am going to start by assuming that my library has Wi-Fi, and has at least one or more regular internet connected computers.  I am going to start with some of the lower end devices. Namely, MP3 players. I think I would purchase 10 of them at $50 each, for a total of $500. (remaining $9500) These would be ideal for loading various play lists of music which students can listen to as they read the various books in the library. (There are some people who just plain read better with a little background music. I'm one of those. However, I realize that not everyone is able to read with music on in the background.) The purpose for these would solely be for music enjoyment, and due to their low cost, more can be purchased.

The next item I would purchase would be a PMP. I would want it to have video recording capabilities, as well as the ability to add podcasts to it, and be Wi-Fi enabled*. So, it probably would be in the higher range of $700. I would purchase 5 of these for a total cost of $3500 (remaining $6000). These would be mainly be able to be checked out by teachers while being used by students. Possible activities include: student made videos on any number of subjects, search YouTube for relevant videos on specific terms or concepts and make a list of the top 5 quality videos, listen to various educational podcasts, and perhaps class projects documenting various events during the school year through photos and video which can be shared with other classes.

*According the to the text, the PMP's are not wireless enabled. However, they include the iPod in this category, and presumably the iPod touch would go here as well. It is Wi-Fi enabled.

The final item I would purchase would be two tablet PC's, which according to the text, range in price from $1500 - $2500. Considering the new Apple iPad is considerably less, I'm going to go with the low end of the range. So, $3000 for two ($3000 remaining).  These would be available to be used within the library by students, or checked out by faculty. Functions would include: e-book reader, educational web-based games, use the flashcard software to study for different classes (teachers can input categories of flashcards for students to study), teachers can check it out when attending lectures or conferences and record audio while also taking notes - which then can later be accessed by other teachers who may not have been able to attend, plus much more.

The remaining $3000 would be used to purchase equipment such as microphones, and to purchase the music and other applications or software to enhance the usability of the various items.