Now a Rs.5000
tablet, ATab, to provide Indian schools and colleges access to premium global educational content
International education cloud company AcrossWorld partners with Delhi-based Go-Tech to launch 7”
android touchscreen tablet with free access to cloud-based open educational resources and more
AcrossWorld Education, the global SaaS company that developed the world’s first cloud-based platform to transform the learning process by enabling K-12 schools, colleges and universities around the world access open educational resources, has now announced that it will launch in India an advanced touch-screen tablet PC, called ATab, for just Rs.5000/- in partnership with Delhi-based Go-Tech. The ATab will be available in India from second week of March.
The inexpensive yet sophisticated android tablet will feature a 7” TFT touchscreen, 1.1 GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 2GB inbuilt memory expandable up to 16 GB, Wi-Fi and an external 3G USB Dongle. Besides the hardware, the nominal cost of Rs.5000/- also includes a three-year free and unlimited access to AcrossWorld Education’s proprietary and revolutionary education technology platform, EducationBridge TM , which allows academic institutions, teachers and students to use a variety of content elements including Open Content, Open Educational Resources, Legacy Content and proprietary content sources to connect, collaborate, and innovate. It also includes professional services for deployment and training schools and colleges on using EducationBridge TM to leverage premium global educational content. ATab will be available in several color options that will appeal to the younger generation.
Says Dr. Stephan Thieringer, President and CEO of AcrossWorld, “Open Source is the future of education. With the availability of ATab, Indian schools will be able to discover and leverage world-class educational content at their fingertips at the K-12 level itself as well as at the college and University level. It is very timely and appropriate that India schools and colleges alike seriously explore advanced technology solutions that provide instant access to the world’s best educational resources , especially now within an affordable budget.”
Gaurav Khanna, CEO, Go Tech says, “While inclusive growth must ensure that access to technology is within the reach of the masses, yet providing just the hardware is not enough. It must also provide access to quality educational content. By bundling free access to AcrossWorld’s global premium educational content, ATab is not just a book shelf, but a whole library full of the world’s best Open Source knowledge for schools and higher educational institutes. When I was studying Electrical Engineering at Virginia Tech, the motto of our University was, Ut Prosim, meaning, That I May Serve. I am pleased to have an opportunity to serve my country with this low-cost innovation that will impart knowledge to the masses.” Go Tech is a sister concern of one of India’s leading electrical and electronics solutions company, Gourav Roshni Limited, which was founded in 1986. Over half a dozen schools and colleges from various Indian cities such as Delhi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Rourkela and Gaujarala have indicated keen interest in the to-be-launched ATab from AcrossWorld Education, which has offices in Bangalore, Boston, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.
“At AcrossWorld, we aim to make education more affordable, accessible, and connect to learners and educators. We’re trying to transform the learning process by giving students a sense of ownership over their education”, added Dr. Thieringer. Besides providing access to open content and open educational resources, AcrossWorld’s EducationBridge™ platform also enables schools and colleges to upload and share their own legacy content with their students. Teachers will also be able to create customized content and share it with students across the ATab tablets. Users can bookmark, rate, recommend, and comment on open educational content, thereby helping crowdsource the most useful content, while filtering out what is not as much relevant. AcrossWorld Education already has at this time more than 5,000 users in India. In the initial launch stage in India, AcrossWorld will introduce about 10,000 ATab tablets, which will be scaled up rapidly.
About AcrossWorld Education
AcrossWorld Education is a global technology platform and infrastructure company creating an ecosystem for Open Content in education that empowers individuals and institutions to excel at teaching and learning by making it easy and inexpensive to connect, collaborate, and innovate. The AcrossWorld technology platform and infrastructure is a multi-source federated system of Open Content, Open Educational Resources, and legacy content. It uses proprietary algorithms to crowd source, review, rate, and recommend content for maximum use of Open Content and Open Educational Resources. AcrossWorld Education is passionate about addressing the systemic challenges in education and learning, how people are impacted, underserved, and without access to relevant and meaningful resources. The AcrossWorld technology platform addresses these challenges, while providing customized product and service offerings for the entire spectrum of users in private and public institutions.
About Go Tech
Go tech launches with it the expectations that millions of people have with technology at fingertips. How functional & useful is technology, when it can’t reach the basic people? Our endeavor is to discover the elucidation to this quandary and formulate technology obtainable to all. Our strategy is to keep the necessities of the young generation in mind and meet them at a value which they can afford. When we say “Go technology!” we wish that technology is pushed to a glorious future, a future which can only be foreseen if the masses move with the technology, Go Tech is here to persuade masses to make technology into a revolution. Go tech offers you the latest technology in your pocket capacity. The objective of Go tech is ‘Progress’, advancement of our organization and evolution of everyone along with us. It relates with the young generation and wants to tap the potential of youth to bring betterment.
Press release from the company. This is probably the source of all the news articles out there.
