Surface Go – built for little hands with big ideas

Surface Go is the first step to enabling the schools of tomorrow

There is a new breed of device that is promising to make waves in classrooms and campuses across the country. The Surface Go is here, and it’s helping students achieve better learning outcomes, empowering teachers to transform the classroom, and allowing IT teams to create a safe, manageable IT environment.

For students: Powering up learning potential

Built for little hands with big ideas, Surface Go was developed for today’s classroom with a range of features to boost learning in a fun and engaging way.

Digital inking and information retention
Many people would argue that you just can’t beat the classic pen and paper for getting your ideas down quickly, and more importantly, remembering them. But what if there was a device that offers a world of endless possibilities right at your fingertips? What if we could bring together the best of both worlds?

Almost sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Enter digital inking – the simple pairing of touchscreen devices and stylus pens. By emulating traditional writing, digital inking offers a more fluid and connected learning experience to improve retention and recall. Instead of focusing on finding the right letters or keeping up with the teacher, students are able to absorb the content that they are hearing. In fact, studies have shown that when students diagram before solving a problem, their science scores increase by up to 36%.¹

“Surface allows people to work in the way they think, instead of trying to fit math, science, language, or art through a keyboard, which just doesn’t work.”

– Director of e-Learning, Western Australia

Innovation in education
The Microsoft Store for Education offers a wide range of applications, from maths and science, to coding and virtual reality. These applications are designed to help promote creativity, collaboration and problem-solving in the classroom. They work seamlessly within the Microsoft Education ecosystem to empower each student to achieve more.

Surface Go also connects to a range of peripherals, such as cameras, digital microscopes, 3D printers and STEM kits. Teachers can introduce these tools to the classroom to increase student engagement and enhance learning opportunities.

Removing technical barriers
Remembering passwords or navigating to specific applications or web addresses is easier said than done, especially for younger children. Thanks to Surface Go’s Near Field Communication (NFC), it’s now as simple as asking students to walk up to NFC stickers positioned around the classroom, tap their device and launch the content. Removing this barrier allows teachers to quickly get each student set up and ready to start the lesson, while better managing what and how content is accessed.

For teachers: Transforming educational opportunities

Surface Go supports efficient student-teacher engagement and reduces the time spent on administration and curriculum requirements, giving educators back valuable teaching time.

Administration and productivity
90% of teachers agree that digital inking improves the quality of their curriculum.² For many teachers, writing lesson plans on a whiteboard every day is time that could be better spent. This is particularly true for high school educators who often need to present the same lesson to multiple classes across a single day. With Surface Go, teachers can create lesson templates in OneNote, present it to the class, then fill in and annotate on the fly. It’s also possible to build out entire curriculums and lesson plans in advance, easily saving comments and updates for future use.

Teacher engagement
While 98% of teachers surveyed in a recent IDC study indicated they use devices for instruction, 80% said they felt tethered to their desktop computer, or weighed down by a traditional laptop.

Surface Go is changing traditional classroom habits. By providing teachers with the ability to project lesson content to the board in front of the class, teachers have the freedom to roam and engage with students on a personal level. As a result, they become more accessible and can more easily identify students’ learning obstacles and resolve them on the spot.

Environments and learning
Picture a classroom – is the first thing that springs to mind row upon row of tables and chairs facing forward? Traditional? Yes. Functional? No, not anymore when the countless possibilities of mobility are considered. Surface Go allows you to configure the classroom and devices to maximise student collaboration, communication, and productivity.

• Enjoy quiet time in a reading nook with the latest chapter of a favourite eBook in Tablet Mode.
• Practice touch typing or take an online test at a desk in Laptop Mode.
• Put the final touches on a group presentation in a comfortable collaboration zone in Studio Mode.

For IT departments: Overcoming school IT challenges

Surface Go not only equips students and teachers with a powerful learning solution, it also empowers IT teams to manage and secure devices across the campus.

Technology unity
Managing disparate technology is a burden that IT teams don’t want or need. Surface Go can easily integrate with existing IT environments and management platforms, allowing IT departments to regain control and visibility of their entire fleet.

Peace of mind security
Windows 10 running on Surface Go delivers security that IT teams can trust. Updates are streamlined and can be delivered remotely or in batches, and student privacy is prioritised with the ability to enable safe searches and avoid student re-targeting.

Training and Microsoft
With comprehensive training and support, teachers will be empowered to embrace the technology and deliver meaningful outcomes. You will also be supported by Microsoft professionals ready to provide training at the time of deployment to ensure your transition is effective and sustainable.

A technology race is on – don’t get left behind!

As the largest Microsoft partner in Australia, Data^#3 is uniquely positioned to help your school realise the potential of innovative, affordable devices, like Surface Go. Get in touch with us today to learn more and request a hands-on demo.

The Data^#3 Deploy Assist Program

Designed to streamline the adoption of Microsoft Surface devices, the Deploy Assist Program minimises the cost of deployment, accelerates the improved learning possibilities and maximises the return of investment for Surface devices in your school. Plus, your school could be eligible for up to $20,000 funding³.

Get in contact to find out if your school is eligible.

Learn more about the Microsoft Surface Family for Education, download our catalogue or contact us for a hands-on demonstration.

1. Oviatt, S. Cohen, A., Miller, A., Hodge, K. & Mann, A. (2012). The impact of interface affordances on human ideation, problem solving and inferential reasoning, ACM Transactions on Computer Human Interaction, 19 (3) 1-30.
2. IDC, Report. (July 2015). Digital ink in the classroom. [Online]. Available at https://www.data3.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IDC_Digital_Ink_in_the_Classroom.pdf
3. Conditions apply. Schools must purchase Surface devices to qualify. Funding amounts will vary.