As the school year begins, your kids are probably wishing for the hottest new devices. But students need more than the latest tablet or smartphone, and it makes sense to step off the beaten path and find technology that will enhance their school experience. Here are my top three picks:

StickNFind Keeping track of belongings can be a challenge, especially for busy students. When I was 16, I lost my new phone at the mall, and even though I did everything to retrace my steps, that phone never turned up. To replace it, I had to use my older sister’s upgrade, which still is a topic of debate years later at our holiday gatherings.

If I had StickNFind back then, I would have avoided the family drama. This Bluetooth finder system uses stickers about the size of a quarter that you attach to notebooks, backpacks, keys, phones and anything else you don’t want to lose. Its radar screen app is compatible with iPhone, iPad and Samsung devices, and it tracks up to 20 stickers within 100 feet and notifies you when items move in or out of range. StickNFind has a pager to locate lost items by sound and an LED feature to help you see stickers in the dark. One of my favorite features is the “lost sticker” option that notifies all StickNFind users in the area to be on the lookout for your lost item. A two-sticker pack retails for $49.99.

Airbac Backpack One of my friends put her son’s backpack on the scale and all the hardcover books and other supplies weighed in at a whopping 13 pounds. That’s a lot of weight for a kid, and it makes me remember when my back and shoulders ached from lugging a backpack at school all day. When another friend recently told me her daughter had developed serious back issues that their pediatrician blamed on her heavy backpack, I started wondering if technology could offer a healthier solution.

It turns out there is a better way: the Airbac backpack, which uses an air support system to move weight away from your upper back. The results include improved posture and the feeling that you are carrying only half of the actual weight. Other features include shock absorbers to cushion impact when walking or running with the bag, and the air system also protects both your back and fragile items. The Airbac school backpacks start at $49.99.

Livescribe 3 Smartpen Note-taking comes with risks — students could miss what the teacher said, get sick and have to stay home, or lose an entire notebook, which means big trouble when a test is on the horizon.  But for about $149, the Livescribe 3 Smartpen takes the uncertainty out of paper notes. When you write with the pen on Livescribe paper, which comes in a spiral notebook and can be photocopied at home, the device records everything you write, creates an audio file and allows you to convert handwriting into text. Students reviewing paper notes can tap any word and the pen plays back the audio of that lecture at the point when the notes were taken.

The paper notes eventually become part of a permanent digital archive with the Livescribe app, which syncs written notes to your iPad or iPhone, or through Wi-Fi, which processes them into an Evernote account. My younger twin sisters, who are still in high school, love these pens because if anyone misses a lecture, they can share their digital notes with each other.

Today’s latest devices help make sure that sloppy notes, lost keys and even sore backs don’t ruin a school day. And with this list, plus discounts on other items, you could find your back-to-school shopping for new tech more productive than last year.

By Alexandra Rice, writer for NerdWallet.

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