Consumer electronics producer Samsung demonstrated its Smart Education ecosystem, which comprises the key elements required for an effective e-learning implementation, at the African EduWeek conference that took place in Johannesburg last week.

The main objective of Samsung’s solution is for young people to enjoy improved education by creating new learning possibilities with programmes suited to their societal needs.

Samsung head of enterprise mobility Paulo Ferreira said the company offered a broad portfolio of devices that could be easily integrated into the classroom.

“We also have a comprehensive network of education partners that helps enrich and tailor our solutions for schools. It is an end-to-end offering comprising interactive content, classroom management and online child-safety options, tablets and wireless printing options,” he said, adding that Samsung’s message of Smart Education, which entailed integrating tablets into the school curricula, was not just about the devices, as the tablets formed part of an all- encompassing application.

Ferreira noted that, in Samsung’s global strategy for business-to-business success, education was one of the central pillars.

“Samsung’s goal is to become one of the top three global educational providers, with a market share of more than 20%, by 2015. Technology is starting to change the nature of how students learn,” he said, adding that the emerging future classroom promised to blend the best of both worlds, as technology enabled learners to become more engaged and work collaboratively, while teachers could provide feedback in smarter and more interactive ways than ever before.

Ferreira noted that governments and schools realised that they had to prepare young people to operate effectively in a twenty-first-century workforce.

“Samsung gives an added advantage when the current digital integration revolution within the education sector is considered. The company is excited to showcase the new tablet range and our peripherals that complement our digital devices. These peripherals include the high-resolution large-format display screen, 3D light-emitting diode (LED ) screen and our mobile lazer-printing solutions,” he said.

He commented that the company was involved in several projects at schools and tertiary institutions in more than 59 countries, where Samsung equipped schools with smart devices to bridge the digital divide and help learners take advantage of a smarter approach to education.

In addition, he pointed out that Samsung’s solar health centres had been, and continued to be implemented to treat more than one-million patients in rural and underserved areas in Africa.

“For teachers and learners, Samsung envisions a connected and interactive classroom that is not limited by the actual classroom or school space and instead opens a new world of digital content, interaction and individualised learning, helping to increase overall learner engagement and performance,” Ferreira said.

He noted that the company also used its technology to support education, employment, healthcare and the long-term social and economic development of the markets in which it operated, as it benefited the communities it served.

“This includes investing in projects that create new jobs, such as the development of manufacturing facilities, and in partners’ operations that will have a transformative effect on local communities,” Ferreira said.