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The St. Paul Android Tablet per Student Project

Heard from a source familiar to the project that St. Paul College in Pasig is in the process of acquiring 5,000 units of Android tablets for its students which will replace most of the textbooks.

Apparently, the tablet project will eventually replace the books being used by the school for its students. The transition will happen in the next school year.

Several suppliers were invited for the bidding — Apple, RedFox, Archos, Acer and Toshiba, among others. St. Paul has some requirements in the hardware, operating system (Android 2.2 Froyo) and of course pricing.

It’s a relatively huge project, considering it’s for 5,000 units. I am told this is just an initial roll-out which will probably be for high-school students of the Pasig branch for the meantime. The cost of the tablets will be added into the tuition fees of the students. That should offset the cost of textbooks which goes for tens of thousands per year.

St. Paul will be doing some testing and development, which may include apps for research and other teaching tools the students can use. Of course, there’ll be provisions for security and parental control.

If the tablet will last for about 2 to 3 years, it might turn out cheaper than the actual books. Now that’s what I’d call one-tablet-per-student program!

Update: Have talked to several people who are familiar with the project. Turns out several other schools are doing something similar. St. Scholastica and de la Salle GreenHills are also looking into the tablet solution.

As for St. Paul’s initiatives, it seems that Jun Lozada is the man behind the idea (he’s the Technical Consultant of the nuns in those schools) and he’s very adamant about going for Android.

Abe Olandres
Abe Olandres
Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.
  1. Jaymie says:

    Only Highschool?
    Reply plss :)

  2. Zoe 6-1 SY 2012-2013 says:

    Hi, I Agree, I Already Have A Tablet

  3. paulinianme says:

    Im a paulinian. We actually had the evaluation for the ebooks this morning. It was held at our eRotunda. There were several brands we had to test like Samsung, Cherry mobile, Apple, Dell, Red Fox, Acer, and Archos. Personally, the Dell is the best one. :)

  4. lala says:

    actually st. paul college pasig announced it in there newspaper and is expecting it to be used next year… they might do a bidding by first week feb 2011… how awesome is that… but it might be optional

  5. lala says:

    wow umaasenso na ang st. paul college pasig…… awesome :))))))))

  6. lupita says:

    okay yan at least kahit papano nag eevolve na rin tau sa technology. but…

    sana pagaralan nila un pros and cons, like kung matuto talaga un mga bata using the gadget (pero depende din to sa estudyante. ke sa private o sa public kung tamad din mag aral balewala pera ng magulang), availability ng resources at support etc.

    anyways, if the parents has money to burn para pambayad dian di go. whatever floats their boat hehe

  7. SPCP alumna says:

    I just got a letter from SPCP asking for donations because there is an unfinished project (the gymnasium) and now they’re looking into purchasing tablets for students? This does not look or sound right.

  8. kim al says:

    This sounds TERRIBLE. For one thing, you can’t WRITE (as in old school “write”) on these tablets, meaning one of the physical movements that help learning will be taken away. These technological advancements must be studied, discussed, and researched before being made available! I wonder if they REALLY spent time doing those.

    I’m sorry, but to me this just sounds like showing off and HAVING expensive stuff (that people don’t need) just for the sake of… well, having them.

    I love my alma mater, but when it pulls these stunts (e.g. the gym renovation that took YEARS to finish because there was a lack of funds, aka a lack of proper planning), I get really disappointed.

  9. mia says:

    It’s about time! It’s heavier for us students to bring LAPTOPS to school, so having a tablet would be so much better! :D

  10. REALSPCPALUMNA says:

    “Pera lang habol niyan kasi kumonti ng 600 estudiante sa St. Paul Pasig sa ilalim ng directress na si Sr. Teresita Baricaua. Maraming programa ginawa yan na walang pahintulot ng mga magulang para lang pagkwartahan sila. Yan directress na iyan ang nag-ambisyon na nangakong gawing wifi zone ang buong St. Paul, nag-tayo ng internet cafe at pingkakalat na ang webpage ng iskwela ay gawa ng Microsoft Philippines nuong ginawa niyang requirement ang Microsoft Vista ang OS sa St. Paul na sa panahong iyon alam na ng lahat na maraming problema… LAHAT PALPAK DAHIL HINDI PINAGAARALAN at pera lang talaga habol. Tanungin niyo ang mga taga St. Paul Pasig… Dapat nga inspeksyonin ng DEPED iyan eh… dami sinisingil kahit sa gitna ng taon hindi naman ginagamit… bawal yon!”

    — THESE ARE ENTIRELY UNFOUNDED AND BASELESS ACCUSATIONS! Tanga ba mga SPCP parents not to react or even file complaints if these were true? Parents in SPCP are HIGHLY educated; i.e., professionals. Andaming lawyer parents sa SPCP…Did the school even receive any complaint? Katabi lang ng SPCP and DepED Central Office. Kung totoo mga accusations ni Leslie, eh di sana matagal nang may nag-complain na parents. Hindi naman yata kasing-tanga ni Leslie mga taga SPCP!

  11. hola says:

    Go Paulinians!

  12. NineSwordz says:

    +1 to P. Anda ^

  13. biboy says:

    i think the figure for the price of textbooks per year is too high. what kind of textbooks do you sell to them? frankly it is a private school but the amount do not suffice the enrichment or value of the books. those android units are in the market for 12K to 18K. how well do you know that this technology will work successfully and safely in an instant. you do trust well this technology, i guess, but this better be not a high leap at once. consider several runs and safety measures before jumping too high. there are a lot of things to consider and should take into account. please do intellectual research and to the writer, please be more detailed. to not to confuse and turn readers into a lot of speculations.

  14. Kenneth says:

    I do hope this project becomes successful. But I still can’t help but think of the ff (similar to some who have expressed their concerns):

    – if thieves begin to know about this, they will now start targeting St Paul students (and students from other schools implementing this). Because the chances of bagging a sellable gadget is now higher than before

    – will the tablets be ruggedized? drop-proof, waterproof, etc. If it’s not durable and it takes a long time to be repaired (or very costly) kawawa naman ang student at parents lalo na if they have to pay for it.

    – might be more expensive in the long run cost you have to pay maintenance cost, electricity cost, ebooks cost, at hindi na kayo pwede maghiraman ng friends or kapatid mo (especially for those na same level different skeds for same subject).

    – baka maging tamad na sa manual research ang mga kids, who don’t know how to do research anymore without google.

    I guess there are more issues that will need to be analyzed and planned for to make this successful. Hopefully, they are able to iron out everything and they can be a model for other schools locally and abroad…

  15. John DC says:

    do students really need this? the current tools do what the “android tablet” does – you can read off a book, write on a notebook, and of course use any computer at the computer room or at home for your computing needs; did they even do a cost comparison of the tablet versus the books?

    what problem does this solve? will it make the students love to read the books? will it make them learn better / easier? i believe this will produce more problems than solutions

    if they really decide to push through with this, here’s a suggestion – most of the cost should be shouldered by the school, the “tablet” should just be “on loan” to the student during the course of their studies, afterwards they must return it to the school; it makes it easier for parents to bear the cost of tuition – something most people here who read this article doesn’t yet understand cause most of them haven’t experienced paying for a child’s education.

  16. jax says:

    parang nbn zte deal :D

  17. nexusboy says:

    baka naman may tongpats si Lozada nyan.

  18. P. Anda says:

    typo- the philippines like tech savvy u.s.a

    the philippines is unlike the u.s.a which is tech savvy.

    their networks WORK and have fast bandwidths plus they have at least 24/7 electricity power (unless there is a big storm or something)

  19. TRIKOY says:

    Nice idea! But are they going to put traditional tools in education in reading such as textbooks etc in limbo? baka di na marunong magsulat ang bata nyan.

    Anyway, inspite of it, two-thumbs up for you saint paul

  20. P. Anda says:

    Great idea but questions do need to be thoroughly thought through such as:

    – Can parents afford this?
    In the past, due to the recession, many families defaulted on tuition payment causing the school to prevent seniors from graduating

    – Who is responsible for related costs such as repairs, upgrades, maintenance etc?

    – where and who can the students turn to 24/7 for tech related issues?

    – how will scholars be able to afford this?

    – what is the student’s alternative when the “system” goes down (specially when it happens after school hours)?

    – theft and loss? – you think that just because it’s an exclusive school, there are zero theft cases inside the campus? (if your answer is yes, which planet do you live in anyways?)

    – would students be responsible enough to take care of their own their own androids?

    – would students be responsible to use the android for academic purposes only?

    – does the philippines even have the capacity and resources to digitize book titles, and be made affordable and accessible to students ?

    Books may be more expensive in the long run… but these are new books we are talking about. Students have the alternative to borrow and/ or buy second hand books if their finances are not able to afford new books? How about androids – can the students borrow one from the school and / or get a second hand unit?

    as i said there are many questions … the philippines like tech savvy u.s.a.
    let’s face it – students do photocopy pages off a book too… can we do that using an android?

  21. Fleeb says:

    @Hebron:

    “for-military-use”

  22. Leslie says:

    Pera lang habol niyan kasi kumonti ng 600 estudiante sa St. Paul Pasig sa ilalim ng directress na si Sr. Teresita Baricaua. Maraming programa ginawa yan na walang pahintulot ng mga magulang para lang pagkwartahan sila. Yan directress na iyan ang nag-ambisyon na nangakong gawing wifi zone ang buong St. Paul, nag-tayo ng internet cafe at pingkakalat na ang webpage ng iskwela ay gawa ng Microsoft Philippines nuong ginawa niyang requirement ang Microsoft Vista ang OS sa St. Paul na sa panahong iyon alam na ng lahat na maraming problema… LAHAT PALPAK DAHIL HINDI PINAGAARALAN at pera lang talaga habol. Tanungin niyo ang mga taga St. Paul Pasig… Dapat nga inspeksyonin ng DEPED iyan eh… dami sinisingil kahit sa gitna ng taon hindi naman ginagamit… bawal yon!

  23. Ed says:

    Sana matuloy yung project at maging successful. Malaking gaan sa mga bitbitin ng mga bata dahil mababawasan yung weight ng daladala nila daily.

  24. spcpgraduate says:

    kudos to spcp! the project is good. and i do hope the project serves its purpose and become a success. although we cant expect that it will have full success on its 1st yr of implementation. we need to be patient on this. but, we need to give the school two-thumbs up for this initiative.

    as for the fear of theft – i guess this is not really going to be a problem since most of the students are either riding school bus or private vehicles.

    as for the fear of students playing/facebook-ing etc – i think this is not going to be a problem as well esp if the IT can really do its job of blocking these sites. companies (like where i am working right now) have strict blocking mechanisms that prevents its employees to surf the internet. there are only specific websites we can use. in fact, even proxy sites are blocked. so again, this is not going to be a major issue.

    i suggest that we keep an open mind and be optimistic about this because if this would be successful, i guess schools like Ateneo, DLSU and others will think of having the same technology as well.

    hopefully this would push through. again, kudos to spcp for having this kind of initiative for the betterment of its students!

  25. Benchmark33 says:

    This project is good…I hope they will be giving royalty to authors of the books they will be converting digitally…how about workbooks kaya?

    Mas ok sana yan sa mga public schools dahil sharing ang mga books doon. Yet alot of problems will arise talaga if given to student such device.

    I hope computer company will come up with a totally very cheap device that could provide a substitute gadget for a school book. (Take note: substitute…its not am saying replacing books, coz we really can’t replace book.)

  26. rvj says:

    Project is NOT FINAL yet.

    During the Board of Trustees meeting last week, a lot of questions were raised by the members, doubting, most probably the feasibility and relevance of the project.

  27. James says:

    A tablet can never replace a book. mas masarap parin magbasa sa libro. Masarap sa mata ang text sa paper.

    Nakasave ka nga sa papel dumagdag naman ang electronic waste, mas madami pa atang mawawalang puno pag dumami sobra ang demand sa mga gadgets.

    I think this is just a marketing strategy to convince parents/ students to enroll. or not to enroll since it will be added on the tuition fee.

    iMac room. PWE! dagdag gastos!

    St. Paul should first invest on the e-books not the hardware. Mag review review muna sila ng mga good read na libro nu. If I’m a parent, tas lalaki ang babayaran kong tuition tas alam kong walang katuturan ang mga e-books. Hindi ko sa St. Paul pagaaralin ang anak ko.

  28. anon says:

    it’s quite easy to block the sites like facebook and multiply, ginagawa yan ng UST. And if you’ve been a student in st. paul, alam mong di customizable yung desktop. It’s to save paper naman, printing notes and whatnot are a staple kaya mamiminimize yun.
    The reason why they didn’t use kindle is because ST. Paul doesn’t only use ebooks as their mode of instruction.
    Sana na experience ko yan. Makes me wonder kung ano na mangyayari sa iMac room nila.

  29. ricky says:

    If it encourages students to read/study more, then it’s good, pero kung pa-cute lang naman, sayang lang pera ng parents for tuition, not to mention pag-nawala/nasira yung device.

  30. Jon says:

    Nice move, but I think it is kind of sudden though. I love Android tablets yet the battery life of most units still do not last that long yet. Using it as a replacement for books can be quite troublesome in a classroom setting.

    What if your tablet runs out of juice in the middle of doing something? I mean, with a lot of students having tablets, charging can be a problem. They may be able to cut down costs on textbooks, but I bet their electric bill would take a hit.

  31. Ai says:

    Good job SPCP! I hope this pushes through.

  32. JC Morelos says:

    Why is everyone against Facebook?, in our school We use Facebook’s Group App in our class to update everyone on our homeworks and coming up school activities.

  33. Jerome G. says:

    Good luck to all the folks involved in this project. It takes a while to undertake a campus computerization project. A week ago, we launched our OLPC program pilot to 100 Grade 4 students in Lubang, Occ. Mindoro. That took a year to prepare with the training and software. But this is with a public school system and not private so the donors (most of which are former employees of NCC) shouldered the expenses.

  34. Ian says:

    This is interesting, and I do hope this project won’t defeat its purpose and be actually a success. Maraming bagay na dapat pag-aralan dito, katulad ng possibility na ito ay maabuso at puro FB na lang at surfing. Pero mas concern ko ang contents nito, saan sila kukuha ng soft copies ng kanilag mga libro? Hindi naman nila pupuwedeng itataype lang dahil baka maviolae nila ang intellectual property rights ng mga publishers. Mayroon akong nakita sa CNET na dual screen tablet na designed for students talaga, meron pa silang partnerships sa maraming publishers I just forgot the name. Please do inform us kung anu yung developments sa project na ito. Just a thought, this would be a good pilot project for students sa mga Science High Schools. :)

  35. mr. bogus says:

    hmmm maraming bitter na applefanboys!!!

    good decision by st. paul

    android = sa mga nag iisip!!!

    apple = puro strature(yabang lang) and hype lang…

    maganda yung galaxy tab… mas mahal sya kesa sa ipad. ok pa ang features!!!!!

  36. ICesteam says:

    Yey Positive feedback.. i think regarding sa thef. pede naman gawan ng app.. like IOS has MYphone.. na dedetect kung nasan na tablet mo thru gps.. baka in the future may app na will make the unit unusable .. if not return to original owner

  37. Anon says:

    The IT of SPCP does very well at blocking things like Social Networking websites and the like when it comes to things like this, so no need to worry.

    Also, most students travel by school service or private vehicles. Only a very small number of students commute in the High School department, so there’s a small chance of theft.

    . . .The less load of books would also be very much appreciated by the students. Whew.

  38. daniel says:

    sayng naman taga PUP ako iskolar ng bayan na pulube haha!

    grabe baka mag plants vs. zombies at angry birds lng mga estudyante nyan hahahha!

  39. NemOry says:

    Astig pg ganito oh….tablet yung libro, pati notebooks

  40. manong says:

    they don’t need to program in the nintendo dsi xl since they could make it browser based… everything from books to exams…

    damn, i should be in their faculty!

  41. manong says:

    nintendo dsi xl should also be considered.. it is much cheaper and foldable.. moreso durable!

  42. Hebron says:

    ang textbook kahit malaglag, matapakan, maupuan, ihagis , mabasa at ibato sayo ng titser magagamit mo pa din….eh ang tablet kya?

  43. justinBieber says:

    grabe ang yaman naman ng school na yan

  44. Spcpalumna says:

    *will be a complete success

  45. Spcpalumna says:

    hi there everyone! I myself is surprised to see this project but i think this project is a complete success. As for the the thief and all, there is a low percentage of paulinians commuting most students ride school busses or private vehicles. Also it is also easier to guard your bag when you have less things right. This is also good for the environment which is one of st paul’s project to lessen trash and paper consumption. The IT in school could also block some apps that you guys are talking about. Also, you don’t have to worry about them using fb and twitter. The campus isn’t with wi-fi.

  46. Vincent Linsangan Maldia says:

    Oh and if this pushes through, There should be proper support. Aside from teh hardware vendors, there should also be bidding for e-textbooks. It would be stupid to have this when the textbooks required are not available in e-book format. Although it would not be too hard to digitize a paper book. Google DIY book scanner.

  47. Vincent Linsangan Maldia says:

    As an E-book fanatic I agree heartily. Although I have to content myself with reading on my laptop or on my touch screen cellphone.

  48. Ethan says:

    Kudos to St. Paul for such an ambitious undertaking.

  49. rbsoriano says:

    Whoa. That’s really a big big project. Probably the first in the country.

    Mahirap lang pagdating sa mga snatcher. Just to think na high school students sila na walang kalaban laban.

  50. Abe Olandres says:

    @islacom pilipinas – tech support, warranty and upgradeability are a huge factor when buying in bulk.

    @adam & matt – no apps on the Kindle and storage for other multimedia files (videos and audio recordings) are needed as well.

  51. islacom pilipinas says:

    Price consideration, they should have brought it China made tablets

  52. Manuel Francisco says:

    interesting. but they should make sure that by the time they implement there will be a huge library of college e-books ready for download

  53. Abe Olandres says:

    @techboi – I think you mis-understood me. I meant the tablets will not be an added burden since they will just replace or offset the cost of the books.

  54. TechBOI says:

    They should have considered the Nook Color. It’s also Android-based but it’s focused on e-books.

    @Yuga, I have to disagree regarding the offset of cost on textbooks. The students will still pay for the books whether they are paper-based or not. Yes, they might be cheaper but they won’t be free.

  55. matt says:

    Kindle kesa tablet.

  56. Wakocoke says:

    eto ung proposal ni former Sen. Dick Gordon

    1 Kindle per student

    kaso ito, android! hahahaha

  57. adam says:

    Mas ok kung Kindle na lang although multi purpose kasi ang tablet.

  58. blam says:

    siguro naman nasa mga estudyante na yun kung mananakawan sila o mahoholdap. madali lang naman itago sa bag ang mga tablet, although dapat ebook reader na lang. kung yung mga ”apps” na laro, siguro naman sa bidding mapapagusapan yung control diba? mga tao tlga ohhh

  59. 21 says:

    aw, yaman nla..!

  60. Epstein says:

    Why can’t people be optimistic? Hindi pa nga nagsisimula, bidding palang…

  61. NineSwordz says:

    EPIC FAIL. walang ga-graduate jan pustahan.. XD

  62. ICesteam says:

    I think madali lang magremove ng launcher of Browser.. games. facebook… imagine kung naka tablet sila.. sabihin ng teacher INSTEAD please pass your PAPERS… OK please UPLOAD your Answer Sheet NOW..

    mahirap na magkunwaring tulog at magcheating kung lahat ng tablet may Front Facing camera and activated ALL the time na habang nag quiquiz sila hahahah

  63. ithons26 says:

    Wow sosyal! dapat blocked lahat ng social networking sites like facebook and twitter para di ma-access ng mga students. Cause for sure yan ang aatupagin nila. hehe. Buti na lang exclusive all girls school ang st paul cause if coed yan sigurado ako yung mga boys puro e-magazines na porn like hustler and playboy lalagay nila sa tablet nila. lol

  64. Guy says:

    Wow this is kewl.

  65. aj says:

    without proper implementation and rules it will end up as gaming and surfing device. It comes at no cost for saint Paul it’s so easy for them rather parents are bearing the cost of this experimentation. It is bound to fail. Look at learning point of view what’s is the big deal for high school students? Do all the books for HS used now in the Philippines are available in soft copies? how about copy rights? This is utterly crap and waste o money.

  66. ChupaChups says:

    “Rexfox” LOL
    read the article and see the typo…
    please correct it sir.

  67. boytalong says:

    sigurado may maglalaro ng “angry birds” every class kapag nangyari yan…tsk tsk tsk

  68. nexusboy says:

    tablet is not a textbook replacement in my opinion.

    textbook as previously posted, is more on KINDLE or NOOK.

  69. Randolf Arevalo says:

    i hope the project will be properly planned. kung bibigyan ang mga students ng mga tablet dapat tong mga tablet na to is restricted for educational books lang.

    i think this might require customization ng tablet mismo (the program inside the student’s tablet i mean XD).

  70. patrick says:

    being an apple fan, i would rather an ipad haha kindle i think lacks functionality.

    of course an ipad would be too expensive. (the same project was done in the states, they tried to replace college books with the iPad. so far, no reports of large scale theft has been reported…yet)

    i guess they chose android coz it was cheaper but still programmable?

    @kai: agree. the first to own these might bear most of the project cost, since this is a first.

    but i like where this might lead to. iPad or not.

  71. luis alexander says:

    e pano kung nanakaw? ma hold up ang student? kawawa naman. di applicable yan sa st. paul. pwede pa sa poveda or ateneo lahat ng students naka car. at least ang textbook di na nanakawin. hehe

  72. Nick says:

    Most of the Philippines isn’t ready for this technology yet. I just know it. Maybe in the next decade?

  73. Kai says:

    It sounds interesting… but how many of the textbooks they use are actually digitized? If it’s not then they’d have to digitize the books themselves… or if it is then they probably have to purchase them as well. It looks like it’s going to be a bit more complicated than just putting costs on students’ tuition fees.

  74. jay says:

    yeah, i agree on kindle instead of the other tablets

  75. /m says:

    Kudos

  76. scorer says:

    yeah right, why not kindle? bcoz i guess its not touch screen hahah

  77. rado says:

    If its targeted to replace books, why not kindle instead?

  78. Taz says:

    may bago ng target ang mga mandurukot hahahaha

  79. Jhay says:

    Interesting. Looking forward to knowing more details about this project as this could be used a ‘benchmark’ for other schools looking to implement the same project.

  80. ferie says:

    baka puro games ang naka install sa tablet at lalong di makatulong sa pagaaral!

  81. NemOry says:

    d kya ito mahirap??? bka my nakawan na mangyayari pg gnyan…hahaha

  82. Abe Olandres says:

    @lance – I think they were just invited but it’s up to Apple to convince them reconsider iOS over Android.

  83. Allan P. says:

    nice idea their St. Paul…
    bakit kaya hindi ‘to naisip ng mga top IT schools like STI and AMA?

  84. Glenn | GLICH'S LIFE says:

    Good job to St. Paul College, Abe! I believe it’s a good move.

    Old books takes so much storage space at home. It’s more practical to spread the cost of the tablet within 4 years of high school than buy lotsa books each year.

    It saves mother earth too!

  85. Lance says:

    Apple? Bidding on Android? Some missing details Yuga.

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