The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Japan has taken the surge of ICT use in education seriously; they've enacted a policy of providing digital textbooks for all elementary and junior high school students by 2015. Both Intel and Toshiba share this passion for enhancing education through the use of ICTs. Toshiba operates the Digital Creator School at the Toshiba Science Museum, where students can go to improve ICT Literacy. Intel founded the Intel Education Initiative, which is comprised of a range of programs designed to improve ICT education. The Initiative includes programs such as the Intel Teach Program, designed to instruct teachers on ICT classroom use, and the Intel Computer Clubhouse Network, an after-school technology learning program that enables youth in underprivileged communities to procure the ICT skills and knowledge necessary to have a successful academic life.
Earlier today, Toshiba and Intel announced the release of a new tablet PC known as the CM1 which has been specifically designed for primary education use. Student-friendly features of this tablet include a monitor that rotates a full 180-degrees and has an advanced touch screen that allows for writing programs so that, among other things, elementary students can practice penmanship. Additionally, to encourage collaboratoin in the classroom, the CM1 is capable of wirelessly connecting with electronic white boards and projectors. Developers of the CM1 even included a handle so that students can easily carry it around school. The CM1 will be released in August. Both corporations have already outlined plans for using the CM1 in their ICT education programs, hoping to jumpstart the use and effectiveness of the CM1 in Japanese primary education.
(Sources: Toshiba and Intel Education Initiative)