Tablet Computers To Contain Text Books; Pheu Thai Policy

[scorecard]

You really believe every little mum and pop shop / every coffee booth along the road is sending in VAT money? And every business big or small is sending in the correct amounts (no double books)?

They probably pay VAT, if it's a Vatable-item, when they buy their supplies from Makro ... so VAT has been collected, on the things the small-traders sell-on, but not VAT on their own mark-up. It wouldn't be worth collecting from every small-business, the administration would cost way too much, both for the SMEs and the Thai tax-man.

By-the-way did anyone ask, how is the government going to compensate the publishers of all these text-books, for the copying of their wares ?

The education ministry ignores copyright now, on a massive scale, what's different?

[Ricardo]

You really believe every little mum and pop shop / every coffee booth along the road is sending in VAT money? And every business big or small is sending in the correct amounts (no double books)?

They probably pay VAT, if it's a Vatable-item, when they buy their supplies from Makro ... so VAT has been collected, on the things the small-traders sell-on, but not VAT on their own mark-up. It wouldn't be worth collecting from every small-business, the administration would cost way too much, both for the SMEs and the Thai tax-man.

By-the-way did anyone ask, how is the government going to compensate the publishers of all these text-books, for the copying of their wares ?

The education ministry ignores copyright now, on a massive scale, what's different?

Not much, I agree, but at least the Thai-publishers of Thai-language text-books used to get some money from their text-book sales, now the software-versions risk being loaded without any payment ? This hardly helps publishers pay to keep them up-to-date.

Perhaps the Men-from-the-Ministry might develop their own standard text-books instead ? In time for the launch of the free-computers in five months time. Or perhaps not. Expect loads of trips-for-the-boys to study how this is done in other countries ! And just-in-time for Christmas-shopping !

[TAWP]

As someone on this forum once said, VAT is a burden on the less fortunate. Income, corporate and other taxes seems a much fairer way of spreading the burden. The Shinawatras still not having to pay a single Baht on their Shinawatra Holdings sale in January 2006 is a total disgrace in that sense

Show me a single billionaire that pays their fair share of tax in SE Asia and i'll show you a pig that can fly.

What exactly is 'fair' share?

Some people would say that 'fair' is that everyone pay the same amount for example for the a book they buy, not a relative amount to their salary...

[csolgosz]

This is nothing but a bullshit gimmick that will improve nothing except access to porn.

What students in Thailand need are better quality teachers especially in the fields of math, science, geography, history and English.

As a (real) teacher , I can tell you that the standard for Maths for example is way higher than that being taught in my 'superior' Western country. Geography and History are a different issue and I suspect are more hindered by a narrow nationalistic viewpoint (similar to students coming out of the US now, who know little of anything outside of their country). If you are talking about the standard of education, I can also tell you that despite the claims, students come out of schools in the West knowing a whole lot less than they did when I finished school. However, if 'better quality teachers' are required, they need to start actually paying Thai teachers a LOT more to attract smarter people, not just give them the cursory WAI KRU recognition once a year and then treat them like slaves...

I can also say from experience that it is easy to block porn if it is done properly. Funny how TV posters are so focused on that...

[wintermute]

What exactly is 'fair' share?

Some people would say that 'fair' is that everyone pay the same amount for example for the a book they buy, not a relative amount to their salary...

If you're talking about VAT then yes but i'm referring more to income tax and the rich in SE Asia don't pay taxes. Matter of fact they dip into the government tax base frequently for low interest loans etc.. that's one of the benefits you get when you own the banking system and manipulate government reserves.

[Phil Conners]

Let's try staying on topic here, shall we?

[scorecard]

This is nothing but a bullshit gimmick that will improve nothing except access to porn.

What students in Thailand need are better quality teachers especially in the fields of math, science, geography, history and English.

As a (real) teacher , I can tell you that the standard for Maths for example is way higher than that being taught in my 'superior' Western country. Geography and History are a different issue and I suspect are more hindered by a narrow nationalistic viewpoint (similar to students coming out of the US now, who know little of anything outside of their country). If you are talking about the standard of education, I can also tell you that despite the claims, students come out of schools in the West knowing a whole lot less than they did when I finished school. However, if 'better quality teachers' are required, they need to start actually paying Thai teachers a LOT more to attract smarter people, not just give them the cursory WAI KRU recognition once a year and then treat them like slaves...

I can also say from experience that it is easy to block porn if it is done properly. Funny how TV posters are so focused on that...

You really believe that. Kids who have used the internet for a while are very internet savvy, they will get around blocks in two minutes. And many kids know how to link to an offshore ISP service in two seconds.

Porn should be a concern. I've caught a number of bachelor degree and masters degree students (including female students) watching hard porn in the classroom. Which is the reasons why the university banned laptops, tablets, etc from being opened in the classroom.

Edited August 14, 2011 by scorecard

[scorecard]

I'm sure that some of you parents know the outrageous cost of classroom textbooks. I'd guess that many if not most are outdated when purchased. I have a $139 Kindle reader that will hold all the text books in the entire school.

The information can be updated easily and effective teaching method lessons can be followed by the ineffective teachers. I think it can easily be a BIG win situation.

Shame on you people who see fit to make this a political issue.

What patents do the Thais hold, what's the difference? Think back when Japanese products were considered junk. Where is Japan now as far as innovative products? What makes you think that Thailand won't follow the same path?

ADDED - The money? How many full blown computers will the money taken from Thaksin buy?

So you have a kindle purchased at US$139-. Yes textbooks are not cheap, but what you avoid mentioning is that downloading a text book into your kindle is not free at all.

[atyclb]

Thank you for your kind words. I know there are many here that are all too familiar with the education system and culture, but it must start somewhere to have a chance to make a difference. At one point in time Singapore was hopelessly corrupt, yet today they are a different nation.

What happened in Singapore to make it change?

Is it likely to happen here any time soon?

If I recall correctly, a family member of the then ruling party (high up) served real time in prison in order to set an example and precedent. May have been someone in the presidents family.

Google "corruption singapore" theres lots of stuff.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=11&ved=0CCAQFjAAOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Funpan1.un.org%2Fintradoc%2Fgroups%2Fpublic%2Fdocuments%2FAPCITY%2FUNPAN028070.pdf&rct=j&q=singapore%20corruption&ei=R1tHTuyhGIHsrAeCiPzdAw&usg=AFQjCNEgnEPHubfYWsu3Bij7ha2PRZwUMw&sig2=TtkazejUgaqoJSNrBI2c6w&cad=rja

[Gary A]

I'm sure that some of you parents know the outrageous cost of classroom textbooks. I'd guess that many if not most are outdated when purchased. I have a $139 Kindle reader that will hold all the text books in the entire school.

The information can be updated easily and effective teaching method lessons can be followed by the ineffective teachers. I think it can easily be a BIG win situation.

Shame on you people who see fit to make this a political issue.

What patents do the Thais hold, what's the difference? Think back when Japanese products were considered junk. Where is Japan now as far as innovative products? What makes you think that Thailand won't follow the same path?

ADDED - The money? How many full blown computers will the money taken from Thaksin buy?

So you have a kindle purchased at US$139-. Yes textbooks are not cheap, but what you avoid mentioning is that downloading a text book into your kindle is not free at all.

Students downloading what? I see these devices being issued by the school and being loaded with whatever material they think is necessary.

I'm not recommending Kindles. The right devices will be capable of animation and color screens to make the lessons fun. Students should NOT be able to change programming or put anything on the devices themselves.

[TAWP]

Students downloading what? I see these devices being issued by the school and being loaded with whatever material they think is necessary.

I'm not recommending Kindles. The right devices will be capable of animation and color screens to make the lessons fun. Students should NOT be able to change programming or put anything on the devices themselves.

No device as you mention exists and it will not cost 100USD. The absolute garbage tablets that I posted a review to earlier cost 150USD...and those are low-cost clones that don't even work properly for their limited intended purpose.

[Phil Conners]

The point is moot with a Kindle (-like) device. Eink screens are far too slow to be usable for any live video so porn and internet blocks is a non issue. Yes, you can still look up information with a Kindle, it has a simple browser but perfectly usable to for example research wikipedia or similar.

Forget about tablets having to be "interesting" or "giving a better experience". IMO that's not what it is about. It is about being able to carry 10 kilo worth of books in a 300 gram device and not having to chop down a forest to produce it.

[Grove]

Tablet Computers To Contain Text Books; Pheu Thai Policy - and large backhanders for those chosen as suppliers...

My fist thought as well.

[Grove]

What is the battery life of Tablet ?

Would it last through a full school day ?

If not, what is the cost going to be to install power outlets in all classrooms, not even to speak of re wiring a school.

[meadish_sweetball]

<br />I wonder if the government has a plan for when these computers get viruses, which they most certainly will if free internet is also still part of the package. <br /><br />Do they also have a maintenance plan for when the computers break down from whatever causes?  <br /><br />In other words, does the plan cover the other aspects of computer ownership?<br />

Good points. How many hundred thousand tablets with identical software, connected to the Internet, are we talking? Infected with a virus/trojan it could become a powerful botnet and create lots of trouble.

[GazR]

Great to finaly have a Govt that is prepared to bring Thai education into the "real" world. Congratulations PTP. A gigantic leap forward in Thai education. And starting in P1 is correct.

As a teacher that took E-learning into Thai classrooms several years ago I can assure posters here that it makes an immense improvement in student achievement.

Sure there will be many complications and challenges to overcome (which Im sure all the doom sayers will quickly jump on) but as stated it is not hard to update relevent content. (as windows does)

The ability for many Thai teachers to come to grips with a new style of teaching will be a major obstacle in the implimentation of E-Learning but you have to start somewhere. Putting off the introduction of E-learning is simply delaying the education reforms so needed in Thai education.

Congratulations PTP

Sadly, I have to disagree when it comes to the issue of educational content. To generalize from my 20+ years of ELT experience here in Thailand, students will continue to do poorly at exercises, not because they are dumb, but because they don't properly understand the instructions. Hence, teachers and star students will end up having to explain the instructions (as they do now) and having to give students the answers too ( just as they do now). As for the notion of an instruction manual for teachers, well they might just as well just give it straight to the students.

However, if this fails (as I expect it will) in improving English proficiency, it will suceed in keeping the populace from making their own comparisons of how well they are governed and therefore they will remain 'frogs inside a coconut'.

Bottom Line: Either well-intended nonsense or a cynical ploy to keep the natives distracted and happy for a while.

[GazR]

Great to finaly have a Govt that is prepared to bring Thai education into the "real" world. Congratulations PTP. A gigantic leap forward in Thai education. And starting in P1 is correct.

As a teacher that took E-learning into Thai classrooms several years ago I can assure posters here that it makes an immense improvement in student achievement.

Sure there will be many complications and challenges to overcome (which Im sure all the doom sayers will quickly jump on) but as stated it is not hard to update relevent content. (as windows does)

The ability for many Thai teachers to come to grips with a new style of teaching will be a major obstacle in the implimentation of E-Learning but you have to start somewhere. Putting off the introduction of E-learning is simply delaying the education reforms so needed in Thai education.

Congratulations PTP

Sadly, I have to disagree when it comes to the issue of educational content. To generalize from my 20+ years of ELT experience here in Thailand, students will continue to do poorly at exercises, not because they are dumb, but because they don't properly understand the instructions. Hence, teachers and star students will end up having to explain the instructions (as they do now) and having to give students the answers too ( just as they do now). As for the notion of an instruction manual for teachers, well they might just as well just give it straight to the students.

However, if this fails (as I expect it will) in improving English proficiency, it will suceed in keeping the populace from making their own comparisons of how well they are governed and therefore they will remain 'frogs inside a coconut'.

Bottom Line: Either well-intended nonsense or a cynical ploy to keep the natives distracted and happy for a while.

PS: Typical Thaksinism, really: Galloping off blindly in the wrong direction only to waste his political capital while increasing his personal fortune on picking low-hanging fruit instead of building strong fundamentals. I strongly suspect another downward political spiral in the offing: "It's deja vu all over again." (Yogi Bera)

[dobadoy]

Unenlightened, unprepared, bandwagon-jumping money-wasting nonsense.

There's nothing wrong with the idea of tablets for education (I mean the digital kind, rather than medicinal ones), but the Pheua Thai gov't have no idea what either the benefits or the challenges are. Some have already mentioned lack of training for educators (a problem that still plagues the use of bog-standard desktop computers in many Thai schools and colleges); on top of that there is the supply, quality and content of suitable software; there is maintenance and repairability, and of course internet access (is this going to be free for kids, or are their parents all going to be given grants for True Online, too?), not to mention internet infrastructure (no broadband in most of Thailand...).

A waste of 3Billion baht, that could be used to do something genuinely life-changing for education and the disadvantaged, instead of a 3yr free toy. Stupidity at its most wasteful.

Edited August 15, 2011 by dobadoy

[scorecard]

Great to finaly have a Govt that is prepared to bring Thai education into the "real" world. Congratulations PTP. A gigantic leap forward in Thai education. And starting in P1 is correct.

As a teacher that took E-learning into Thai classrooms several years ago I can assure posters here that it makes an immense improvement in student achievement.

Sure there will be many complications and challenges to overcome (which Im sure all the doom sayers will quickly jump on) but as stated it is not hard to update relevent content. (as windows does)

The ability for many Thai teachers to come to grips with a new style of teaching will be a major obstacle in the implimentation of E-Learning but you have to start somewhere. Putting off the introduction of E-learning is simply delaying the education reforms so needed in Thai education.

Congratulations PTP

And we still miss the point that the teaching methodology is crap and is the main cause of poor thinking and anslysis skills, the inability to realize and verbalise questions, etc. And none of this will change, and tablet computers won't change it, until teaching methodology is changed, overall school facilities are better and more comfortable, and class numbers are halved at least.

Sadly, I have to disagree when it comes to the issue of educational content. To generalize from my 20+ years of ELT experience here in Thailand, students will continue to do poorly at exercises, not because they are dumb, but because they don't properly understand the instructions. Hence, teachers and star students will end up having to explain the instructions (as they do now) and having to give students the answers too ( just as they do now). As for the notion of an instruction manual for teachers, well they might just as well just give it straight to the students.

However, if this fails (as I expect it will) in improving English proficiency, it will suceed in keeping the populace from making their own comparisons of how well they are governed and therefore they will remain 'frogs inside a coconut'.

Bottom Line: Either well-intended nonsense or a cynical ploy to keep the natives distracted and happy for a while.

PS: Typical Thaksinism, really: Galloping off blindly in the wrong direction only to waste his political capital while increasing his personal fortune on picking low-hanging fruit instead of building strong fundamentals. I strongly suspect another downward political spiral in the offing: "It's deja vu all over again." (Yogi Bera)

And we still miss the point that the teaching methodology is crap and is the main cause of poor thinking and analysis skills, the inability to realize and verbalise questions, etc. And none of this will change, and tablet computers won't change it, until teaching methodology is changed, overall school facilities are better and more comfortable, and class numbers are halved at least.

[GazR]

Great to finaly have a Govt that is prepared to bring Thai education into the "real" world. Congratulations PTP. A gigantic leap forward in Thai education. And starting in P1 is correct.

As a teacher that took E-learning into Thai classrooms several years ago I can assure posters here that it makes an immense improvement in student achievement.

Sure there will be many complications and challenges to overcome (which Im sure all the doom sayers will quickly jump on) but as stated it is not hard to update relevent content. (as windows does)

The ability for many Thai teachers to come to grips with a new style of teaching will be a major obstacle in the implimentation of E-Learning but you have to start somewhere. Putting off the introduction of E-learning is simply delaying the education reforms so needed in Thai education.

Congratulations PTP

And we still miss the point that the teaching methodology is crap and is the main cause of poor thinking and anslysis skills, the inability to realize and verbalise questions, etc. And none of this will change, and tablet computers won't change it, until teaching methodology is changed, overall school facilities are better and more comfortable, and class numbers are halved at least.

Sadly, I have to disagree when it comes to the issue of educational content. To generalize from my 20+ years of ELT experience here in Thailand, students will continue to do poorly at exercises, not because they are dumb, but because they don't properly understand the instructions. Hence, teachers and star students will end up having to explain the instructions (as they do now) and having to give students the answers too ( just as they do now). As for the notion of an instruction manual for teachers, well they might just as well just give it straight to the students.

However, if this fails (as I expect it will) in improving English proficiency, it will suceed in keeping the populace from making their own comparisons of how well they are governed and therefore they will remain 'frogs inside a coconut'.

Bottom Line: Either well-intended nonsense or a cynical ploy to keep the natives distracted and happy for a while.

PS: Typical Thaksinism, really: Galloping off blindly in the wrong direction only to waste his political capital while increasing his personal fortune on picking low-hanging fruit instead of building strong fundamentals. I strongly suspect another downward political spiral in the offing: "It's deja vu all over again." (Yogi Bera)

And we still miss the point that the teaching methodology is crap and is the main cause of poor thinking and analysis skills, the inability to realize and verbalise questions, etc. And none of this will change, and tablet computers won't change it, until teaching methodology is changed, overall school facilities are better and more comfortable, and class numbers are halved at least.

Simple really, ain't it?

BTW - correction: " It's LIKE deja vu all over again." YOGI BERRA

[csolgosz]

Will the IQ of Thai students have any effect on this...?

[GazR]

Will the IQ of Thai students have any effect on this...?

Obviously, just as it will have no effect on the IQ of Thai students.

[Buchholz]

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.

There's been a gigantic U-Turn.

It's no longer just certain selected 1st graders receiving tablet computers.

It will now number in the tens of millions receiving them. With an unknown budget.

.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Buchholz

[Buchholz]

Every student should have a tablet PC by May: Woravat

The government's One Tablet PC per Child policy will be fully implemented by May, Education Minister Woravat Auapinyakul pledged Wednesday.

"We will try to give tablet PCs to all students in primary and secondary school," he said, adding that vocational students would also get the tablets.

He was speaking in response to reports that due to a limited budget, the tablets would first be handed out to Prathom 1 students only. "I am looking for additional funds," he said.

In response to comments that the tablets might not be useful for some vocational subjects, Woravat said the devices would serve as a learning tool, giving students access to other materials.

-- The Nation 2011-12-14

[Oberkommando]

These will be useful for the 7/11 clerks to monitor stock levels and waiters/waitresses to take orders as more and more Thai youths move into the servant, sorry the service industry.

Smart thinking Mr. T.

[Buchholz]

I'm getting rough counts of 11 million when tabulating all primary, secondary, and vocational tech students in Thailand.

That's a lot of tablets now from the 400,000 or so they were going to go with only selected first graders.

The scheme just got gigantic again.

The Education Minister says they will all have them in their hands in six months.

.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Buchholz

[Buchholz]

In related IT news, Chalerm this evening announced that the Yingluck Cabinet has approved a 400 Million Baht budget for the ICT Ministry to buy equipment to tap into websites to find LM content. It'll no doubt be a new thread in the morning on its own.

No word on the budget for the tablet computer scheme, but it's no doubt going to be a whopper with the huge increase in recipients and the associated infrastructure costs.

[whybother]

Tablet PC Plan under fire again ... in the Bangkok Post.

[Buchholz]

Tablet PC Plan under fire again ... in the Bangkok Post.

So they've distributed 600 tablets now.

Out of the 11,000,000 initially promised, those numbers are worse than even the abysmal 1,000,000 Thai Elite Cards scam.

.

[patjem]

Lets hope those textbooks for teaching English aren't the Thai produced ones containing a plethora of errors. Not knocking Thailand for the sake of it. Simply stating a fact.

And therein lies the advantage. It is much easier to provide a software fix, then it is to reprint books.

School districts pay a small fortune for textbooks, One of the reasons out of date texts are still used by many districts all over the world is that the districts cannot afford to change the texts every two or so years. This is particulalry acute in the sciences. I would have been delighted to have had a tablet as a kid, instead of being obliged to lug around 10-20kgs of books. Have a look at school kids today, some of them can barely carry their backpacks.

I'm just curious, GK, and am fascinated to know more....

How many lessons per day did you have in school that meant 20kg of reading and reference material were necessary to carry round? Or did you just keep your past-reading archive in your bag, year-on-year?