14,000 Queensland schoolkids kids win in tablets rollout

NEARLY 14,000 Queensland secondary school students will be the recipients of the largest deployment of Windows 8 tablets in Australia.

Acer Iconia W701

NEARLY 14,000 Queensland secondary school students will be the recipients of the largest deployment of Windows 8 tablets in Australia and one of the biggest in the world.

Valued about $13 million, the deal will see a majority of Year 9 students toting tablets manufactured by Acer Computer and run on Microsoft's new operating system. Acer Australia national education sales manager Derek Walker told The Australian that 11,327 units would be distributed to Year 9 students, and the remaining 2665 to other high schools students.

Students will receive the Acer Iconia W701 Windows 8 tablet with 3G mobile broadband capabilities on a four-year warranty.

Constant connectivity was a key requirement by the department to ensure students could access their learning resources outside the school environment everywhere and at any time.

"The digital revolution has created remarkable opportunities for enhancing student learning and devices with built-in 3G allow our students to stay connected wherever they are," Queensland Education Department chief information officer David O'Hagan said. "The value of the contract is $12.9m for the purchase of up to 14,000 computers."

The contract includes devices purchased through the National Secondary School Computer Fund with commonwealth funding and those bought directly by schools from other sources.

NSSCF provided more than 110,000 new computers to achieve the target of one computer for every student in Years 9 to 12 in Queensland, Mr O'Hagan said.

"Schools chose to purchase over 65,000 ultra-low-voltage 11.6-inch Windows 7 laptop devices and the remaining devices were a mixture of laptops and desktops," he said.

"The type of device procured was a school-based decision.

"These current Acer devices are replacements for devices that were purchased as part of the program in 2009."

Funding for the Gillard government's NSSCF will end this year after the aim of equipping every Year 9 to 12 student with a computer was achieved at the beginning of last year.

More than 967,000 computers were funded under the program.

The Queensland Education Department went to market in December for a notebook computer, running at least an Intel Core i5 processor, which must be powered by a Windows 7 operating system or higher, or an alternative device incorporating a touch-based screen which must be supplied with a minimum of Windows 8 Pro or better.

Acer's device has a portfolio case which includes a separate keyboard which gives students a "real typing experience", rather than typing on glass, Mr Walker said. It also comes with a protective case.

The Iconia W701 weighs about 950g and has a price tag of more than $1000. It is relatively new on the market, having hit retail shelves in April. Acer had delivered some devices, but the bulk of the tablets would be delivered by June 14, Mr Walker said.

The Iconia W701 has full high-definition video playback on an 11.6-inch multi-touch display, running on Intel's Core i3 processor, Intel HD graphics, 4GB memory and 120GB solid state storage.

The unit can be used vertically or horizontally as it sits on the docking cradle and Acer claims it offers more than 8 hours of battery life. It has a full-sized USB port to connect external storage products such as memory sticks or other suitable devices. It also has an HDMI port, which can plug into a larger screen.

"When the students get home or are in the library they can plug in a big screen and a mouse and operate it (the tablet) just like a PC," Mr Walker said. Acer has been supplying computers to the department since 2011, bringing the total to 76,000 devices, including the Windows 8 tablets.

Mr Walker said schools were keen to embrace mobile devices with touch capability.

"Children already know how to use a touch device without even being taught ... they just take to it," he said.

AB Paterson College on Queensland's Gold Coast was one of the first educational institutions in the country to acquire Windows 8 tablets. The private college will buy 1400 Samsung units for students and staff members over two years.