QUOTE
Computer makers have been set the ambitious task of designing a new laptop for NSW students by January that is stylish, powerful and unable to be hacked by tech-savvy kids - all for $500.
The NSW Department of Education and Training (DET) today released its desired specifications for the laptops and is now calling for expressions of interest from computer makers keen to build them in a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars. A deadline of January 14 has been set.
NSW state schools will begin rolling out the mini-laptops to students by the middle of next year, after the Federal Government agreed over the weekend to kick in an extra $807 million to help states and territories meet installation and ongoing support costs for the computers.
The lightweight computers will be provided to the 197,000 NSW students in years 9 to 12, who will be allowed to keep them after they finish high school.
NSW is the first state to announce concrete plans for the laptop roll-out, a federal election promise that is part of the Rudd "digital education revolution".
The DET said the laptops must weigh less than 1.75 kilograms with battery, be no bigger than an A4 sheet of paper and include a 8.9- to 12-inch screen with built-in webcam. A disk drive was optional but the battery must be able to run for six hours of the school day under normal use.
The operating system has not been specified but, given that the DET wants the laptops to cost just $500 each, Linux could be picked over the expensive Microsoft Windows.
Aesthetics has emerged as a key consideration, with the DET keen to ensure students have a "sense of personal ownership" in the laptops so they will look after them.
Design options "may include a range of colours or styles for the case, or options for individualising its appearance" such as the ability to insert a sheet of paper into the lid, an adhesive plastic overlay that can be drawn on or stickers.
The laptops will be locked to the DET's network, so that even at home students will need to log in with a student ID and their internet access will be filtered just as it would if they were browsing on a school computer.
Students will be able to install their own software but they will not be able to remove the DET's applications and will be forbidden from modifying operating system settings.
"The machine will not work unless the user has a DET username and password," the DET said, adding this would make students less of a target for thieves.
"A capability to provide voice and video communications will be particularly important."
The roll-out will cost $2245 a student (including the laptops themselves and installation and ongoing costs), up from the initial $1000 the Commonwealth had earlier promised to provide for each computer.
The amount was increased after states and schools complained the money would not be enough to pay for installation and ongoing expenses.
The Opposition rounded on the federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, this week, accusing the Government of a "funding blow-out" and lumbering the states with "staggering ongoing costs".
Ms Gillard defended the computers plan, saying Labor had always pledged to engage states on further funding needs.
