Laptop Is Better For Education
Friday, July 9th, 2010The news that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project is near the start of a tablet of $ 75 for children remarkable. Nonprofit founder Nicholas Negroponte said this week that OLPC hopes for a functioning prototype of the XO-3 Tablet PC, in December 2010 and that in order to plant the device at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011 premiere.
The turn out sub-$ 100 price tag even more amazing than the XO-3 will meet the objectives of the authors reporting on the IPAD, Kindle, laptop, and a durable, child-friendly package.
But this is a realistic goal for such a low-cost device? Given the history of the much touted $ 100 laptop from OLPC, the never-quite an aggressive pricing included and costs almost twice as much (“hits” to donate $ 199 for a child in a developing country), I have my doubts. And do not forget to leave the XO-2-touchscreen device, a project canceled last year, when the device would cost too much OLPC realized, reports Forbes.
So what do we know about the XO-3? It is expected, driven by a 9-inch touch-screen tablet with a 1GHz processor, even though the data might change between now and CES. Made but most (not all) of plastic, it can also be a reflective (not backlit) display, like those found on the Kindle and other e-readers. A reflective screen that uses less energy and is easier to read in direct sunlight, benefit would be many children who work outside school to do. An illuminated display, but it is easier to read, especially in rooms with low light.
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Laptops, not tablets
Even if OLPC XO-3 delivers as promised, a Tablet PC is really the best place for school children? Since the IPAD has shown us is the tablet device for content consumption, not creation. It is a very good e-reader, video viewer and Web browser, but it is far from ideal for writing long documents such as reports of the school.
By comparison, a conventional laptop a physical keyboard, and the conventional clamshell design is more suitable for an office-oriented teaching. While the laptop is not particularly sexy or fashionable this season, but it is probably a better education payout.
A tablet may be a better form factor for e-textbooks, but the XO-3 barebones design – again, tailored to the needs of developing countries – the device can make an ergonomically poor choice for e-textbooks (assuming they are available again) .
What do you think? Laptops or tablets for the classroom?
