Google has recently announced that Malaysia would be adopting Google Apps through Chromebooks for over 10 million teachers, parents, and students. The country has over 10,000 schools and the Malaysian Ministry of Education plans to provide all of them with 10 to 1 students to computers ratio, a virtual platform for learning and 4G internet. The government says the move is a part of its national education blueprint, which would place the country firmly on the development path.

The Cost Factor

The main factor that has led to the Malaysian government choosing Chromebooks has been the cost. According to Google, Chromebooks would yield 3-year cost of ownership savings of $1135 with each device. Chromebooks also demand 69% fewer hours for deployment and 92% fewer hours for management in comparison to traditional computers. The fact that educational use of Google Apps is absolutely free is also one of the driving factors for the Malaysian government to choose Chromebooks.

What it means for Malaysian Children

With the government’s deal, millions of kids throughout Malaysia would now be able to collect data, write stories and create presentations strengthening their future. The move is being seen as a smart one by as the Chromebooks are easy to use. This added with the free Google Apps really makes it a worthwhile deal for the country. For children, it basically means a lot of fun along with learning.

Google’s Entry into Malaysian Education System

Malaysia is only the latest country where Google is going to have a significant impact on the education system. According to the company, more than 3000 schools around the world are already using Chromebooks. Google claimed that the collaboration with the government was yet another extension of the company’s Chromebooks for Education initiative.

When announcing the move, Google’s Director of Product Management, Felix Lin, revealed that Malaysian government’s move to enhance its educational system was not an easy one. To make technology adoption across the country successful, the computers had to be simple, secure, easily manageable, and cost effective, which is highly reflective of Google Chromebook he added.

For the parents and students the collaboration between Malaysian government and Google has meant a new opportunity to access information about the world. They just hope that the political leaders let them get the most out of this and help provide great opportunities for each Malaysian student.

Do you think this Google Chromebook adoption will work?  Post your comment below.  

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Photo credit: Sean MacEntee / Foter.com / CC BY

Photo credit: Randy Zhang / Foter.com / CC BY-SA