How Will Paper Thin Display Screens Be Used in Education?

This (soon to be) emerging technology holds interesting possibilities for  academic applications.

Paper thin displays will be making their way into products over the next few years – how might education put this evolving technology to use?

Durable and Energy Efficient

An Amoled screen is a paper thin, high definition resolution screen that can be bent like a piece of paper only to snap right back to its original form.  Such technology is currently being explored in cellular phones, but very soon it is going to the king of electronic device screens.  The ability to have a cell phone in your wallet that is paper thin without the need for excessive charging could make a big difference in many various industries.  The fact that these screens are both durable and consume much less energy than traditional screens could make them a hit with educators.

Portability

While tablets have come a long way in terms of being shrunk down to size, they are still somewhat bulky for younger students.  The introduction of the Amoled screen will ensure that a device need not be any larger than the sum of its parts.  Carrying one of these around will be possible even for a child in kindergarten.  Colleges and universities, especially teachers and grad student pursuing an educational technology degree, will benefit from embracing a more portable and dynamic campus with this technology. The college student will be able to accomplish work outside, reminiscent of when students actually read books in the sun on the campus lawns.

Fun Factor

These new screens are unique in that that can adhere to just about any shaped surface, whether it is curved or not.  This means that screens can be applied to desks, walls and a whole lot of other surfaces with ease.  Whole tables could have screens affixed to them and run a finger painting program that will make art for youngsters fun for students and clean for teachers!

Versatility

These screens are not necessarily just for school, they can be used for a wide variety of other applications as well.  This ensures that a student is going to take this device with them wherever they go, and this makes it possible for them to be doing their school work in between social media browsing sessions.  The potential here for breaking the mold and finding new applications is pretty vast.

Lower Costs

The use of amoled screens in conjunction with cloud computing in the future will mean that even less money needs to be spent on raw materials.  We have seen over the last 50 years or so how a smaller computer means less components, and less components means less cost.  The fact is that a device consisting of such a thin screen will mean that cost becomes much less of an issue, pair that with the savings of pencils, paper, pens and other materials required for educational activities and you are looking at a whole new ball game.  While this technology is still a ways off from being released to consumers in this particular capacity it is safe to say that the potential here is pretty intriguing.

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