As of about mid March, 2010, I’ve been through approximately 10 smart phones since a few years ago when I started teaching online.  I’ve been through three computers and have finally built my own super computer.  I’ve bought more monitors than you can shake a stick at -it looks like Mission Control in my office, according to my wife and my jealous friends. Seriously, I’m a technology junkie, and I’ve FINALLY gotten the bugs worked out of my processes and figured out how to combine taking full advantage of technology to do a high quality job as an online teacher and be efficient and mobile. Here’s the shopping list if you’re just now getting into this gig. Take advantage of what I’ve learned now so you don’t spend a ton of time creating this one little baby step at a time.  Remember that this stuff is all tax deductible, so enjoy the shopping trip and save those receipts!

Home office furniture -

Go ahead and blow a couple hundred bucks on a nice, cushy chair. If you’re doing especially well, grab the Aeron chair. Buy the chair first. I mean it -if you buy a used one on Craigslist or a yard sale, you’re in for some back, knee, and rear-end soreness. Measure from the back of your knee to the floor, and then buy one the right seat height -an issue when you’re 6′7″ like myself!

The desk is next.  Don’t buy one.  Here’s a picture of mine.  The trick for my freakishly tall self was to find one the right height… which is, of course, impossible. So I took two 2×4’s and about 30 minutes with a screw-gun, and viola!  I had a big hunk of corian cut the right size at a cabinet shop and slapped it up on top of some supports (of course I got the corian from craigslist).  There are three reasons this is better than a desk with drawers. One, after you get the chair, you can measure the height of its arms at the most comfy spot for you, and then build the desk that high -custom build for garage sale prices! Two, there is nothing on the floor, which makes the room look waay bigger and allows for easier cleaning by my little robot-friend roo-two-dee-two… and it’s just cool to have a floating desk!  Three, in the winter you can put a blanket under the corian slab so that it hangs down, forming a compartment for your legs under the desk -add a space heater, and you have toasty, happy feet under your kotatsu -thanks Japan!

Storage is taken care of in big filing cabinets, which are useful!  Make these the other ‘wall’ for your Kotatsu.  They are just to the right in the picture of my desk above.  You’ll need these filing cabinets to store all of the stuff you don’t need any more but that you can’t bring yourself to throw away because it took you a decade to create and collect it teaching face-to-face.  Make sure you keep a drawer or two empty for the office supplies you’ll steal from school and then also never use.

Technology-

Logitech MX5500: This is the one I have, and my only regret is that it’s not LED backlit. The mouse works from anywhere in the house and is rechargeable, and the keyboard has a great feel. If you can get the next step up with the LED’s in the keys, get it. You’ll want that when you’re working late at night.  It’ll happen.  You’ll work late at night sometimes because it was a heart-achingly beautiful Spring day and you took advantage of it. Instead of sitting in a cubicle, you washed your car, went grocery shopping, jogged a 5k, and sat in the hammock with your smartphone to clear your inbox… which we’ll cover momentarily. Working late at night -not so bad.
and why might you want the mouse to work all over the house? You’ll want that because you’ll run an rgb cord from your computer, through your crawl space, and into your sweet living room television for watching media, hulu, and doing the occasional online teaching from the living room easy chair.

2. Computer -drop a bundle. Build your own if you can, if you can’t, get:

1. windows 7
2. dual monitor video card x 2. That’s right. You want ports for 4 monitors, total. Trust me. You have to get the same kind of video cards, or it won’t work. That’s the only trick.
3. More USB inputs than you can shake a stick at -the more, the better, I promise. I don’t have enough even after installing an extra hub on the front. Get all the usb ports you can possibly get.
4. SPEED -get a dual core or a quad core with the fastest processor they make. Don’t go cheap on the speed of the computer. Faster is better, period.
5. Storage -a tb is plenty, but it’s a good idea to have an external USB hard drive so you can move it from desktop to your netbook.

3 22″ monitors. Get the $150 acers -anything with 5 stars on newegg while being the cheapest on the market is a good buy.

1 digital projector, portable. This is dual purpose.  As you’re becoming a pro, you will want to be able to roll in totally prepared for a quick workshop.  Also, you’ll mount this to play on the wall above your 3 monitors on a special painted screen that looks super-badass.  Craigslist is a good place to get one -I bought a $10,000 theater projector for $500, but it’s not portable… not even close.  You can get one for around $350 that will get the job done.

Netbook: When you go to the iNACOL conferences, this will come in super handy. Also, when you decide to hop on your bicycle and explore, you’ll carry this in your backpack. If you’re reading this and netbooks have come out with the google operating system, jump on it. If not, check out www.woot.com on a daily basis until a cheap netbook comes along. Be sure to read the ads on woot.com -that guy’s a genius.  Mine is the one pictured above, and it’s great because it has a fast wifi connection and looong batter life; that’s really all you need with one of these.  Just keep Google Chrome on it and use it for the cloud and playing the media that you have on your USB external hard drive.

Headset: get a wireless one that has enough range to cover your office, the bathroom, the kitchen, and a good pacing route. Comfort and quality are important, although you can also get speakers for backup. I use this guy;  try to find one that charges with a micro USB cord.

phone and accessories: I have had the following phones and discovered:
Android operating system is great software, but Motorola made a terrible piece of hardware with the droid.  The keyboard’s top row is unusable.  The tilt2 (or touch pro2) from HTC is a badass piece of hardware, but windows mobile operating system is awful. Aw-ful.  Winner for online teaching: iPhone 3gs, 32 or 16gb… Or the nexus from google.  I’ll let you know the winner when I try the nexus…. editors note from three months in the future -stick with the iphone.  The touch pad on the Nexus is the pits.  I’d still like to see the HTC Touch Pro 2 with Android software on it though.  Email on the iPhone works perfectly, and that’s the most important issue.  It won’t be long before there is a pronto app, and I went into more detail on how to go about utilizing the phone for ultimate freedom.  Neither Android, windows mobile, nor Rim for blackberry could edit google docs when I tried.  The iPhone 3gs, however, could.  Can you say contact log and call your students on the go?

Get the mophie battery case: It will double your battery life, and it will also allow you to charge your phone with the same cord you use to charge your:

Backbeat Bluetooth Headset:  It allows you to call students hands free, and it also allows you to listen to your iTunes or Pandora app wirelessly when you’re not talking to your students.  Imagine jogging down the sidewalk grooving to tunes, and your music fades out.  You touch your left ear, slow down, and now you’re helping a student… Then the phone call ends, and you’re grooving again… back to the future again:  I was happy with this for a while, but I gotta be honest, I’m back to the good ol’ wired headset again that comes with the phone.  The Android dangly headset gets caught on doors, tools, and just about anything I walk by, but it has a forward, back, and play/pause button, which I like a lot.  The problem with the backbeat is that when I move around, it skips.  It seems to work fine for phone calls, but I listen to audio books (Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan Right now -awesome… editor’s note -after about the 4th or 5th book, just stop.)

… And that’s about it. You’ve got the ultimate computer, ultimate mobility via netbook and tethering iPhone, and you’re “good to go” like Taco Bell!  This is all pretty expensive, but remember: it’s tax deductible now that you’re an online teacher!  I’m really interested to hear your opinions on this gear in the comments section.  Is there a device out there that beats what I’ve listed?  Have I missed something important?

Coming soon -what software do you really need to learn how to use to save time and improve outcomes for students!