High expectations tablets will be huge in K-12 schools

News Corp’s unveiling of its tablet for schools at SxSWedu in Austin this week was definitely a sign of the times. Its 10″ Amplify tablet, which runs on the Android operating system, will cost K-12 schools $299 and come complete not only with curriculum but also training and customer care, the New York Times reports. It’s the project of Joel Klein, the former chancellor of New York City schools, who went to work for News Corp. two years ago to develop the program. “The Amplify Tablet enters a market crowded with competitors trying to tap into K-12 classrooms, which spend around $3 billion a year on traditional textbooks,” the Times cites the Association of American Publishers as saying. News Corp’s competing with news media companies, textbook publishers, and retailers, as well as makers of digital devices. There’s Comcast’s NBCUniversal’s NBC Learn, obviously with content from NBC News, Apple aiming iPads at K-12, Barnes & Noble and Amazon’s marketing of their e-readers to schools. Textbook giant Pearson “offers troves of digital curriculum but does not make its own tablet,” the Times adds.