Concept Project

K-12 learning platform

Project Inkwell’s goal is to greatly increase the size and effectiveness of the K-12 education technology market by managing the synthesis of functional specifications for a ubiquitous computing platform.

As a Project Inkwell partner, IDEO facilitated a group of experts to understand and synthesize the needs and desires of students, and to prototype possible solutions. The results of this effort have been visualized in the Spark concept.

Spark allows students to learn anytime, anywhere. It provides students with a highly mobile device that supports collaboration and multimedia work through educational software. Wireless networking enables use of the internet as a learning space and a means of working with peers and mentors, and promotes the publishing and sharing of work.

The configuration of Spark affords an endless number of personalization opportunities. The soft housing protects the Spark unit while providing a medium with which to convey a sense of group or individual identity. The housing and keyboard are inexpensive and can be easily replaced over the life of the device.

Along with the full-function keyboard, Spark’s housing provides storage for a hot-swappable spare battery and a Bluetooth mouse.

Project date: 2006

Facts & Figures

Children as young as seven-years-old in the US rely on laptop computers as their main educational tool. (IDEO research)

In the K-12 arena, the US market opportunity for Project Inkwell-certified devices and infrastructure is $20 billion.

"Implementing one-to-one computing in pre-university classrooms is the most important single step a state or nation can take in improving economic performance."
-Mark Anderson, CEO, Project Inkwell