K-12 Schools Trying Out Tablets

A growing number of K-12 school districts, anxious to save money while preparing students for 21st-century work, are purchasing iPads in lieu of print textbooks and sometimes instead of desktop computers. Districts view the tablets as more budget-friendly than computers and more versatile than books for class use.

Across the U.S., there are tales such as this one in Seattle where the district decided all 181 middle-school youngsters should bring their own iPads to class this year. Students who couldn’t afford to buy one could borrow from a pool of 100 tablets bought with funds originally designated to replace several computers.

According to an investors’ report cited by C/Net, PC sales to the K-12 market are dwindling at about the same rate as K-12 iPad sales are rising, indicating schools are switching to tablets. They’re not just buying iPads, either.

Kuno, a tablet created specifically for K-12 use by the CurriculumLoft company, is among the Android gadgets competing head-to-head with the iPad for school sales. Business2Community says Kuno is attractive to district decision-makers because its base model costs 25% less than an iPad and it comes with built-in filters to protect kids from accidentally (or intentionally) accessing web content they shouldn’t.

Samsung is also working with Memphis, TN, schools on a new tablet system geared to K-12 grades. Each tablet comes with a stylus that lets students hand-write notes, which can be converted to type and saved.

Why are tablets getting all the attention from school districts and not e-readers such as the Kindle or the Nook, given their lower price point? In the view of Good E-Reader blogger Michael Kozlowski, it’s mainly because most e-readers lack text-to-speech software for vision-impaired pupils and can be more cumbersome to use.

Study Shows iPad Users Dominate Web Traffic

Pundits have generally been positive about the new Microsoft Surface, but a new report from the ad network firm Chitika says the Apple iPad is still the king of the hill by a wide margin when it comes to Internet traffic. The firm’s new study shows that 91% of media tablet web traffic comes from iPad users, although it dropped more than three percentage points from a similar study the firm conducted in May.

The data for the survey comes from impressions on the Chitika ad network from June 4-10, 2012. Because the Apple totals were so large, the firm compared other devices to 100 iPad impressions and found the Samsung Galaxy was a distant second at 1.94% of the web traffic. The Barnes & Noble Nook was fifth overall, accounting for 0.85% of the traffic, a performance that allowed it to move ahead of the Amazon Kindle Fire.

However, Chitika predicts the share of web traffic will continue to decline for Apple as more devices, such as the Surface, come to market, just as it did in the smartphone market.

“The Apple iPhone started out as a highly differentiated product, yet over time, its competitors such as Motorola and Samsung using the Android OS have begun to eat away at their market share,” the ad firm told The Mac Observer. “Even though (Apple) still remains dominant, the disparity is not the same as it used to be and we believe the tablet market will follow a similar trend.”

At the same time, the OnCampus Research study, Student Watch 2012: Student Attitudes and Perceptions, reports that just 17% of the students it has surveyed even own a dedicated e-reading device and that 62% say they have no plans to buy one any time soon.

Survey Finds Tablet Users Buy Content

In the study A Portrait of Today’s Tablet Users—Wave II, the Online Publishers Association (OPA) found that adoption of the electronic gadgets in the United States is up from 2011, and still rising, and that the vast majority of people use the devices to access content and information.

The online survey from the OPA and Frank N. Magid Associates Inc. reached 2,540 individuals between the ages of 8 and 64 from March 19-26, 2012. It found that 67% of those surveyed used tablets to surf the web and 66% checked their e-mail. Other primary activities include watching videos (54%), getting weather information (49%), reading national news (37%), and viewing entertainment content (36%).

The report found that 74% of users use their tablets daily, with 60% using it several times each day. In addition, tablet users spend 13.9 hours per week on the device, 92% of video watched on a tablet involve news and entertainment clips, 23% of all tablet applications downloaded in the past year were paid apps, and that the tablet app market doubled in size from $1.4 billion in 2011 to an estimated $2.6 billion this year.

“The growing base of tablet users is also showing a healthy appetite for paid content with 61% having purchased tablet content in the past year,” said Pam Horan, president of the OPA. “Considering tablets have only been available for a little over two years, the findings of this study truly underscore the possibilities for publishers to grow their business as consumers are willing to open their wallets in order to have original content at their fingertips.”

Is Google Getting into the Tablet Business?

While some may question why, rumors are heating up that Google is set to launch its own tablet computer soon. Reports claim Google is working with Samsung on source code for the device, which will use the Nexus operating system.

Questions about the Google initiative revolve around the fact that Android devices are not doing well in the market. The Amazon Kindle Fire sold briskly during the holidays, but sales have fallen off from that point. In the meantime, the Apple iPad continues to dominate with no end of sales growth in sight.

Another problem facing Google is a lack of Android applications for users to download. And it remains to be seen whether Google can fight off Amazon, or Verizon for that matter, for those Android app customers in the first place.

Print Textbook Price vs. iPad Textbook Price

An info graphic that recently appeared in MercuryNews shows that the cost of switching students’ four core courses from traditional textbooks to Apple’s new iBook 2 digital textbooks could cost school districts three times more.   Based on a classroom size of 32 students and four textbooks, including workbooks, lasting six years, the research shows that a school district would incur cost of approximately $11,328 for a traditional textbook program.  For an iPad textbook program that includes replacement of hardware after four years along with software, and e-textbooks, the cost is estimated to be $36,000.

The info graphic is a good step towards accounting for the factors that goes into the economics of e-textbook programs in K-12.  However, considering schools can resell the iPads after four years the cost for the iPad program could be much lower.  Of course, that could be off-set by replacement costs from lost, stolen, or damaged units. Nevertheless, until there is ample evidence that indicates technology such as iPads improve student’s learning, school districts should be wary about diving into a device-driven e-textbook program.   

New Year Tablet News

Here are some recent news related to tablets:

Google Tablets-   Google announced in December that will launch its own tablet in six months but everyone is wondering whether it’s going to compete against the Kindle or the iPad.  According to this article, some of Google’s supply chain believes Google is targeting the Kindle Fire with its own 7-inch $200 tablet running on Android 4.0.

Nintendo Tablet- This story says Nintendo will launches app store and tablet controller that acts an e-reader that can display books, magazines and strategy guides for the company’s games.

B&N Considers Spinning Off Nook

The Nook for B&N did so well this past season that the company is considering spinning off its Nook business.  The article says that Nook’s business will grow to $1.5 billion this fiscal year and is currently in discussions to expand the Nook internationally.

Amazon Tablet Announced

In the most recent iteration of the device wars, today Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced the release of Amazon Kindle Fire.  The Android-based tablet weighs 14.6 ounces and features a 7-inch screen and will retail for $199.  The new Kindle Fire will be ready to ship on November 15.

Kindle Fire uses Amazon’s proprietary cloud-based and syncing technologies that would allow all content to be backed up on Amazon’s cloud storage.  Additionally, Kindle Fire uses Whipersync technology that allows for automatic, wireless syncing that does not require any plug-ins to computers.  Mobile browsing is capable using Amazon’s own Silk browser that will allow for faster page loading and supports Adobe® Flash® Player.  Perhaps the only surprise is that Amazon moved off at least one proprietary element by using the Android operating system.

In at least some of the early press, the Amazon Tablet was viewed as "No iPad Killer."  Instead some industry analysts believe it is going to be a “poor” technology and will only be a "stopgap" in order to get a tablet out the door for the 2011 holiday season.  The opinion is attributed to the fact that the tablet uses a slower processor and using a failed Playbook hardware platform.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see what features Amazon builds into the tablet, particularly given the comnpany's conitinuing interest in the digital textbook market. 

iPads for less than $5 a day on Campus

An article in Campus Technology recently noted that with a grant from the Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education, several schools in California began a digital device rental program allowing students to rent devices ranging from iPads to digital cameras. Student at California State University Bay can now rent iPads for $25 a week, $120 for a semester, and a loaded Macbook for $150. The rental program is modeled after the library system and charges apply for late returns.

EduTone's Android tablet for K-20 education

In a press release last week, EduTone announced new developments for their Android-based tablets. EduTone seeks to distinguish its tablet devices by making them more directly focused on the education market. The devices have security mechanisms built in to support CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) and enable easy but secure connection to school-based applications. The device will now also come bundled with a number of other peices of software designed for education. An interesting aspect of their product offering is that they offer a lower-cost device coupled with a subscription based service for educational content. Like phone companies with smart phones, it is likely the subscription piece where they plan to build enough earnings to subsidize the cost of the device. Regardless, with the departure of the Kno from the landscape, and rumors that the Entourage Edge has or may soon follow, the EduTone line of educational tablets may still face stiff competition in the marketplace.

When technology trends (and textbooks) collide...

There have been a couple interesting studies out lately involving textbooks and tablets. A classic collision of technology trends as mobile devices and digital content converge among college students.

A few weeks ago we wrote about the study by the Pearson Foundation. Among some of the interesting quotes:

[W]hile 55 percent of students still prefer print over digital textbooks, among the 7 percent of students who own tablets devices like iPads, 73 percent prefer digital textbooks. With 70 percent of college students interested in owning a tablet, and 15 percent saying they plan to buy one in the next six months, the survey suggests that there may be a coming rise in the e-textbook market.

These findings are interesting on several points. First is the declining preference among students for print over digital -- dropping from 75% (widely found in a number of studies) down to 55% in the past 6 months. However, the preference of print over digital more than flips when you look at students with a tablet device -- with 73% of those students prefering digital to print.

Unless one wants to believe that this is just an abberation among early adopters, this week, a new study conducted at Abilene Christian University appeared in Campus Technology. Independent from the prior study, this study found similar preference for digital over print even among individuals exposed to a tablet for as little as three weeks. An interesting quote from this piece:

“After trying an iPad for a short period—about three weeks—three out of four college freshmen said they’d be willing to purchase an Apple iPad personally if at least half of the textbooks they used during their college career were available digitally.”

The article goes on to discuss the barriers to digital textbook adoption. Among top reasons they note lack of inventory, the cost of digital, and the need for truly media rich content. The first and last are on our list of factors. The second surprised me, as the physical print and distribution costs are not a substantive portion of current textbook cost -- so why should people expect the cost to be lower. Plus, the current cost of generating truly media rich content and integrating it in pedagogically proven ways can be quite high. Digital textbooks should probably cost more not less right now if we are just talking about costs and truly media rich versions. The costs for consumers are marginally lower currently as we look at "PDF equivalents" and publishers attempt to build market share for digital.

As we look at the inventory challenge, most textbooks currently available in digital are the large adoptions -- so mostly content oriented toward first- and second-year courses. If students start coming to campus with tablets in growing numbers, over a four-year period you could have more than half of all textbook content available digitally.

So what would that mean for the printed textbook in four years time -- i.e., 2015? What happens if tablet adoption follows patterns similar to iPod or smartphone adoption in recent years? (A reasonable projection, since most technologies are on accelerating adoption curves, and early projections say this technology is on a similar or faster trajectory than the identified counterparts). What if just half of students have a tablet device by 2015, and they acquire just half of all of their textbooks in digital format? That is 25% of course materials being sold digital right there.

Is there anyone credible out there who STILL does not think trends in digital content or mobile devices or technology in general does not matter in the textbook world?

Students Show a Tablet/Textbook Disconnect

A recent Pearson Foundation survey of college students and college-bound high school seniors contained good news for tablet-makers. Even though only about 7% of college students queried own a tablet, 60% of them envision owning one in the future (15% within the next year), and nearly 70% said they believe the devices will transform higher education.

The survey results were less rosy for e-textbook publishers. According to this Inside Higher Ed article, students’ belief that tablets such as the Apple iPad and Barnes & Noble Nook will revolutionize learning isn’t matched by any enthusiasm for digital textbooks. While almost 70% of those who said they wanted a tablet claimed they would read e-textbooks on it, only 39% of students who own a tablet actually use it to access such content.

That statistic, coupled with the mixed results from tablet pilot projects on various campuses, suggests that firsthand experience with the current crop of tablets may curb students’ enthusiasm for leaving print textbooks behind.

More tablets on tap

More tablet devices are on the way, with familiar names behind them. With the languishing position of its e-reader device in the single-purpose device niche, SONY recently announced two new tablets, focusing on their strength: media. B&N is rumored to be making a big announcement this coming Tuesday at BEA. That announcement is expected to relate to a new Nook, that will likely be an Android-based tablet. Amazon is also rumored to be releasing a new tablet soon (date unknown).

Why more tablets? With all of the hype you would think that everyone in the world already owns an iPad. Nielsen reported this week that less than 5% of the US population own iPads. It is estimated that penetration is even lower in other countries. While Apple may own 80% of that market, it means that there is still room for other competitors to enter the space and gain market share.

There may be some question yet as to the ultimate niche and place of the tablet in history. We are still at the very early stages of a new technology. Expect more innovations, variations, and ultimately applications of this technology in the year ahead.

Looks Like Tablets Are Ready for School

The Apple iPad pilot programs on college campuses have been completed and Vineet Madan, vice president, McGraw-Hill Higher Education eLabs, says the device passed the test. In fact, he offers six reasons why tablet computing is ready to take the classroom by storm.

Versatility is the first reason Madan cites, noting that enhanced e-books provide text, video, and audio, making for a more integrated learning experience that is more engaging for students. In addition, the iPad allows students to highlight and jot notes in the margin, just like in a printed book.

Students’ growing familiarity with touchscreen technology is another reason to think tablets are ready for the classroom, according to Madan. The tablet also appeals to students because it is thin, lightweight, and turns over much quicker than a laptop with much longer battery life, while innovative software is being developed specifically for tablets to render them compatible with online teaching and learning platforms.

Tablets also align with cloud-based computing solutions, which are becoming more popular on campuses because of their portability and constant connection to the Internet. Finally, Madan reminds readers that tablets are much easier to acquire now and increased competition from Android OS devices will only drive prices down on all tablet models.

Students Slowly Accepting Tablet Computing

Apple’s introduction if its iPad a year ago appears to have upended the personal computing world according to this article in the Los Angeles Times. Among the repercussions, Microsoft stock recently experienced its largest single-day drop in two years on declining software sales.

Experts expect 50 million tablets to be sold this year, up from 19 million in 2010, with more than 100 million in 2012. While laptop sales will continue to be strong worldwide, manufacturers say they believe tablet sales will eclipse laptop sales in the United States next year.

Yet questions remain on college campuses. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that students at the Stanford School of Medicine stopped using iPads given to them a few weeks into the first term of use, preferring printed course materials instead. In addition, rebuilding wireless infrastructure on campus to support mobile devices can be expensive while getting students, faculty, and staff working together on the educational possibilities of the gadget often works better in some fields than other.

Tablets for education

The tablet market continues to heat up with more devices getting announced that are specifically targeted toward education -- whether college or K-12. Reuters had an interesting article on this last month that covers a couple new devices heading toward the education space.

One of the new devices entering the space is from mySpark Technologies which has an Android-based tablet with a stylus and capabilities designed for textbooks. Rullingnet is introducing a device for toddlers(the Vinci Tab).

These devices will compete, of course, against existing players, such as Kno (which is rumored to have their hardware platform for sale), Entourage Edge (with its dual screen device), and, of course the iPad.

Australian Pilot Program Recommends iPads in the Classroom

Trinity College, University of Melbourne, has released a report on the results of its
Step Forward iPad Pilot Project, which saw the iPad “test-driven” in classroom settings by select staff and students in the Trinity College Foundation Studies (TCFS) program, a one-year course that qualifies about 700 international students annually for undergraduate entry into the University of Melbourne and other Australian universities.

Issued iPads with wireless and 3G capability, faculty in nine academic disciplines and 44 students, along with some IT staff and administrators, evaluated the Apple device to determine whether its wider adoption would make sense for TCFS. Participants also tested several other devices, including laptops, netbooks, e-readers, and a Samsung Galaxy tablet with Android OS.

The results were overwhelmingly positive for the iPad. While noting that the device is an “enhancement” rather than a replacement for desktop/laptop computers or other educational technologies, 80% of students and 76% of staff said they would recommend the iPad for use by their peers at Trinity.

“I found the iPad helped us experience the world of learning from a greater range of vantage points and gave us more opportunities to meet individual learning needs,” said one participant.

Quality audiovisual equipment in the classroom, along with agile IT support, were cited as necessities to make the best use of the tablet.

The report’s final recommendations include allocating iPads to all TCFS staff this year, dedicating IT staff to iPad support, and rolling out iPads to all TCFS students in 2012.

Tablet wars: IPad vs Xoom

David Pogue, NYTimes Technology blogger frequently has interesting posts. Last week he had an interesting post reviewing the new Motorola Xoom tablet -- a potential competitor to the iPad. The article covers the features of the Xoom as they compare to the iPad - -from price and cameras, to connectivity, speed and display quality.

The Xoom is also one of the first (the first??) tablet to use Google's new 'Honeycomb' software. David's review is interesting -- pointing out both the plusses and minuses of the first iteration of the Android-based tablet operating system. Always interesting -- the specific apps discussed in comparison include e-book reading.

If you are interested in the tablet market, Pogue's piece is a good one to read for product comparison.

Google and the e-book/e-reader market

Expectations that Google will soon enter the tablet and e-reader space continue. The company's recent acquisition of EBook Technologies fuels this speculation, as noted in one article that details the acquisition. Google's ebookstore, their recent partnership with the ABA, and other initiatives to help make local book retailers more visible in searches, suggest that Google could be a friend to book retailers in a way other large online sources for books are not. There is an opportunity here for retailers to capitalize on what Google could do for them to both retain and regain market share.

The question will be, perhaps, whether booksellers enamored of older print technologies will be nimble and open enough to take advantage of some of the opportunities presented by new technologies -- or if they will buy into the conventional wisdom that the local bookseller will go the way of the local music store. As one of my colleagues in the bookstore industry is fond of saying, "Some folks will drown because when you throw them a life preserver they want one that is square or blue, rather than the one that you are throwing them that happens to be round or yellow."

Update on Kno and Other Tablets

The School Library Journal had a recap and video clip from CES this year focused on the Kno. The Kno was unveiled last year as a tablet designed specifically for education. Initially something of a disappointment, the company has come a long way. Kno is a spin-out of Chegg, the textbook rental company. While textbook rentals have existed on a number of college campuses for more than 40 years, it is really Chegg's entry to the market less than 3 years ago which has led to the dramatic adoption of rental as a standard business model across the U.S. textbook market. With preliminary content from some of the largest textbook publishers, it will be interesting to watch where Kno goes in the coming year and how the company will chose to work with educational institutions and the college store community. The School Library Journal provides some additional updates on the device.

The journal also has another story on tablets and CES this month. The piece covers a range of the devices and discusses their implications for education and text.

Mobile + computer = potential higher ed win

While this BlogU posting from Inside Higher Ed doesn’t view the announcement of 70-plus new tablet devices as “the” big story on the education front from CES 2011, it does rave over the Motorola Atrix Android phone and docking system.

The laptop-like docking station acts as keyboard, screen, and battery, with the Atrix providing the OS, memory, and networking—as well as the user’s files, images, videos, and music. All computing occurs on the Atrix. The combination renders the smartphone vastly much more suitable for classroom use.

“The Atrix is a step closer to the dream of a full computer in a mobile device,” states the BlogU post, adding, “…All of a sudden, the mobile device becomes both a consumption and production tool.”