Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

Following on the success of the EEE PC from Asus, Elonex are launching a £99 laptop at the Ed Show.  Details are still fairly sketchy, but it got coverage in The Times at the weekend.

Here's the press release:

Elonex ONE Product Launch
“Introducing the Elonex ‘ONE’ laptop, the UK’s first sub £100 laptop. Aimed at the Education Sector, the ONE is an ultra-portable laptop that gives wireless access to internet, eMail, word processing and spreadsheets. These functions are the fundamental building blocks which form the foundation of a child’s computing skills which can then be developed throughout their education. The ONE is designed to engage and motivate children and will open up a wide range of new and innovative teaching methods.”
Sam Goult, Marketing Manager at Elonex, comments “This pioneering technology has been developed to help nurture our children’s education, to integrate them into the modern digital world that we all now belong to. The ONE removes the cost barrier that has prevented the one-laptop-per-person, large-scale uptake of computers in the education system that has for so long been just a pipe-dream. Investment in digital technology is paramount to help the next generation achieve their full potential.” The ONE will help to achieve a balance and equality in the education of the classes. Figures published by The Conservatives in Dec 2007 show that the gap in the educational performance between pupils in the 10 per cent richest and poorest areas of the UK was 20 percentage points, and widening. The obstacle inhibiting low-income households from access to modern computing has now been eliminated, which will help to restore this unfair disadvantage. Elonex has made the ONE a possibility through extensive R&D and the specific modification of electronics technology to achieve the sub £100 laptop. The price is also achieved with a request to the government to make the product VAT exempt & support from corporate sponsors whom are currently going through the selection process. Sam Goult continues “The ONE has been designed to be an Education based resource, but the variety of uses are almost limitless. We also expect the sub £100 laptop to be a huge success with adult learners, business users, people who are constantly mobile, elderly people and first time internet users. We anticipate the ONE will prove to be a success throughout the UK and we expect to bring low cost computing to Europe and beyond.” The ONE wll be launched at The Education Show at the NEC. The exhibition, which showcases emerging educational resources and practices, is held at the NEC Birmingham from 28th Feb to 1st Mar. Elonex will launch the ONE laptop in Hall 11 at Stand U5. For more information please visit www.elonex.com or www.education-show.com

Steve

Hmm...

If the Engadget image is correct it looks like it could be a device from Taiwan made by Fontastic Telecom:
http://ec.fontastic.com.tw/clients/showproducts_A9160333734983_big_P11987417213084909.html

Specs:

Specifications
Hardware
CPU: Aday5F-300 MHz X86
Memory: 128/256 MB DDR2 SDRAM
4 MB Flash ROM
Storage: 1 GB/2GB NAND FLASH
Display: 800x480 7!? TFT LCD
Network interface: Ethernet 10/100 Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g (optional)
Bluetooth (optional)
Webcam: 2.0M pixels (optional)
USB sockets: USB 2.0/1.1 port X 2
Audio jack: 3.5mm in/out
Battery: 3 cells, 2200mAH/cell
Weight: 950g(with keyboard)
Dimension(WxLxH): 230 mm x 146 mm x 33 mm(with keyboard)

Software
Operating System: LINOS 2.6.21
Applications: Picture Viewer(bmp, jpg, gif)
Picture Express
Music Player(mp3, wav)
Video Player(mp1,mp4,shockwave)
Web Browser
Internet Messenger(Pidgin)
WI-FI AP(optional)
Bluetooth(optional)
Games: Blockout!BGalaga!BX Solitare!BXBomb XBubble!BXDigger!B
X Scavenger!BXSolider, Xpetience2!BXLetters!BXPuyoPuyo

Well...my stand is next door!
Ok...nice guys and product seems good and lots of interest

My question however...whilst we are providing 1:1 access to web enabled ICT, what fundamental changes to teaching and learning are such devices offering. Are we just providing more infrastructures to support transmission pedagogies?
Michael

Well...its not the final release.
The one looks good and the idea that its a tablet and a laptop is appealing. The build quaily is fair, screen quality is resonable...but its only £99.
However...why were the sales guys there all using 12" laptops to work on themselves!!!
The eeePC seems a better device and more likely to be used as a effective laptop, but is of course twice the price
Ok, this is fair enough for providing cost effective 1:1 access to ICT both in school and at home - making use of wireless technologies to access the web...BUT...cant we do this anyway with learners own mobile phones, PSP's, iPods etc, not to mentioend the converged PDA type devcies and other technologies supplied by schools, CLC's, LA's etc.

My fear...we all get caught up in the haze of a sub £100 laptop and forget what mobile learning actually is. Fundamentally these such devices are merely tranmission devices (ok, with Web 2.0 we can create) but what happened to the notion of supporting learning mobility, about learning in context, about deeper, more embedded learning and about learners accessing, creating, uploading and sharing at the point of inspiration; ubiquious computing?