The Google stand was, naturally, dominated by Chromebooks – Google’s low-cost notebook product that is seeing rising adoption in the education market.
However, the main news was Google Play for Education (GPE): an initiative for devices running the company’s Android OS, and which is now being launched in the UK.
GPE provides teachers with a fast way to set up a classroom full of tablets, with settings able to be shared via NFC contact. In addition, the app store is curated; only specific apps can be downloaded to the GPE tablets. Some apps are specifically designed for the UK market.
UK schools have run pilots using GPE tablets, which – according to Google – have been very successful. Several companies have developed tablets running the software, including Samsung (Samsung Revamps Tab 4 for Education) and HP (HP Approaches Intel’s Wire-Free Vision).
