At the SXSWedu conference in Austin, Texas earlier this month, Joel I. Klein of News Corporation’s Amplify education division (and former chancellor of New York City schools), took the stage to make a surprising announcement: a 10-inch Android Amplify Tablet for K-12 schoolchildren. In addition, Amplify plans to provide schools with curriculum and infrastructure to store students’ data.

“When I left I was convinced of two things,” said Klein of his time as chancellor of New York schools. “If we didn’t see a dramatic technological change, we were not going to be able to move this country forward,” and “that the private sector had to get much, much more involved.”

The Amplify tablet, manufactured by Asus, has a sleek touchscreen and simple background, according to The New York Times. “If a child’s attention wanders, a stern ‘eyes on teacher’ prompt pops up,” notes the article. “A quiz uses emoticons of smiley and sad faces so teachers can instantly gauge which students understand the lesson and which need help.”

For a first run, the tablet will be targeted toward middle school children, using a “blended learning” model that combines technology and traditional teaching methods. The tablets are to be taken home by each student every night.

“A preloaded tablet, training and customer care (largely from former teachers) starts at $299, along with a two-year subscription for $99 a year. A higher-end Amplify Tablet Plus, for students who do not have wireless access at home, comes with a 4G data plan and costs $349,” details the article.

In order for schools to pay for these tablets, Amplify estimates that many districts could use grants from the Education Department’s Race to the Top program, which is designed to bring technology and personalized learning to schools. That money would be put to great use by Amplify’s product, suggests Klein.

“We understand technology and we understand education,” he said. “A lot of people who understand technology don’t understand education.”