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Tying into discussions this week about bringing access to mobile devices to all via non-prohibitive costs, while still reaching a set of bare-minmum technical specs for actual use: India's "$35 tablet" has been a pipedream in the tech blog-o-sphere for awhile now, but it's finally available (though for a price of roughly $60). Still though, as an actual Android color touch tablet, with WiFi and cellular data capability - I'm curious to see how it's received and if it's adopted in any sort of large scale

I had heard months ago that India was creating this, but was not going to offer it commercially - rather, just for its own country. Just like the Little Professor (Prof Dede) calculator, when tablets get this affordable, educational systems can afford classroom sets of them and then use them regularly. But to Prof Dede's point - can they do everything that more expensive tablets can do? Or better yet - do they HAVE to?

I think this is what they're aiming to do - all classrooms/students across the country having this particular tablet. They won't be able to do everything today's expensive tablets can do, but I think they'll still be able too to do plenty. This $35 tablet's specs are comparable to the mobile devices we had here in the US in 2008/2009. Even back then, we were able to web browse, check email, use social networking (sharing pics and video too), watching streaming online video, and play basic 2D games. But even beyond those basic features, I think this tablet will be able to do more than we expect from something at this price point and basic hardware, for 2 reasons: 1. Wide-spread adoption of a single hardware. If this thing truly does become THE tablet for India's students, it will have such a massive userbase that software developers and designers who create educational software will have to cater to it. They will have to study this tablet and learn the ins-and-outs of its hardware in order to deliver content for it. "Underpowered" hardware is able to deliver experiences well beyond what would normally be expected from it when developers are able to optimize heavily for that particular set of components. This is why software for Apple's iPhone and iPad, and games for video game consoles (xbox, PS3, wii) are so polished. For the consoles especially, all the users have the same exact hardware, with the same features and components. Developers are able to create software that is very specialized for that hardware- opposed to spending their resources and time making sure the software works on a wide variety of hardware (like in the PC world). With this development style in mind, and with a fixed hardware model remaining widely used in the market for many years- the resultant software is very polished and goes beyond what users expect from it. This is why today's game consoles, which have been around since 2005/6, produce visuals that are still really impressive and sta

"It feels like the whole world is holding its breath for the Apple tablet. But maybe we've all been dreaming about the wrong device. This is Courier, Microsoft's astonishing take on the tablet." Looks like we might be closer than we thought to that techno-future in that video....

A hands-on report with the $35 tablet (Aakash). Interested that they call it a "leap frog" technology, in that it's a modern technology brought into a society that didn't have related legacy technologies to begin with. Relates to our class discussion of 'disruptive technologies'- if a group is starting with nothing at all, the bar can initially be set very low and it's still better than nothing. From there, the only direction to go is up (improvement). The article was also updated with a detailed use report w/ video: http://venturebeat.com/2011/10/28/aakash-35-android-tablet/

This is very "hot" in India at the moment. The president of India has given 200 of these to the university I work at and they are distributing it, for free, to loads if other institutes. It costs $25!! I haven't seen the quality of the device, but I have seen other low cost, about $150, tablets and I don't like them AT ALL. D you think e device quality and user experience will not be deterrent given the price point?

Mohit, I've heard a lot about the poor quality of the device and very little about HOW universities intend on using these tablets. It seems like another case of top-down intervention that's tech-driven rather than learning-driven, which is rather unfortunate. Also seems even more unfortunate that even though it's a tech-driven initiative, they haven't thought out the *quality* component of the tech. Oy... See this article for critiques of the tablet: http://www.techulator.com/resources/5523-Most-Annoying-Defects-Flows-Datawinds.aspx

Classpad tablet - another low cost tablet from India will compete with Aakash. The price ranges from $150 to $262 and meant for students from grade 3 to 12. Already deployed to 1500 students in different schools in India.

Key concerns about the sudden rush to dump textbooks for open source content

This transition will happen relatively quickly given the current cost of textbooks and the low cost of tablets. Fortunately, I think we will find that the digital textbooks and other features on the tablets will be far more engaging and effective teaching tools than the traditional textbook. The ability of the digital text to read aloud (in several languages) and provide visual support including high def color diagrams, animation, and video, as well as create intuitive links to vocabulary and 'checking for understanding' will be a great support to students and teachers.

After today's section case discussion, I was curious about how prevalent 1:1 tablet implementations are in K12 schools in the U.S. Here's a map from the One-To-One Institute that appears to have been generated by news coverage of tablet rollouts--I doubt it's comprehensive, but it's still an interesting geographic picture...

How young is TOO young to get technology in front of children? Baby Einstein DVDs are used as early as a few weeks old to "babysit" (entertain, soothe, and occupy) a baby - is the tablet just the newest "babysitter" on the market?

That's WAY too young to "babysit". We have been learning in Joe's class this week that parents using media as a means of parental substitution can have deleterious effects on a child's emotional development and ability to internalize good media messages and reject dangerous media messages. Giving babies tablets when they are that young reeks of lazy parenting, in my opinion. Unless the tablet becomes that "Transitional Object" that we are reading about in Turkle/Resnick's class....Gotta love when all of the class readings converge into similar ideas!

The real question is what the tablet can and cannot do

I would liken this to a graphing calculator (that is typically required of student's to purchase for the purpose of higher math classes) versus the classroom set of calculators typically found in the elementary math manipulative kits - the ultimate purpose of each device is very different - but the basic or fundamental features are the same - so for India, does it matter how "advanced" the system is if they really just want to get the poorest of its citizens on some type of level playing field?

Just as the title says, this article explains that those individuals who use tablets are often more educated, wealthier, and more interested in the news than the average American. 

Here is a brand new competitor for iPad, the Jetstream from HTC. This tablet takes advantage of AT&T's 4G data network, but its price tag is a steep $849. However, AS WITH ALL DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES< THE MORE COMPETITORS THERE ARE, THE MORE THE PRICE IS DRIVEN DOWN. So, perhaps this is good news for the future of tablets in schools...

While I understand the reasons behind designing tablets like these, that monitor the content kids consume really carefully, it does bring up the larger issue of how do you really want to introduce kids to the internet. Do you shelter them by only letting them use kid-friendly apps, search engines, etc. or do you teach them early about smart and safe digital practices? There are of course plenty of safety reasons to go with the former, but I'm also interested in seeing how the latter might look.

This article explains why the district chose laptops over tablet and how the community is helping to turn the schools around.

"The teachers that were involved said that if every kid had their own computer, we could do amazing things". It would be interesting to know if the teachers presented some concrete ideas of 'amazing things'. It would also be interesting to know whether they have a bank of spare laptops to loan to the students while the defective ones are getting fixed. I have a feeling that in the not-so-distant future the choice between a tablet and a computer may become a moot point. The hardware that powers a MacBook Air and iPad is very similar. We have laptops that double as tablets and tablets that are paired with a keyboard to be used as a laptop. Eventually these two will merge.

Great overview of the issues -- I agree with Kasthuri -- I think the issue will become moot

Let the tablet price war begin!

An update on the happenings (and future) of the $35 Aakash tablet, and the fast-growing demand for the upcoming Rasperry Pi minimalist computer intended for education and mass-production

Dell tablets that plug into existing infrastructure for school systems and universities

A survey of 25 ed tech directors conducted by Piper Jaffray that is making the rounds in the tech blogosphere. Seems to fall in line with what we're learning and today's trends: all surveyed IT directors are interested in the iPad, not Android, they like the flexibility tablets would offer over computers, it's going to take some time for schools to achieve one tablet per child. Cost is an obvious concern, but so is device management.