School Tablets

I remember quite distinctly how much my back hurt from carrying school stuff with my backpack. I endured the pain with my skinny frame thinking that trolley was not cool. Quite recently, news came out unveiling plans of several schools undergoing transition by replacing textbooks with tablets. Not only will schools be environmentally friendly by becoming paperless, they will also save the spine of many of their students.

Among the schools looking into this possibility are St. Paul Pasig, La Salle Greenhills and St. Scholastica. St. Paul has invited suppliers for public bidding for the use of around 5,000 students. The cost of tablet will be incorporated into the tuition that is seen to offset the cost of textbooks. Also, the tablets for school use are now being tested for development to include features such as apps for research, securities and parental control.

This shift to tablet technology is not exclusively being eyed by the private schools. DOST is looking forward to the release of the first Filipino PC tablet. Secretary Montejo said they have invested in the development of the cheap electronic gadget to save students from buying printed books whose spiraling prices often have to do with the high printing cost.

In the province, a Laguna-based semiconductor company Ionics has manufactured Rizal e-tablet, which will also serve as an e-book reader. Proponents of the device describe the device as an alternative to Apple iPad tablet and Amazon Kindle e-reader. The device will be distributed among school students with hundreds of pre-loaded electronic textbooks.

Now, do I wish I went to high school just now? Maybe. I only hope that education’s attempt to cope with the fast paced and technology driven society be successful in meeting its goals.

James Anthony Mina #3