Textbooks to tablets with Acer & Android for private school

Peter Dinham
Monday, 05 December 2011 19:05

IT Industry - Deals

Students at Victoria's Brighton Grammar School are to be equipped with Acer Iconia Tab A50 tablets in a contract that Acer says is the first large Android program for an Australian school.

Starting now, students and staff from years 9-12 at Brighton Grammar will get their tablets, with Acer planning to roll-out just over 600 Iconia Tabs to the schools senior boys and their teachers.

'Everybody is learning how to use digital formats and we're really trying to provide a comprehensive digital solution for Brighton Grammar in moving to a 21st Century learning environment,' Derek Walker, National Education Sales Manager, Acer Computer Australia said.

According to Walker, with tablets proving popular in schools as a supplementary device to aid in learning, 'paper may soon become a thing of the past.'

Walker says the Iconia Tab A500 and schools high-speed wireless Internet connection gives students broader access to knowledge faster and easier, as well as allowing them to participate more actively with their teachers and their new tablet devices. 'Teachers can project to a larger screen via HDMI and or stream information to students wirelessly.'

And, Andrew Baylis, Deputy Head - Curriculum, at Brighton says technology is changing so rapidly that the school needed to choose the 'best devices for present needs.'  'We see tablets as adding to the teaching and learning experience with 'instant on, quick connectivity' that allows us to capture the moment of inspiration. Tablets are not intended to replace techniques such as handwriting, physical activity or face-to-face discussion, but rather to add extra dimensions to all our current teaching and learning practices.'

Under the deal with Brighton Grammar, the Acer tablets will also support Adobe Flash which Walker says will provide an integrated and fully functional browsing experience. 'The availability of Adobe Flash on the tablet offers students the opportunity to experience superior browsing capabilities, including learning objects built-in Adobe flash.'

In addition to portability and anytime/anywhere access, the Iconia Tab A500 utilises a full size USB port allowing connection with a range of peripheral devices including a full sized keyboard, mouse and USB flash drive.

'Our Iconia Tab is helping learning head to a future where books and paper can't follow. With instant access to a vast number of apps and programs, note-taking capabilities, email functions and the world wide web, the A500 is truly the perfect educational tool.' Mr Walker said. 

The devices are powered by nVidia Tegra 2 and run on Google's Android Honeycomb 3.2, and students and staff at Brighton Grammar will connect to the Internet using a new Wireless LAN network currently being installed at the school.