American High School Approves Purchase of 400 iPad Clones by Haipad for Education

[xaueious]

Update: Grandview High School is actually going to use Coby tablets instead
​

Grandview High is an American high school located in the Grandview School District of southwestern Jefferson County. The board of education there voted to approve the purchase of 400 units for students, not including the additional 20 units for the pilot program that ran since January, for an estimated cost between $60,000 to $65,000. The project is to be funded by previously approved bond issue money. The board expects to save money by going paperless.

The device pictured in the original article suggests that the M701 has been approved. Doing the math, each unit costs $150 to $160 for the board. The Haipad M701 itself retails for 500RMB (~$75USD) locally in China, after a quick lookup on the Chinese shopping site Taobao .

The Haipad M701 is a 7" tablet with Android 2.1, with a Telechips TCC8902 processor. It has a resistive dual-touchscreen, and has a resolution of 800x480. Average battery life is less than two to three hours. It is very similar to the Coby Kyros MID7015, which is a locally available product retailing between $140 and $150 before applicable taxes. TCC8902 devices have above average video playback compatibility, but are not compatible with Adobe Flash. They also tend to be a little slow for graphically intensive PDF documents.

The Haipad M701 first appeared in August last year, and has been one of the most popular variants of Android tablets in 2010. The generic tablet uses a plastic casing originally designed to imitate the look of the iPad, but with a different aspect ratio and at a different size. The casing itself had been in circulation since as early as April 2010. The original design has been known to be fragile. Multiple users have reported to have cracked their touchscreen, resulting in inoperable tablets. Haipad has not been the only manufacturer producing the generic device from Shenzhen. Haipad has continued to add iPad lookalikes to its lineup since the M701.

In a previous article, the board was quoted to expect the students to use the tablets for the duration of their four-year high school tenure. Haipad does not carry any tablets with replaceable batteries. The typical usable life a lithium battery degrades as it ages, if the device does manage to last that long without first failing due to physical damage.

While the decision made by the board is questionable, it does point to the positive sign that educational institutions are looking into adopting Android tablets for educational purposes.

Source
News from STLtoday, also another article from January
Image source Shanzhaiben

 

[Comacine]

That's a great unit for this use. I've bought 701s for both my kids and they work great. Good for them.

 

[strider_mt2k]

Can't say that I blame them.
Except for the short battery life mine has been pretty cool.
Granted I have updated the firmware once and rooted the device, but it has been very reliable.

From the moment I saw Sir Ashens bashing it on YouTube I thought there was something cool about this tablet.
If given the proper attention firmware and OS-wise it could be the star of the low-dollar tabs.

 

[xaueious]

Well, someone knew enough to drop the Haipad idea and are now using Coby tablets instead.

 

[geekland]

Tablets have a significant potential to enhancing existing learning methods applied in schools. Tablets will not fully replace laptops or desk top computers but are more complimentary. The portability of the tablets lend themselves to new forms of learning, e.g group learning. Imagine a scenario where the class goes to an field trip such as to a museum. Interested students can use the tables to look up additional information about a display item and gain much more historical and contextual information. The teacher can point to other information sources and students can immediately look these up during the tour. Carrying a laptop is just not practical in these situations.

There are numerous other scenarios that tablets can be used to enrich learning. The clear advantage is portability and convenience that lends to a more effective use. Given that tablets will be carried by children to almost all places indoor, outdoor etc, there are clearly some key considerations to keep in mind while selecting a tablet. Robustness/ ruggedness of the tablets is a given. By the very nature of it being portable, the chances of dropping the tablet increases many fold You cannot have the screen broken on the very first drop. While cases do offer some protection, they do not prevent breakages. Tablets must incorporate shatter proof screens and more solid wiring to withstand a 2 or 3 feet drop.

Battery life is another key item. Having a battery life of < 2 hours dilutes tablet use for what it is primarily intended for - portability. Once charged, the tablets should retain the charge for a significant period of time. You cant have a tablet battery discharge within 2 hours of it being charged. An 6-8 hour usage would be great which will warrant a powerful battery at least 6000 mAh or more.

I think it is great that Schools have taken the step to use tablets in schools. Now its up to the tablet manufacturers to build tablets that would be applicable for schools.
At Geek Land, we recognize some of these issues and have been working directly with the manufacturers to custom build tablets for schools. It is important first to understand how the tablets would be used in a school/class room setting and then design the tablet accordingly. That will take some time perhaps another year or so before we get more use cases from various trials but eventually we will see tablets only getting more widespread in their adoption in schools.

Shaun
Geek Land
Geekland : Electronic Gadgets for Geeks





&nbsp;<br>

<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/5o1oZ.jpg" border="0" alt=""><br>
<br>
<em>Update: Grandview High School is actually going to use Coby tablets instead</em><br>
</p><br>
<br>
Grandview High is an American high school located in the <a href="http://www.grandviewr2.com" target="_blank">Grandview School District</a> of southwestern Jefferson County. The board of education there voted to approve the purchase of 400 units for students, not including the additional 20 units for the pilot program that ran since January, for an estimated cost between $60,000 to $65,000. The project is to be funded by previously approved bond issue money. The board expects to save money by going paperless. <br>
<br>
The device pictured in the original article suggests that the M701 has been approved. Doing the math, each unit costs $150 to $160 for the board. The Haipad M701 itself retails for 500RMB (~$75USD) locally in China, after a quick lookup on <a href="http://www.taobao.com/" target="_blank">the Chinese shopping site Taobao </a>. <br>
<br>
The Haipad M701 is a 7" tablet with Android 2.1, with a Telechips TCC8902 processor. It has a resistive dual-touchscreen, and has a resolution of 800x480. Average battery life is less than two to three hours. It is very similar to the Coby Kyros MID7015, which is a locally available product retailing between $140 and $150 before applicable taxes. TCC8902 devices have above average video playback compatibility, but are not compatible with Adobe Flash. They also tend to be a little slow for graphically intensive PDF documents. <br>
<br>
The <a href="http://www.haipad.net/" target="_blank">Haipad </a>M701 first appeared<a href="http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/android-tablet-news/691-telechips-tcc8902-based-apad-now-available-witnessed-doing-pinch-zoom-video.html" target="_blank"> in August</a> last year, and has been one of the most popular variants of Android tablets in 2010. The generic tablet uses a plastic casing originally designed to imitate the look of the iPad, but with a different aspect ratio and at a different size. The casing itself had been in circulation since as early as April 2010. The original design has been known to be fragile. Multiple users have reported to have cracked their touchscreen, resulting in inoperable tablets. Haipad has not been the only manufacturer producing the generic device from Shenzhen. Haipad has continued to add iPad lookalikes to its lineup since the M701. <br>
<br>
In a previous article, the board was quoted to expect the students to use the tablets for the duration of their four-year high school tenure. Haipad does not carry any tablets with replaceable batteries. The typical usable life a lithium battery degrades as it ages, if the device does manage to last that long without first failing due to physical damage. <br>
<br>
While the decision made by the board is questionable, it does point to the positive sign that educational institutions are looking into adopting Android tablets for educational purposes. <br>
<br>
<strong>Source</strong><br>
News from <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/metro/education/article_6e0cf2f4-1546-58b0-8985-2cf33bb95055.html" target="_blank">STLtoday</a>, also another article from <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/suburban-journals/metro/education/article_44148ef7-b2d5-545d-9f43-57a097721035.html" target="_blank">January</a><br>
Image source <a href="http://www.shanzhaiben.com/83/n-4583.html" target="_blank">Shanzhaiben</a>