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Community Corner

High-Tech Verizon Wireless Back-to-School Gear

Back-to-school shoppers spent more than $80 billion last year and analysts predict that number will only grow in 2013. As schools use more technology in the classroom, the tools students take to the classroom have also changed.

For some, Trapper Keepers have been replaced by tablets, and the pencil or pen replaced with a stylus. Even the crayon has undergone a high-tech makeover with the Crayola ColorStudio HD, which allows students to color and draw on a tablet without cleanup.

For students who keep class notes digitally using an app such as Evernote, the Expresso 10.1 Keyboard Dock makes typing a snap on a Galaxy 10.1 tablet. For those carrying a tablet, there are also apps like the myHomework Student Planner, which can help keep students organized by tracking class schedules, providing assignment reminders, and managing homework, projects and lessons.

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One item that just about every student will still need for school is a backpack, but even this has received a bit of a tech makeover. Backpacks such as the TYLT Engeri + Backpack provide needed space for traditional school supplies, along with the added feature of a mobile charging station so a student’s smartphone or tablet can be charged for note-taking or research during class.

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