Dell has announced the Latitude 13 Education Series laptop, Dell Mobile Computing Cart upgrade kit and Dell Interactive Projector S520. These new additions join the Dell Venue tablets to enable educators to innovate, empower students to find a true voice and active role in learning, and meet the security and manageability needs of each school’s IT support personnel.

“Schools need technology that empowers teachers, engages students and accommodates small equipment budgets,” said Kirk Schell, vice president, commercial PC, Dell’s Client Solutions Group. “The new Latitude 13 Education Series and recommended peripherals are designed for interactive learning.  Students and teachers will love using it, and IT support personnel will appreciate the ease of integrating the devices into the learning environment thanks to exceptional security, manageability and reliability.”

Classroom-ready and Schoolyard-tough

Purpose-built to meet the needs of any student computing program, the Latitude 13 Education Series is well-equipped to deliver a rich learning experience, online or off.  With powerful processors, a large 13.3-inch display and a full-size keyboard, it’s ideal for content consumption and creation, durable enough to withstand bumps, drops and spills and:

· allows learning to happen in a variety of settings

· is subject to military-standard testing

· features rubberised LCD and base trim for superior drop protection

· boasts an exclusive fully-sealed keyboard and touchpad for the industry’s best spill protection

· has superb scratch resistance with Corning® Gorilla® Glass NBT™ on touchscreens

· opens 180 degrees to reduce hinge stress when carried by students in unconventional ways

· ‘tattles” on students with a network activity light that illuminates when students connect to the WLAN

With best-in-class endpoint security solutions that include comprehensive encryption, advanced authentication and leading-edge malware protection from a single source, Dell offers the world’s most secure commercial laptops. The Latitude 13 Education Series offers Dell Data Protection solutions, as well as Dell KACE and integration with Microsoft System Center.

The Dell Mobile Computing Cart – available managed or unmanaged – makes safely transporting, charging, storing and updating classroom devices easier than ever. Holding up to 30 netbooks, Ultrabooks™, laptops and/or tablets of most brands up to 14-inches, the cart also features two external outlets to support devices on top, such as a printer, teacher laptop or document camera.

It’s now available with an optional upgrade kit for snuggly docking laptops to Ethernet and power, which makes overnight IT updates a snap and eliminates the need to manually plug in cables.

Also a new addition, the Dell Interactive Projector – S520, features multi-touch capabilities, Intel® Wireless Display (Intel® WiDi) + Miracast technology and advanced wireless functions for classrooms and conference rooms of nearly any size. The S520 combines features of interactive whiteboards and interactive LCD displays into one convenient solution. The whiteboard is no longer just for teachers; it lets students showcase their work and collaborate too.

Versatile & Personalised Learning

The easy versatility of Dell Venue tablets facilitates an interactive and personalised learning experience. In addition to consuming information, students can create content on their own or collaborate on team projects. With the content and applications available in a Windows ecosystem, as well as easily leveraged video-chat and content sharing capabilities, Dell Venue tablets are built to facilitate a more enriched learning environment.

Dell also provides a robust technology partner program that certifies and recommends key educational applications that align to the instructional needs of students and teachers. Dell is the first to provide Doceri, by SP Controls’ on a Windows 8-based tablet, which allows teachers to use their tablet as an interactive whiteboard, and facilitate and foster effective lessons with students. This enables teachers to effectively deliver and orchestrate lessons in their classrooms better because they can move around among their students while they teach and support flipped classrooms. Other apps include ClassPolicy by AssistX, a next-generation classroom management solution that allows teachers to maintain classroom focus, gauge student understanding and orchestrate educational content delivered to multiple devices in a classroom. Miracast enables wireless projection of tablet content to an HD-enabled larger screen for untethered learning and student presentations. These apps provide educators and students alike greater mobility and flexibility throughout the day.

“With presence in more than 400,000 classrooms around the world, our goal and focus is to encourage the type of learning environment that allows students and teachers to tap their creativity and ultimately enrich the learning experience for students,” said Jon Phillips, managing director, worldwide education, Dell. “We’re excited to add this new solutions portfolio to our education ecosystem and we’re very motivated to hear how our customers are using this technology to help teaching and learning evolve further.”