By Claire Reilly

SYDNEY, NSW: Acer Computer Australia has announced a partnership with textbook publisher Pearson Australia to deliver e-books to secondary students and teachers on the Acer Iconia Tab A500 and Iconia W500 Tab.

The move is aimed at bringing technology into schools to assist the learning process for both students and teachers alike, according to Acer Computer Australia national education sales manager, Derek Walker.

“It’s about taking technology and making it part of their lives,” said Walker. “Our Iconia Tab will provide schools with easy access to essential textbook content via a digital tool that is lighter and more compact. It will also provide frequent updates of new information that was previously unavailable with paper based books until its next edition.

“The path to paper-less classrooms may be sooner than we think," he added.

The new partnership will be a boon for retailers, with Acer expecting to sell 5000 tablets before the end of the year through its national dealer network. In addition, Pearson is planning to update its future projects into digital formats, providing more content for the Acer Tabs.

Pearson Australia currently has 50 Online Web Book titles available through its Pearson Reader web portal, as well as over 100 e-books which are licensed to schools. Speaking about the partnership with Acer was Pearson Australia head of sales for the schools division, Arthur Baker.

“This is another step towards transforming ourselves from a traditional publisher of texts and other paper-based resources to a leading provider of digital learning formats,” said Baker. “Our services and solutions offer flexibility as teachers and students transition to our new learning approach.”

The 16GB and 32GB Iconia Tab A500 models are available in 3G and Wi-Fi only versions, and run on Google Android Honeycomb 3.2. The W500 runs on the next-generation AMD platform and Windows 7. 

The Acer Iconia Tab A500.