AcrossWorld Education, the global SaaS company that developed the world’s first cloud-based platform to transform the learning process by enabling K-12 schools, colleges and universities around the world access open educational resources, has on Wednesday  announced to launch in India an advanced touch-screen tablet PC, called ATab, for just Rs.5000 in partnership with Delhi-based Go-Tech. The ATab will be available in Indiafrom second week of March.

The inexpensive yet sophisticated android tablet will feature a 7” TFT touchscreen, 1.1 GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 2GB inbuilt memory expandable up to 16 GB, Wi-Fi and an external 3G USB Dongle.

Besides the hardware, the nominal cost of Rs.5000/- also includes a three-year free and unlimited access to AcrossWorld Education’s proprietary and revolutionary education technology platform, EducationBridge, which allows academic institutions, teachers and students to use a variety of content elements including Open Content, Open Educational Resources, Legacy Content and proprietary content sources to connect, collaborate, and innovate.  

Says Dr. Stephan Thieringer, President and CEO of AcrossWorld, “Open Source is the future of education. With the availability of ATab, Indian schools will be able to discover and leverage world-class educational content at their fingertips at the K-12 level itself as well as at the college and University level. It is very timely and appropriate that India schools and colleges alike seriously explore advanced technology solutions that provide instant access to the world’s best educational resources , especially now within an affordable budget.”

“While inclusive growth must ensure that access to technology is within the reach of the masses, yet providing just the hardware is not enough. It must also provide access to quality educational content. By bundling free access to AcrossWorld’s global premium educational content, ATab is not just a book shelf, but a whole library full of the world’s best Open Source knowledge for schools and higher educational institutes”, said Gaurav Khanna, CEO, Go Tech.

About a dozen schools and colleges from various Indian cities such as Delhi, Kanpur, Allahabad, Rourkela and Gaujarala have indicated keen interest in the to-be-launched ATab from AcrossWorld Education, which has offices in Bangalore, Boston, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata. The schools that have already tied-up with AcrossWorld Education include CarmelPublic School, Gaujrala; Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Institute of Technology, Rourkela; ShikharShishu Sadan Convent School, Dhampur; and, Gandhinagar Public School, Moradabad.