ICT in Education

Today I visited RM and during my time there I had the opportunity to get my hands on the Asus Eee PC (or the RM Asus miniBook as they are calling it).

The Asus Eee PC is a mini PC that runs using a Linux OS rather than Windows (yay! ) and comes bundled with a whole bunch of Open Source (yay! ) software:

OpenOffice for documents, spreadsheets, presentations
Firefox (for Internet, of course)
Thunderbird for email
Pidgin for Instant Messaging (MSN, Yahoo, IRC)
Skype
PDF Reader
Music, Photo and Video Managers
A range of educational programs including TuxPaint
A range of games (Solitaire, Sudoku etc)

You can see what is available and test drive some of this here: Asus Eee PC Online Interactive Demo

The specs of the Asus are:

Mobile Intel Celeron-M ULV 900MHz processor
Asus-developed Linux-based operating system
7″ TFT screen
256MB or 512MB Memory
2GB or 4GB Solid-State Hard Drive
Integrated LAN
Lithium-Ion battery
Integrated IEEE 802.11b/g wireless
Integrated webcam
Integrated microphone and speakers
Ports for external microphone and speakers or headphones
Options of wireless 3G module
3 USB ports
VGA-out port
SD card reader

These are taken from RM: RM Asus miniBook

There’s an 8Gb model planned for next year. The solid-state hard drive should make it a bit more robust than a PC with a standard hard disc. The SD card reader is a nice addition as it means the capacity of the Asus can be increased beyond the current 2Gb/4Gb size without having to have a USB pen drive sticking out of the side.

Wireless capability will be great in schools that have this, as a group of children or a class can then be using the Internet from the classroom without having to trek down to the ICT suite.

Asus estimate that the battery will last for around 3.5 hours (depending on usage), which would be enough for half a day’s work before charging at lunchtime or at the end of the school day.

It is possible, although not that easy, to install other software on the Asus. Here are details of software that has been tried on it: Applications tested on the Eee PC

I am very excited about the Asus Eee PC/ RM Asus miniBook. I think it has great potential – more so that using PDAs in school. I can’t wait to get my hands on one again to give it a thorough testing.

So could the Asus be the “one laptop per child” that we’ve all been waiting for…?!