Lenovo sees potential for tablet computers in Jordan

AMMAN — The usage of tablets is expected to boom in Jordan in the next five years as the number of schools using the device for teaching is increasing, China-based international technology company Lenovo said Tuesday.

“Some private schools started to use tablets in their teaching process in the country and we expect to see more of this in the near future,” Rony Mezeraani, Lenovo Levant, Egypt and North Africa general manager, told The Jordan Times.

“The usage of tablets in the educational process will help in transformations towards e-education. This is the future,” he said on the sidelines of a press conference to launch several types of smartphones in the Kingdom.

According to latest estimates by ICT sector experts, tablet usage is still low in Jordan with the penetration rate ranging from 3 to 5 per cent. 

PCs are still dominant, with some 65 per cent of households owning desktops, according to figures by Ipsos Jordan, which recently indicated that some 35 per cent of households in Jordan own laptops.

“PCs, whether desktop or laptop, are still dominant in Jordan. However, we expect a further rise in tablet usage as this is the case globally,” Mezeraani added.

More than 1 billion people worldwide will use a tablet in 2015, according to recent study by eMarketer. By 2018, the number of tablet users in the world will reach 1.43 billion, according to the study.

Jawad Abbassi, founder and general manager of the Arab Advisers Group, stressed the importance of using smart devices in boosting e-education.

“Using smart devices such as tablets in schools will help a lot in shifting towards a wider adoption of e-curricula and eventually boosting e-education in general,” Abbassi told The Jordan Times from Dubai.

He added that several types of smartphones with big screens can also be used in schools.

Schoolchildren and teachers said using tablets in class “will be fun”.

“If we have laptops, I think it will be more interesting and make teaching more fun,” Sahar Abed, a teacher of English at a private school in Amman, told The Jordan Times.

“But I think students as well as teachers need to be trained properly first on how to use them,” Abed said.

Haneen Awad, an eighth grader at a public school in Amman, said having tablets or laptops will make life easier for students.

“If we use tablets in class, I will not have to worry about carrying my heavy bag to school every day... I can take a pen and a notebook only and classes will be more interesting,” Awad added.