The Xplanation

This month, our focus in on hardware that will make a difference in education over the coming year. January is a prime month for this topic as it is the time of CES and hardware announcements from every major company. It is also the season for predictions and projections, which provide additional information about hardware trends.

We begin this year with a brief article on the device we feel will have the most dramatic impact on education in the coming years — the tablet device. Specifically, we are referring to slate-like hardware devices with no apparent keyboard and with screens ranging between 7″-10.”  These devices will be powered by ARM, Tegra, and other non-Intel chipsets.

The fact that you are reading this article likely indicates that you already have some familiarity with tablet devices, and that you have been keeping up with the speculation specific to the Apple tablet scheduled to be announced later this month. If you aren’t too familiar with the tablet, this introductory article should prove helpful as context for the rest of this article. We would also suggest two other articles to provide a deeper understanding of the tablet’s general appeal for education, and why the Apple tablet, in particular, promises to have a profound impact.

The Apple tablet and its potential | True/Slant
Design – Apple’s Eagerly Anticipated Tablet Computer Could Have Big Impact on Design World | NYTimes.com

Within that context, our argument for the popularity and importance of tablet devices in education is straightforward and basic. Tablets will change education this year and in the future because they align neatly with the goals and purposes of education in a digital age. Specifically, these devices will succeed because:

• They are about productivity — Learning is about doing and, increasingly, about doing both in and out of the traditional classroom. In the 21st century, learning is contextual and promotes engaging students in real-life applications. This means learning on-the-go but with all of the necessary materials and digital tools necessary for their tasks. A phone isn’t quite up to the task and a laptop isn’t exactly mobile. A tablet is the perfect device.
• They are about convergence — E-readers will not take hold in education because tablets will negate their usefulness and appeal. An e-reader is a single-use machine and a fairly limited one at that. The tablet, on the other hand, will support e-textbooks — Web-based and offline — color, Web productivity, and a whole host of other media, content creation, and communication options. The tablet can serve many functions and the e-reader only one. We want convergence when it makes sense and the convergence offered by tablet devices will appeal to educational users.
• They are about mobility — Make no mistake about it — tablets are mobile devices. They will run mobile apps, have mobile contracts in some cases, and be designed for productivity on-the-move. They are perfect for augmented reality applications, distributed learning, and student success tools.
• They are about price and availability — Tablets will allow users to have the functionality they want at a price they can afford. More importantly, they will usher in a new era of learning material distribution and subscription models for textbooks. The net result will be lower education costs across the board.
• They are about community — Tablets are mobile devices that connect users to one another. Learning, particularly in the 21st century, is a community-based activity. Enough said.