The new Surface Pen sounds like it might be a winner, but it’s only available to educational institutions. Going for $39.99 a pen but in quantities of 20, it features a hardened pen tip and a replacement tip in the box. For as many complaints that I see about the durability of the current Surface Pen, I’m sure many would love to see this his the consumer market as well.
Microsoft also announced seven new devices for the classroom from Lenovo, Dell, and Acer. These are very affordable Windows 10 powered devices that compete with the Chromebook style PC’s in schools today.
With Windows 10 devices, schools can get the best prices without having to compromise on features like inking. Inking in particular has proven to increase student scores by as much as 38 percent, compared to only using a keyboard. These devices are also a great way to use our free accessibility technology like Learning Tools in Office 365, which has been shown to improve reading comprehension by 10 percentile points for students of all abilities. Plus, with S Mode for Windows 10, schools can reduce the risk of bloatware and speed up boot times, improve battery life, and enjoy better device performance.