Following a successful pilot rollout in Osun State, Softcom Limited has announced plans to introduce its award-winning educational tablet, KNOWLEDGETAB, to the public.
KNOWLEDGETAB is an Android 4.2 tablet computer specially designed for Senior Secondary School students in Nigeria, offering, in a single package, an e-Library [comprising 56 sets of textbooks based on the Federal Government’s approved curriculum, and covering the 17 core subjects available in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), the National Examination Council (NECO) and the Senior School Certificate in Education (SSCE)], a Virtual Classroom (containing 51 high quality video tutorials and 15 hours of audio voiceovers, covering 823 textbook chapters) and an Assessment Zone (containing over 29,000 simulated past questions covering a period of ten years).
Its comprehensive package of government-curriculum based material also means it will be useful for independent JAMB and GCE candidates, preparing for post-secondary education from outside the formal secondary school system.
Apart from the standard content, the Tablet offers an array of extra-curricular material, including moral instruction, educational games, language lessons and health information.
Its 512MB of RAM and 32GB internal storage capacity guarantee a consistently reliable and satisfying user experience.
First launched in 2013 in senior secondary schools across the State of Osun as ‘Opon Imo’, the low-cost, high-value KNOWLEDGETAB has in the last one year garnered a string of awards and rave reviews within and outside Nigeria. It is currently being used by 20,000 students in the State’s public education system.
Since its launch it has been demonstrated that the Tablet has helped raise the levels of school attendance, class engagement and test scores amongst its users. Teachers have reported an improved capacity to monitor learning progress among their students.
The Tablet has also enabled parents make significant savings on the cost of buying textbooks and tutorial questions. With the KNOWLEDGETAB schools and governments can seamlessly update their teaching content without imposing the burden of regular replacement of printed books on their students.
“The results we have seen from the first phase of the launch have been remarkable,” said Wole Ogundare, Softcom’s Marketing Lead. “We are very excited about the prospects of partnering with the Federal and state governments and school owners across the country to deliver this revolutionary interactive learning tool for the benefit of their students.”
The KNOWLEDGETAB has been designed and built to withstand the extremes weather and handling conditions – rain (water), dust, heat, humidity, and everyday wear and tear. The long-lasting battery takes into account the peculiar challenges of power supply in the country. And all of its content is available in the absence of an Internet connection.
The device comes with a 12-month warranty, and a lifespan of five years, and is available in a wide range of colours, depending on customer specifications.
The KNOWLEDGETAB is produced by Goldeast Technology and Information Nigeria Limited, and will be distributed by Helios Consult Limited.
“We are delighted to be working with Softcom to distribute these exciting tablets, which will forever change the way learning is delivered in secondary schools across Nigeria,” said Ema Oloyo of Helios Consult. “We are putting in place strategies to meet with the anticipated demand, as soon as the product is launched.”
He added that Helios is already in discussions with a number of leading Nigerian retail chains and e-commerce platforms regarding the distribution of the Tablets.
Softcom says it plans to roll out a million units of the KNOWLEDGETAB in the coming months. It expects to deliver the first batch of units in March 2014.
“We are keeping the Tablets as affordable as possible, to enable as many parents and schools as possible afford it, and as many students as possible get a taste of the remarkable learning experience it offers,” says Softcom’s Ogundare.
