Intel has launched an education-focused tablet reference design, featuring an Intel Atom chip and the Android operating system.
The tablet is specifically designed for classroom use, featuring front- and rear-facing cameras, a stylus, integrated speakers and microphones, and a screen with shock-absorbers, cushioning the device in case of a fall.
The device will be fully equipped with Intel Education Software, a host of applications including an e-Reader, science exploration and data analysis application and painting tools. It also has management software that provides teachers and administrators with tools to protect students and manage technology.
Intel offers two versions of this education tablet design, one with a 10-inch screen, dual-core Intel Atom Processor and Android 4.0 operating system, and the other with a seven-inch screen, single-core Intel Atom Processor Z2420 and Android 4.1.
Tablet boom
The latest research on the tablet market done by World Wide Worx (WWW) shows tablet sales in the education market, still largely dominated by the iPad, are expected to boom from next year.
WWW MD Arthur Goldstuck says the education sector is increasingly moving towards tablet-use in the classroom, with the private schooling system moving notably faster than public schools. "The education market is an absolute key market for the tablet industry. But this will be despite government, not because of."
He says it will take a very long time before tablets will be used in a majority of South African schools. "It will take many years because the Department of Education is so technophobic. It is such an obvious solution to deliver educational content to phones and tablets, but we don't see any direct interest from the department. They pay lip-service to it, but there's no active interest."
He notes, however, that private schools are already on a massive drive to integrate technology more effectively into their education system.
Goldstuck says the price of tablets and limited funds are usually the first reasons offered for the lack of tablet roll-out to schools, but he adds that in reality this should not be a problem. "If you replace textbooks with a tablet, the lower cost of buying e-book versions of the same textbooks, will actually cover the cost of the tablet within two years."
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