Pharmacy Schools Providing A "Tablet" To Every Incoming Student

Fujitsu America continues to demonstrate its strength in the education market, announcing that Creighton University's School of Pharmacy and Health Professions in Omaha, Neb. and the St. Louis College of Pharmacy have standardized on the LifeBook T Series convertible tablet PC, providing a new tablet to every incoming student to use for note taking, collaboration and other applications.

These schools are convinced that the versatile, thin and light tablet with an indoor/outdoor display, the Intel Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor, and a built-in modular bay is the perfect solution for letting students input and access information using a keyboard or digital pen, no matter where they are on campus or at home. The LifeBook T Series tablet PC offers students years of reliable, high-performance computing while a built-in modular bay allows students to add a second battery for extra-long school days without adding much weight or increasing the system thickness. The modular bay can also accommodate an optical drive to handle digital media needs, including watching DVD movies, listening to CD audio, and burning data onto CDs or DVDs.

News Highlights

Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions
Background
• Four-year program offered for pharmacist, occupational therapist and physical therapist.
• Pharmacy program started in 1905, with a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree first offered in 1976.
• In 2001, became the first in the nation to offer an entry-level, distance pathway Pharm.D. degree.
• In 2008, became the first in the nation to offer an entry-level, distance pathway Occupational Therapy Doctorate degree.

Challenges
• Needed durable, highly reliable tablet PCs that would last students for several years.
• Wanted both easy keyboard entry and digital inking.
• Needed long battery life for all-day computing and classrooms without power.

Solution
• Standardized on the Fujitsu LifeBook T Series tablet PC.
• Selected Fujitsu based on size, weight, and ruggedness; full processor power and performance; touchpad for easy navigation; modular bay for second battery; solid engineering; and Fujitsu reputation for reliability and customer service.
• Currently providing a new tablet to all incoming first-year students. Also providing to faculty and some staff.

Benefits
• Used for note taking, including inking over presentations; collaboration; accessing and searching online information.
• Key to distance learning initiative. During virtual conferences with professors, when a remote student has a question, professor can use a digital pen to hand write complex calculations -- much faster and easier than trying to type. Students can plug in an external monitor and watch a video of a lecture on one screen while taking notes on the other.
• Professors using the tablets for digital white boards, can ink over their presentations during a lecture.
• Modular bay for a second battery allows for all school-day computing without worrying about the location of power outlets.

St. Louis College of Pharmacy
Background
• Founded in 1864 -- one of the few independent schools of pharmacy.
• Six-year curriculum integrates the liberal arts and sciences with a professional program leading to a Pharm.D. degree.
• Nearly 1,200 students from 25 states currently enrolled.

Challenges
• Needed rugged, highly reliable tablet PCs that would last students for several years.
• Needed a better way to manage batteries -- library and help desk kept stacks of charged batteries for existing notebooks, so students could swap them when necessary.

Solution
• Standardized on the Fujitsu LifeBook T Series tablet PC.
• Selected Fujitsu based on size, weight, full keyboard and overall performance; solid construction; modular bay for second battery; price; and Fujitsu reputation for quality and service.
• A demo unit accidently dropped five feet onto a concrete surface but continued to work perfectly -- an important selling point.
• Now distributing approximately 430 tablets per year, with close to 1,400 in use. Incoming freshmen get one, and get another refreshed/new one in their fourth year. When they graduate after six years, they get to keep them.

Benefits
• Used for note taking, including inking over presentations; as part of the CE6 blackboard learning system; for taking tests; and to access lecture handouts, streaming video and web links.
• Also used as "remotes" for an audience response system to respond immediately to "polling" questions asked in class. A great tool for immediate feedback to teachers on whether students are following a lesson. Separate remotes would have cost approximately $20,000.
• Longer battery life -- thanks to a second battery in the Fujitsu modular bay -- reduced the need for students to frequently exchange a battery for a fresh one at the library or help desk.

About Fujitsu America, Inc.
Fujitsu America, Inc. provides a complete portfolio of business technology services, computing platforms, and industry solutions. Fujitsu platform products are based on scalable, reliable and high-performance server, storage, software, point-of-sale, and mobile technologies. Fujitsu combines its renowned platform offerings with a full suite of onshore, near shore and offshore system integration, outsourcing, and datacenter services covering applications, operations, infrastructure, customer service, and multi-vendor lifecycle services. Fujitsu provides industry-specific solutions for retail, manufacturing, healthcare, government, education, financial services, and telecommunications sectors. For more information on Fujitsu America's business scope, visit http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 175,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.6 trillion yen (US$47 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009.

SOURCE: Fujitsu America, Inc.