Asus to release a 'tablet' aimed at education

[Ric_]

According to the article at http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=3235472 Asus will be releasing a tablet-style device aimed at the education market.

 

The device will have an 8" monochrome display (easier to read apparently) and accept input via a stylus. A camera will allow students to photograph what's on the whiteboard to save their little hands

 

Some random Linux distro 'created by Asustek' will run on the device so we'll have to see what happens. At £190 it could be interesting.

[Cue]

The device will have an 8" monochrome display (easier to read apparently)

 

I'm sure the kids will love that. A dull, boring, non-colourful display, yeah... I could have sworn we were going forward with technology, not back to the days of those little monochrome handhelds that had less colour than a Gameboy?

 

And a Linux distro 'created by Asustek' is probably their way of saying they're going to use Xandros again, which was awful on the EeePC and will probably be awful here too. Xandros is a horrible, horrible OS.

 

I don't really have high hopes for this, as you can probably tell. The only reason I could really see people buying this is if they don't know about the alternatives, there are fully functional, decent full colour tablets out there for less than £190 already. There's a 7" £129 Android one floating around, after all.

Edited August 16, 2010 by Cue

[AyatollahPies]

A camera will allow students to photograph what's on the whiteboard to save their little hands

 

So it will take a nice greyscale picture of a few lines of text on a whiteboard? Since when did teachers scribble so much down on whiteboards that pupils could not copy it?

 

Why is it taking manufacturers so long to figure out that the market is crying out for a nice Linux (Ubuntu) based tablet, with a 9" colour screen and a reasonable battery life for circa £150 per device?

 

Bless the Chinese who are trying their best with their numerous Ipad ripoffs running obsolete versions of Android, but it's not quite what is needed*.

 

(In my opinion of course)

[Cue]

Since when did teachers scribble so much down on whiteboards that pupils could not copy it?

 

Fair point here actually, in fact teachers shouldn't be putting so much down, it just bores the kids to death, I know I always started falling asleep when they put up large amounts of information on the board, even moreso when we actually had to copy that information. Ugh.

 

They'd just use the camera to take pictures of themselves pulling faces no doubt, or their unwilling camera-shy friends.

[localzuk]

I'd've thought a more suitable device to start with would be an ebook reader, and add functionality to that.

 

We don't really want full OS devices sat on the desks with kids - they could well be a distraction.

 

Instead, a device which has a long battery life, doesn't strain the eyes, and has some functionality such as browsing the net, a calculator, the ability for teachers to display their onscreen presentation on the devices remotely (ie. for those with sight issues, or so that it can be read to them etc...), a built in audio recorder etc...

 

Not massively complex - basically a Kindle with extra bits.

 

Writing on a tablet is also very difficult normally - replacing paper with a normal style LCD is not going to work, there needs to be friction between the writing implement and the media in order to handwrite effectively.

Edited August 16, 2010 by localzuk

[Cue]

Eee Tablet Fansite - Asus EeeTablet Review - Buy - Cheap Deals

 

Found more information, I really can't see kids enjoying that at all. I wonder if they've actually tested this with kids yet...

[Ric_]

I'd've thought a more suitable device to start with would be an ebook reader, and add functionality to that.

 

I think that is what Asus are trying to do with this device. If you read the PC Advisor article, it does state that the backlight has been removed from the display and it is capable of showing 1024 levels of grey so that it does not cause eyestrain.

 

Depending upon the implementation of the pen input, it could prove to be a useful device.

[localzuk]

I think that is what Asus are trying to do with this device. If you read the PC Advisor article, it does state that the backlight has been removed from the display and it is capable of showing 1024 levels of grey so that it does not cause eyestrain.

 

Depending upon the implementation of the pen input, it could prove to be a useful device.

 

Indeed. Although I disagree with the inclusion of a camera.

[Ric_]

Indeed. Although I disagree with the inclusion of a camera.

 

The camera can be used to photograph diagrams/photos/etc. that may be shown to the class (presumably in colour for download later). I could see this being very useful - especially given the availability of software for translating photographs into text/diagrams at a later date.

 

Don't forget that the education market isn't just made up of stoopid teenagers in high schools. Think about the usefulness at university level or in schools where there isn't a behaviour problem.

[Dos_Box]

I agree with most of the comments here. I too want a tablet, but one that is 'capable'. I saw the Archos 9 in CPC last week, but the low specs (1Ghz processor, 1GB RAM and Windows 7 Basic) put me off. It should be at least 1.5Ghz CPU, 2GB RAM 128GB storage and full fat Windows\Ubuntu or Android with a 3G modem. I'm still waiting.

The iPad doesn't cut it I'm afraid. It's too much of an overpriced consumer device and not something to 'do stuff' on.

[dhicks]

Depending upon the implementation of the pen input, it could prove to be a useful device.

 

I watched a 7-ish-year-old child using a pen-input Nintendo DS over the weekend. He could draw, do animations, pick up any user interface in a few minutes - pretty much all the stuff that IT lessons try and stuff in to childrens' heads. The screen can do colour, but the drawing part seemed to be mostly in black and white, so the Asus device might be quite useable.

 

--

David Hicks

[dhicks]

I too want a tablet, but one that is 'capable'.

 

Actually, the tablet form factor would be quite good for specilised thin-client devices. Just nail a bunch of them to a wall in a classroom, no keyboards or mice to clutter the place up - wired power and network would be perfectly acceptable. A wireless / battery device would be handy for the teacher to replace the IWB, though.

 

--

David Hicks

[sted]

The camera can be used to photograph diagrams/photos/etc. that may be shown to the class (presumably in colour for download later). I could see this being very useful - especially given the availability of software for translating photographs into text/diagrams at a later date.

 

Don't forget that the education market isn't just made up of stoopid teenagers in high schools. Think about the usefulness at university level or in schools where there isn't a behaviour problem.

 

or the teacher could just save the whiteboard material in a shared area so it could be accessed / pushed to the class devices this would also help with visually impaired kids if the teaching material was done pre lesson

[AyatollahPies]

I do actually like the physical appearance of this device.