The educational software and technology company Amplify announced it will issue 19,240 new tablets to Guilford County middle schools. The company says these tablets are durable and will feature "Gorilla Glass" screens and spill-resistant "rubber bumpers."
This is the company's second attempt to serve Guilford County Schools. The school district last fall leased 15,000 tablets as part of a $30 million federal Race To The Top grant. But one month into the program, more than 10 percent of Amplify tablets had cracked or broken screens. One student's tablet charger overheated and melted.
Guilford County Schools instructional technology director Jake Henry says he's happy with the new tablets.
"We certainly don't want any of our students throwing them or anything like that, but there definitely has been consideration taken in that middle school students are rough and tumble," Henry says. "And this tablet has some features that provide increased durability compared to your typical off-the-shelf tablet."
Amplify will also reimburse the school district $856,750 for training conducted last summer. Four hundred of the new Amplify tablets will be tested in the schools in May. If all goes well, the tablets will be distributed to middle school students in the fall.
