Tablet to contain Text Books

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EDUCATION
Tablet to contain Text Books
By Chularat Saengpassa
Wannapa Khaopa
Supinda na Mahachai
The Nation 2011-08-12

The government has now revealed a practical side to the Pheu Thai Party's election policy to hand out free computer tablets to students. Next year, these devices will come equipped with e-textbooks.

Yet, criticism has not died down.

According to Education Minister Woravat Auapinyakul, each tablet will cost no more than Bt3,000 and its use-life should range from three to four years. Presently, the government has already allocated between Bt600 and Bt700 a year for students' free textbooks.

"We may need to spend just a bit more - but this investment is well worth it," he said yesterday.

Woravat pointed out that these tablets could be linked to the Internet and available applications looked set to boost students' potential as well as competitiveness.

The content on the tablets can become very lively with sound, animation, and colourful fonts to engage and interact with students.

Woravat said preparations would start now to make available proper content and curriculum for tablets-based study. As the budget for tablet purchases will come from the 2012 Fiscal Year, the actual procurements will not take place before April or May next year.

"This means we will still have time to prepare things," Woravat said.

He said the tablets would gradually reduce the need for paper textbooks, which were harder to update and to revise.

Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) secretary-general Chinnapat Bhumirat said tablets would be handed out to Pathom-1 students first.

"We are going to prepare e-content for tablets. This part is not related to e-textbooks, though," he said.

Chinnapat said the use of tablets had been tested already among students in Pathom 1 to Pathom 3. "We have found that tablets have many good points. Some software programmes have allowed children to study on their own," he added.

There are now 800,000 Pathom 1 students across the country. If the government is going to provide the tablets to all, it will need a Bt2.4billion budget.

Woravat said tablet models for primary students and secondary students would be different, because they had different needs.

Although the new education minister tried to list down the many benefits of the One Tablet Per Child, Chulalongkorn University lecturer Sompong Jitradab Angsuwathin remained unconvinced.

The prominent educator, who is also a member of an education reform subcommittee, said he was worried using tablets to study all the subjects would ruin children's eyesight.

"It's too much if students have to read every textbook from the tablets," he said.

He reckoned the electronic tools might allow students to seek new knowledge via more interesting formats and use software to practise exercises. Still, he felt Thailand was not ready for the tablet-for-all-student scheme.

"The government should study its impact carefully before full implementation," Sompong said.

He suggested that public hearings be held first to listen to good suggestions from authorities.

"If we plan the right implementations, children will enjoy maximum benefits," he said.

Sompong pointed out that it took countries like South Korea, Japan and Finland between three and five years to prepare the use of tablets for their students.

A 26-year-old secondary school teacher in Sa Kaeo said the One Tablet Per Child policy would reduce students' burden of carrying heavy textbooks to schools.

However, she voiced concern over students' improper use of the tablets.

"How can a teacher make sure that all 50 students open an e-book of the subject they are studying and not other programmes, especially improper ones? Now, it's difficult to monitor when they are using mobile phones in class," she said.

"Many students cannot read and write fluently although they are in secondary level. I'm worried that their writing skills will worsen," the teacher said, adding that the tablets would be useful for students who are self-controlled.

Sompong and the teacher said senior teachers aged 45 and up would have problems using the tablets.

"About 90 per cent of Thai teachers have never used computer tablets," Sompong said, and most of the Sa Kaew teachers were older than 45.

Both urged the government to create measures to prepare teachers and students for effective use of the technological tools first. Without preparation, they were worried the One Tablet Per Child programme would cause more harm than good.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a university lecturer said it was easy to hand out tablets but it would be hard to keep them in good working condition. "Many computers at small schools have been left out of order. No one goes there to fix them," she said, "Has the government thought about this problem?"

After-sale services or maintenance issues, she said, were important.

The lecturer said the government clearly had not yet prepared content for the tablets, nor trained teachers in their use. "If the teachers don't know how to use the devices, it's a waste of money," she said.

The tablets would be useful only if they had proper content and the users knew how to make the utmost use of the devices.

Chinnapat sought to ease such concerns yesterday. He said the Technology for Teaching/Learning Office had been instructed to develop a manual about how to educate teachers on the use of tablets for teaching purposes.

"We will block students' access to inappropriate web sites too," he said.

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EDITORIAL
Free tablets could well be a masterstroke
The Nation 2011-08-13

Despite being a populist policy, it may be a winner if implemented well.

The Yingluck Shinawatra government may have hit its first strike. That is, if its plan to digitise textbooks and put them on the free tablet computers for schoolchildren is carried out effectively. The idea is supposed to embrace the fast-developing technology that is transforming the way students are "reading", and is not just aimed at underprivileged Thai kids. Obviously, this project is way better than purchasing new weapons and certainly not as controversial as the pledge to increase the daily minimum wage to Bt300.

According to Education Minister Woravat Auapinyakul, each tablet computer will cost no more than Bt3,000 and its life span will range between three and four years. So far, the government has already allocated about Bt600 and Bt700 a year per student for free textbooks. These figures suggest that investing in tablet computers would be worthy.

As everybody knows, most if not all tablet computers can function as an e-reader. Although a lot of students are already using free textbooks, having them all in one tablet will make things considerably more convenient. This way, the children will be able to carry "all their books" with them "all the time" in one small, thin and light device. They will be able to read more - not just textbooks, but other books as well. And any generation that reads more will grow up to be smarter than a generation that has read less. It's as simple as that.

E-readers and their content have made a sluggish start in Thailand. There are many factors contributing to that. Problems related to competing formats among manufacturers of e-readers have slowed down market penetration here - a situation that is delaying the awaited boom in e-content.

Since tablets require good Wi-Fi and wireless connections to appeal to users, the domestic telecom problem is another factor that has added to the slow progress of e-reading culture here. Content producers, meanwhile, have been struggling to find the right formula, though it has been clear that producing e-content is far cheaper than printing books.

Children can make changes take place more quickly. So, allowing children to lead the trend can help the overall e-reading culture. Entrepreneurs reluctant to give up on the printers that they invested so heavily on will be paying more attention to this new side of their business. Ironically, content change is taking place faster in the broadcast industry, thanks to the fast improving device that we call the television. Hopefully, the same can occur in the "printing" industry, where key players are at best grappling with experimental production of e-reading content.

There are justified concerns that the children will use their free tablets to play games and that reading will be the last thing on their agenda. Putting textbooks in the tablets, however, will at least partially address this concern. The youngsters will be using these devices in classrooms to begin with, and we can start from there. After all, the convenience of e-readers is said to help kindle the love for reading.

Attention should also be paid to specifications. Tablets still have the problem of "glare", and since the touch-screen technology is still at fledging stage, the tablets would require additional layers of film. Good e-reading applications on tablets may help ease the problem a bit, but the government must make sure it does not opt for low costs at the expense of children's eyesight. This is not a small issue, as it can turn children on or off the idea of reading.

Rightly or wrongly, the exiled ex-PM Thaksin was known for his populist policies, like the one in which desktop computers were given to rural schools but ended up gathering dust due to the lack of knowledgeable personnel. Tablets, though, could be different, as long as textbooks are put on them. As long as real benefits can be reaped from a project that is carried out under a reasonable budget, it will not be described as "populist". Though the policy has its doubters, good budget management and effective implementation might make it a masterstroke for the Yingluck government.