Technology gadgets and gizmos abound on the market. How do you choose ones that support teaching and learning but won't empty your pocketbook? How do you decide what is useful and what is just neat? I am the gadget geek so I buy it all, but here are some of my must-have suggestions for back-to-school.

Portable Video Camcorders

The simplicity of the new breed of portable video camcorders makes it easy to shoot video and then transfer it to your computer by using the embedded USB connection. You can then embed the video in a presentation, edit it with video-editing software, or share via the Web. The one that seems to be most popular with educators is the Flip brand of video camcorder. There are a number of different models, from simple video to HD. Prices range from $149 to $229, but refurbished older models, which get the job done, too, can be found for under $100.

USB Headset

There is nothing cleaner than audio sent from a USB headset. Besides working well with any computer that has a USB port, having a USB headset allows you to easily participate in Webinars and Skype with others, as well as having students record clear audio into a presentation. In addition, a good USB headset allows you to take advantage of the speech-to-text capabilities built into many of the major software suites. I am partial to the Plantronics line of USB headsets, and like the models that cover the ears, like the Audio 665. ($59.95)

Media Reader

With multiple brands of digital cameras floating around in most schools, it is really nice to have a USB multi-card reader that can read many common types of cards found in digital cameras-SD, CF, xD, MS and all the new mini- and micro cards, too. Having a card reader eliminates hooking the digital camera up to the computer and saves the battery life of the camera. Kingston makes a model (FCR-HS219/1) that you can find online at the major retailers for under $14.99 and it can read 19 different types of cards.

Drawing Tablet

Having a USB drawing tablet available in the classroom is so useful! Tablets can be about the size of a mousepad, and usually come with a cordless mouse, a drawing pen and software. What is special about drawing tablets, aside from the ease of drawing with one, is that many tablet applications understand pressure sensitivity, so when you push harder on the tablet, the quality of the line changes to match the pressure. In addition, when zooming into a graphic to edit a pixel, it is so much easier with a drawing tablet than with a mouse. My favorite one for the classroom right now is the Wacom Bamboo Fun which can be found online for under $85.

Apple iPod Touch

Imagine having streaming radio available from all over the world, all types of reference tools available, the ability to view YouTube videos off the classroom TV set, a scientific calculator, an e-book reader, a remote presenter for the classroom and access to the Internet with a full-fledged browser. Behold Apple's iPod Touch! Even if you are not permitted to sync your personal device with a school-owned computer, you can still access and download the thousands of helpful applications over the Wi-Fi connection in your school. Hook up the headphone jack to external speakers in the classroom and listen to breaking news from radio stations around the world! The best way to convince administrators or write a winning grant to get a classroom set of Touches is to have one of your own and develop creative and pedagogically sound ways to use it to support teaching and learning. The applications are tiny, so even the $229 8GB model would be a welcome addition to your classroom!

Flash Drives

Having your files, passwords and other information with you on your Flash drive comes in handy. But did you know that you can actually run applications off of a flash drive? With this capability, you can carry your own apps and data with you to use with any desktop or laptop. The most common suite of applications comes on many of the Sandisk flash drives and it is called U3. You can find out more about it here and locate additional applications to install to the drive.

Another Windows-compatible operating system you can install to any flash drive, iPod or external hard drive is PortableApps. There are hundreds of applications to choose from, including Web browsers, email clients and even portable versions of audio-editing software.

If you use a Mac, and have a Mac-formatted flash drive, you can look to FreeSMUG for useful applications to run on an external device.

Thanks to my Twitter Personal Learning Network (PLN) for their suggestions!