Computer Tablets Delivery Could Take Nearly 3 Years: Thai Education Ministry Source

[webfact]

CONTROVERSIAL POLL PROMISE

Tablets 'could take nearly 3 years'

CHULARAT SAENGPASSA

WANNAPA KHAOPA

SAOWANEE NIMPANPAYUNGWONG

THE NATION

Chinese firm Shenzhen Scope says manufacturing capacity is 1,000 devices per day, not 20,000

BANGKOK: -- Thai students will likely have to wait longer than expected for their promised computer tablets, as the China-based provider can only produce around 1,000 per day, not 20,000 as it told Thai authorities previously, a source at the Education Ministry told The Nation yesterday.

Despite the expected delivery delay, training in use of the tablets by educational personnel, who will in turn act as trainers of educational supervisors, began yesterday in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, Srinakharinwirot University said it would release in early May the findings of a study on the benefits and disadvantages of using tablets in schools.

The source said the supplier, Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development, could produce 20,000 tablet chassis per day, but could only produce 1,000 completed units daily.

The Cabinet recently approved the purchase of 1 million tablet computers for elementary students - up from an initial 900,000. If the company has the capacity to produce only about 1,000 tablets a day, it will take up to 1,000 days - or two years and nine months - to finish manufacturing 1 million tablets.

Initially, the government planned to hand out the tablets to all Prathom 1 students at the start of the upcoming semester.

The source said the purchase contract had yet to be signed, as the company had backtracked on a previously agreed two-year warranty on its products because it claimed the battery could not last that long. It wanted to reduce the warranty of the battery to one year, while retaining a two-year warranty for the other parts.

One hundred personnel from the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), Office of the Private Education Commission and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration began training at the Maxx Hotel Bangkok yesterday. The session ends Friday. They will train 549 educational supervisors from all provinces to instruct 54,900 Prathom 1 (Grade 1) teachers during the summer vacation. The tutorials will enable the teachers to instruct their pupils in using the tablets, said Anek Ratpiyapaporn, director of the Bureau of Technology for Teaching and Learning at Obec.

"As the company cannot produce the tablets ordered by the government now, we are using tablets of other brands that are normally used in Thailand. We use projectors to show them how to use the tablets. Over four days of training, they have to learn what tablets can do, how to use them, what content, applications and instructional media will be installed in them, and how to use tablets with the Internet, as well as computer law and ethics," Anek said.

"We cannot wait until the tablets from China arrive. Our supervisors and teachers have to be prepared. So, whenever the tablets come, they will be able to use them to teach in class. When the tablets arrive, we will retrain the 100 trainers in how to use tablets with the same specifications as those that will be distributed to students," he said.

After the 100 trainers are trained, they will be divided into five groups to train supervisors in different regions of the country. Later, each supervisor will train 100 Prathom 1 teachers. Around Bt200 million has been allocated for the training, Anek said.

Earlier, the bureau invested Bt300 million in creating 2,549 learning objects for elementary and secondary levels to be used with computers and tablets. Of those, 336 are for Prathom 1.

Anek said tablet use would increase schools' expenditures as it would increase electric bills.

Charging a tablet's battery consumed the same amount of electricity as running a light, he said.

-- The Nation 2012-04-25

[OzMick]

Anek is only partially right .Charging of tablets will increase electricity costs, but only in those schools that HAVE electricity.

That increase will be around B30/day (Assumptions 100 tablets x 40W x 2 hours x B4/kWHr) If this is significant enough to be worth mentioning, then I hold little hope that those schools without electricity will be getting it soon.

Perhaps they could take some of the excess production of tablet chassis, fit them with a slate and issue them to schools without power, if the cost of chalk wouldn't inflate their budgets too much.

[AZBill]

How many can you act actually make? Who would have thought to ask such an arcane question? Better form a Blue Ribbon Committee to figure this one out!

[kanderson]

Educational opportunities via computer and internet are increasing. I am all in - good idea.

Kids love gadgets and will get a starting point as technology goes over the top in the next 10 years.

[animatic]

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LOS no no,

ALOHA

A Land of the Hilariously Absurd

Edited April 25, 2012 by webfact
technical reason /Admin

[lovetotravel]

In the US, they are starting to not allow tablets as they say they aren't integrated enough into the overall educational program and are being used to mainly play games. It was a major article lately.

[Thai at Heart]

20,000 cases but only 1000 pieces. Who negotiated this BS????

Surely this breaks the terms of the tender. But of course, if someone got paid to make sure someone got the contract, there might be a little issue of returning the cash. Hmmmmmm

[OzMick]

Has everyone forgotten that NEXT there will be another million or so Pathom 1 students to supply with tablets, and the year after, and the year after,......................

[Moruya]

Metrics, metrics, metrics

Common sense

1,000 days to complete an order that was already a small fraction of what was promised.

What an awful mess

[Jawnie]

Why do I have the feeling that this government won't even be around in three years to deliver the promised tablets?

[p_brownstone]

So they will still be training trainers who will then go on to train other trainers most of whom cannot train after their training because they have no equipment to give to the children they were trained to train.

So what work do these trainers do once they are trained but cannot train?

Patrick

[p_brownstone]

And let's not forget - even in 1 years time technology will have advanced so far that the, already low grade, specifications of the equipment which the Government will still be committed to buy will be virtually Stone Age.

Additionally the various Parts used by the manufacturer to produce these Tablets will be obsolete and available for virtually nothing - significantly increasing the profits of the manufacturer.

Patrick

[Skywalker69]

That´s how it goes when "Cheep Charlies" trying to do business.

With the so called "Big Business Woman" at the rodder.

Why wasen´t it handeld better?

[KireB]

So those P1 kids, that were promised to get these game machines won't get them, because next year they will be in P2! Poor sods.

This whole Yingluck administration is so inept, it becomes hilarious. Except for those P1 children.

[SunSeek01]

The whole notion of "On-line learning" is ridiculous. I've taken dozens of Microsoft and Cisco tests and believe me, most of them are pretty darn hard. If I had to go the reading on some kind of on-line training, I'd never get through it. There is a reason that books (and I include EBooks, EReaders, etc.) are popular, it's the fastest way to learn!!!

I gave my GF a notebook 2 years ago. It's only used for photo's and music and a few games. I brought back a tablet and even I play more games on it than I ever have in my life. But that's it. She looks at the English courses sometimes, and their not bad but for the most part, games and more games.

And one more thing, what is tablet designed now going to be worth in 2 years ?

[billd766]

So they will still be training trainers who will then go on to train other trainers most of whom cannot train after their training because they have no equipment to give to the children they were trained to train.

So what work do these trainers do once they are trained but cannot train?

Patrick

Play with their train sets of course.

[Bagwan]

SNAFU Everything that we have come to expect from this rabble.

[BudRight]

Why do I have the feeling that this government won't even be around in three years to deliver the promised tablets?

Very good grasshopper - you see the willow but the snake does not hear.

By then the yellows will be in - and the reds can blame them for not getting the tablets!

[Bagwan]

Anek is only partially right .Charging of tablets will increase electricity costs, but only in those schools that HAVE electricity.

That increase will be around B30/day (Assumptions 100 tablets x 40W x 2 hours x B4/kWHr) If this is significant enough to be worth mentioning, then I hold little hope that those schools without electricity will be getting it soon.

Perhaps they could take some of the excess production of tablet chassis, fit them with a slate and issue them to schools without power, if the cost of chalk wouldn't inflate their budgets too much.

I think 40 watts is a bit steep. No lamp in my palatial slum consumes more the 14 watts per hour.

[OzMick]

Anek is only partially right .Charging of tablets will increase electricity costs, but only in those schools that HAVE electricity.

That increase will be around B30/day (Assumptions 100 tablets x 40W x 2 hours x B4/kWHr) If this is significant enough to be worth mentioning, then I hold little hope that those schools without electricity will be getting it soon.

Perhaps they could take some of the excess production of tablet chassis, fit them with a slate and issue them to schools without power, if the cost of chalk wouldn't inflate their budgets too much.

I think 40 watts is a bit steep. No lamp in my palatial slum consumes more the 14 watts per hour.

Standard rating of the long (4'?) fluorescents they use in schools. Even so, 14w would reduce the cost to B10/day.

Edited April 25, 2012 by OzMick

[mike123ca]

I starting to believe that the government actually wants this project to fail.

[thaicbr]

Let's face it the 'current 'government will not be around as of May. Massive cabinet reshuffle on the cards to make way for the 111 martyrs who were banned in a politicaly motivated action by the coupists and their elitist masters

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[Skywalker69]

Has everyone forgotten that NEXT there will be another million or so Pathom 1 students to supply with tablets, and the year after, and the year after,......................

Maby they photo copying the first ones so in 4 years time the first photocopys will be handed out.

[Ferangled]

"The whole notion of "On-line learning" is ridiculous."

"There is a reason that books (and I include EBooks, EReaders, etc.) are popular, it's the fastest way to learn!!!"

In your own post you have contradicted yourself. Online learning is ridiculous but e-books are the fastest way to learn. Awesome stuff. I guess it hasn't dawned on you that tablets can be used to read e-books...

"I gave my GF a notebook 2 years ago. It's only used for photo's and music and a few games. I brought back a tablet and even I play more games on it than I ever have in my life. But that's it. She looks at the English courses sometimes, and their not bad but for the most part, games and more games."

I'd politely suggest that this says more about you & your GF than the capacity of tablets to be used for educational purposes... but thanks for the insight into your personal life.

[Sayonarax]

Thanks for the laugh... keep up the fine work. PTP FTW.

[Skywalker69]

I starting to believe that the government actually wants this project to fail.

Your not alone.

It was election promises served two purposes

1. win the election

2. Bring back the "dear Leader"

[KireB]

I starting to believe that the government actually wants this project to fail.

I share these thoughts! I mean once the kids get them, what then? Curriculum integration, teacher education, parent education, learning content, it infrastructure, firewalling, etc..

It would take a well managed team of professionals several months to set up a project of this size.

Buying these 'expensive frisbees' is the easiest part! Getting value for money the hardest and I think they start to realize this.

[hellodolly]

Has everyone forgotten that NEXT there will be another million or so Pathom 1 students to supply with tablets, and the year after, and the year after,......................

Well actually the promise was for all students. Not exactly sure of the figures but I believe them to be in the 11,000,000 range.

But that also includes schools without electricity.

When you stop to think about it even if they had been serious in their promise what a joke introduce technology into schools with out electricity.

Talk about getting the plow in front of the water buffalo.