Technology already exists in schools. Is this a good thing?

97% of elementary schools communicate with students using technology, and around a third of those schools encourage students to bring their own device.

Such devices would allow more personalized learning experiences, enable online collaboration, and help students develop digital literacy skills at an early age.

However… excessive screen time- especially in the classroom can limit educational success. It is clear that a balance is needed between the physical and the digital. Alongside these concerns, we thought of many more potential impacts such devices would have.

To summarize- Even though cutting down on paper use in schools is the right idea, it's not feasible to completely replace it with technology. We found that the problem is that there are no sustainable solutions at the moment that still encourage physical experiences.

User Research

Gaps & Opportunities

Through our analysis, we identified a few opportunities to further develop a solution.

Our problem statement:

Design a sustainable E-ink tablet solution for elementary students from grades 2-8 that is durable, affordable, easy to use, and easy on the eyes to reduce paper waste in classrooms, replaces distracting screen time with educational screen time, and provides an engaging learning experience supported by technology.

Competitor Analysis

Although production costs come from our researched assumptions, the feature capabilities are based on currently available technology. We compared our solution to existing products on the market to figure out if our solution was the right one.

Our Design Process

Instead of only considering the interface aspects of the tablet, we also looked into the physical hardware of the device, while keeping into consideration our user base. For example, we included features such as an indented power buttons to prevent accidental activation, and a wireless charging slot to reduce spill damage from liquid/ food.

Interface Design

Final Solution