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Comment by tylerchilds | Hacker News Reader

What about plugging a mouse into the Chromebooks? I distinctly remember being in kindergarten and using a mouse as my pointer input. I played Treasure Mountain! and some other educational games.

Kids are pretty capable and adept at picking up new things. We should be pushing forward with tech literacy while they're still young and not afraid of breaking technology. Touch screens are great because they provided a very directed experience, but I believe that has more to do with the software itself being designed more intuitively when you're limiting the user to app-style software. I think software engineers should be focused on making accessible software for these target demographics. I think getting kids used to keyboard/mice/touchpads will get them more comfortable and prepare them for more complicated things down the line, like coding and word processing where keyboards are objectively a the best input.

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Our kids' school supply list for the last couple of years has included: USB mouse and headphones for the Chromebooks.

Yes, kids can use a mouse far before Kindergarten. I remember my kids playing PBS Kids games with a mouse when they were probably 3 or 4.

That being said, I do understand the concern if a mouse isn't available as I'm 39 and I can't use track-pads either without grinding my teeth in frustration.

Great for normal users, awful for disabled users. A touchscreen is light-years ahead of mice for individuals who lack or are incapable of fine motor control skills.

I assume different school system has different rules, but here in Sweden there are laws that school must adapt based on the need of the child. A disabled child should get the right tools based on their needs, which will depend on the exact circumstances.

For someone with impaired motor control skills I would assume that default software and a touchscreen is far from usable. There is a reason why many touchscreen system has a stylus pen, which would obviously not work in kindergarten for children with impaired motor control skills. A large screen and software designed for it could be one way, but I have also seen massive trackballs that I recall is being used in those situations.

ChromeOS is touch friendly, and there are several really good and inexpensive Chromebooks with 180 degree hinges for a tablet-like form factor.

Certainly kids are good at picking things up! In fact, they do pick up Chromebooks - but it is a painful experience for the early education groups I'm talking about (K-2) because they often don't read well enough yet. (I'm in public school.) And knowing letters really helps keyboarding.

Part of what I'm trying to contest is this elitism of laptop over tablet. My kids can do group activities with a tablet - carry it with them to the carpet, draw things, pass them back and forth, create things with gestures, film each other. The form factor is amazing. And, yeah, then they can learn laptops in third or fourth grade - isn't that feasible?

I'm definitely glad you played Treasure Mountain! when you were a kid. Thankyou for the comment!

Dell and Lenovo are the leading suppliers of Chromebooks designed specifically for the education market. Both offer multiple 2 in 1 models which fold into a tablet form factor and have touch screens.

Perhaps the issue isn't Chromebooks but that your experience is with inappropriately chosen Chromebooks.

Mice—and to a lesser extent, Chromebooks—need to be sitting on a large, hard, flat surface. iPad minis have no such requirement. A kid can use it sitting in a chair, lying on their back, or any other position they feel like.

Seriously. I was using a mouse at 3. This is a no brainer.

It's one more thing to lug around. No one is saying that a mouse is hard to use, the point is that touch screens are even more intuitive. I have heard anecdotal evidence of very young babies, like 9 months - 1 year, using ABC apps. They just "get it" and for them, "it just works".

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