You've still got to give us some more information. Not every task, nor every user is created equal, and consequently the hardware and software requirements will depend on what's being asked of those systems. (Otherwise, you're just ending up with wish lists for particular cases, which may or may not be relevant to your schools.)
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Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
More details please. What's this program intended to do? Will curriculum be designed to require (or take advantage) one of these devices? Is this a way of passing responsibility for IT services on to the students? How rich is the content on the online course system? Is it possible to replace textbooks with this device? Will the device be crippled so that students can't do various extracurricular things during class? Does every student need the same thing? Do the legislators understand enough about computing, education and people in general to make sensible decisions about this?
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We could give you case-by-case lists of what would be useful, but that would be long and complicated. (A case for the students who do art, another for the ones who program, and for the ones who CAD, and the ones who write, and the ones who can't read English well, and the ones who have disabilities, and the ones who don't want to use your computer, etc.; then a case for the schools where the teachers are sending lessons online, and one for the schools that are replacing their computer labs and firing the IT staff, and one for the school where theft is a rampant problem, etc.....) Surely we can narrow things down by describing the end uses that you think are worth considering?
Maybe the most important message is that if you pick a single type of device for everyone, you'll end up with a large plurality of unsatisfied students (who thought they were getting something useful). Think very carefully about the point where economies of scale start exhibiting diminishing returns—because that may drive your decision about adopting a single solution for everyone.