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Back to School Tech

Our tech buying advice and product picks are required reading if you want to ace your classes.

Back to School Tech
Our tech buying advice and product picks are required reading if you want to ace your classes.
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Latest Stories

Survey: 64% of Parents Say They Received Little or No Tech Support for Remote Learning Last School Year

As virtual classes reconvene, our study indicates that last spring, most schools and educators hadn't quite nailed online teaching. Will things be better this school year? We have some tips that might help.

By Eric Griffith

Remote Learning Leads to Laptop Shortages at US Schools

Even if school districts scrounge up enough computers, reliable broadband remains a barrier for virtual students.

By Stephanie Mlot

Lenovo Back-to-School Sale: Up to 60% Off ThinkPads, ThinkBooks, Tablets, More

The ThinkBook 14 is only $700, the 8-inch Lenovo Tab M8 is $24 off, and the popular ThinkPad T490 is just $749.

By Billy Kwong

Safety Equipment and Distance Learning Top Back-to-School Shopping Lists

As the school year approaches, the COVID-19 pandemic remains. But no matter where US kids are, they're going to be doing some schooling. New surveys show where and how much parents are spending on BtS purchases for 2020.

By Eric Griffith

The Best Back-to-School Tech for 2020 (Wherever School May Be)

Shopping for technology for school this fall presents a unique challenge. Will classes be at home? In person? Both? Whether you're a college student yourself or the parent of a K-12 student, we'll help you unravel exactly what you'll need across computers, printers, routers, security software, and much more.

By Tom Brant

How to Use Your Big-Screen TV for Online Learning (and Fun)

Sometimes your laptop screen just isn't big enough. Here's how to set up your TV as a second display for your PC so you can use it for everything from streaming movies to online classes.

By Will Greenwald
How to Connect Your Laptop to Your TV

The Best Cities Outside the US for Tech Students

Expanding the scope of where to look can broaden skills and experiences.

By Chandra Steele

Want to Learn and Teach Coding? Apple Has New Tools for That

The Develop in Swift and Everyone Can Code curricula have been enhanced, while a new professional learning course called Develop in Swift is launching.

By Stephanie Mlot

Netflix CEO and Wife Donate $120M to Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Spelman, Morehouse College, and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) will each receive $40 million each from Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin, which will be used to help students graduate without debt.

By Chloe Albanesius

Google's Wing Drones Deliver Library Books to Virginia Students

The Alphabet subsidiary is dropping off reading material for free.

By Stephanie Mlot

FBI: Think Twice Before Posting Your High School Photos on Social Media

#Classof2020 has been trending on social media, prompting people of all ages to post their high school photos. The problem: that info could help scammers solve password reset security questions.

By Michael Kan

3 Ways to Stream Movies and TV for Free Through Your Local Library

Your local library offers more than just books. You can also borrow and stream movies and TV shows with the help of the OverDrive, Hoopla, and Kanopy apps. Here's how to install and use them.

By Lance Whitney

How to Create Events to Help Girls Prepare for STEM Careers

Want to encourage girls to become professional technologists? Here's how to make sure your girls-in-tech events help them to accurately set their Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career expectations.

By Esther Schindler
Teaching Technology to Girls

How Old Should Kids Be When They Get Their Own Digital Devices?

PCMag polled 1,000 parents of school-age children about when they'd feel comfortable buying their kids smartphones, tablets, laptops, and smart speakers. Here's what we found.

By Rob Marvin
The Why Axis Kids Device Age Survey

This Startup Takes Kids on Diverse Field Trips With VR

Not every school can afford field trips to top museums, and those museums don't always feature exhibits made for and by people of color. Curated x Kai aims to fix that by bringing experiences like the National Portrait Gallery's Obama paintings into schools through VR.

By S.C. Stuart
Curated x (By) Kai

The Average College-Laptop Shopper Prioritizes Price, Speed, And Brand

About 81 percent of students use laptops at college, and as the new school year looms, a slew of students will need to purchase computers. About 27 percent of them will choose based on price—the average student looks to spend around $761.32.

By Jake Leary
why axis chart laptop shopping

The Best Phones for School

Cell phones are the new graphing calculators. From pre-k up through college, we've rounded up the 10 best phones for students at a variety of price points.

The Best Phones for School

11 Apps and Services to Help You Stay Safe on Campus

Don't take your safety for granted. These apps, services, and gadgets will help you communicate your location to trusted contacts and get help should trouble arise.

By Eric Griffith
iPhone SOS

Tech CEOs Who Ditched College for Start-Up Life

Dropping out is usually considered a bad move - unless you're one of these tech execs.

By Chandra Steele
CEOs Who Never Finished College