The Tablet PC continues to make in-roads in to education, this time with the Air Force Academy. The graduating class of 2010 will all be getting Gateway M280G Tablet PCs. Being from Colorado Springs, the home of  the Air Force Academy, I’m going to see if I can get on campus for the delivery - that would be major cool.

From PR Newswire

GTSI Corp. , a leading information technology solutions provider to the government, today announced that it has been awarded the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 2010 Cadet Purchase Buy. GTSI, along with Gateway, Inc. , will be providing the cadets with a Gateway M280G Tablet PC. The Tablet PC and accessories will be specially packaged and priced for the students.

"We applaud the Air Force Academy's decision to become the first military academy to offer tablet PCs to its cadets," said Scott Friedlander, GTSI Executive Vice President. "We are delighted to support the Academy and to be teamed with Gateway who offers such a feature-rich product. The tablet PC has many possibilities for improving the educational experience of the cadets in the future. With the Air Force Academy leading the way, the tablet PC could become an important tool for all institutions of higher learning."

"We're excited to support the United States Air Force Academy with the provision of one of our most feature-rich and performance-oriented notebook PCs for educational institutions," said Vin Riera, Gateway vice president of government sales. "Combining the benefits of a standard notebook with the advantages of pen computing, the Gateway M280 is ideal for the academic environment, where it is tangibly enhancing teaching techniques and increasing student engagement and learning. The flexible option of being able to handwrite text and draw diagrams saves time, paper and costs for students who want to use it for note-taking. It is also ideal for educators who can comment directly on student's work without having to print a page."

"We are excited to be introducing tablet computing to our new cadets this fall," said Larry W. Bryant, Director of Academic Computing at the United States Air Force Academy. "Tablet computers offer all the advantages of notebook computers in the classroom, but the tablet's ability to capture handwriting, formulas, and drawings make it even more valuable. It still allows the students the mobility and freedom to work almost anywhere, and the addition of special math and science software designed specifically for tablets extend the concepts instructors can teach and the way students learn. We look forward to pioneering tablets with both our students and the faculty."

GTSI estimates that the Air Force Academy will order between 1200 to 1400 tablets and accessories. Accessories include an external hard drive, external keyboard, 128 MB memory stick, Ethernet cable, power strip, and carrying case.