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L.A. School District Officially Ends $1.3 Billion iPad Initiative in the Midst of an FBI Investigation

DJLC said:
I feel like Chromebooks would be a better choice anyway. Much more educational content — including Pearson's — is available on ChromeOS than iOS.
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Agree. In academics, students should have a good sandbox to do whatever they want, live the consequences of their actions and learn from it into adulthood. iOS does not provide this.

Give the kids the most most open device out there. Have the teachers freak out their kids are more talented than anyone in their teachers union. Create the next generation of capitalists bucking the system they represent.

That grows the country.
 
abhibeckert said:
No we don't. What we have now is perfectly fine.
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Agreed. We keep increasing the input cost of education while degrading the output. We turn out kids who cannot write or read a sentence--or do simple math problems. Because this is somehow beneath their dignity--or injurious to their problem solving skills.
 
Oletros said:
No, you assume they are the best.

Grown ups? Hurt the children? Dumbs?

I see, it was parody
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nope. this time it was not a parody. I was being serious. iPads rock. people love iPad. kids love iPad. schools should just use iPad.

grown ups should stop being childish and just supply the kids with the best product which at the time and now is iPad.
 
CFreymarc said:
Agree. In academics, students should have a good sandbox to do whatever they want, live the consequences of their actions and learn from it into adulthood. iOS does not provide this.

Give the kids the most most open device out there. Have the teachers freak out their kids are more talented than anyone in their teachers union. Create the next generation of capitalists bucking the system they represent.

That grows the country.
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It sounds like you are talking about a Raspberry Pi.
 
cdmoore74 said:
The kids lose??? You make it sound as if the iPad is a replacement for a good teacher. I still remember my tough as nails German engineer turned teacher who retired from Motorola in the 80's. That guy was brutal when I first started but after everything was said and done I received an A in that class; that was 17 years ago. I gained that guys respect due to hard work and motivation and I did not need a tablet to do it. I don't even remember the car I was driving but I still remember his name to this day.
We need better teachers; not tablets thrown in front of our kids. Please don't say that kids will lose because to me that's an insult to good teachers around the country who would never use a tablet as a primary teaching tool.
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Nobody is arguing for iPads as a teacher replacement. That's a straw man argument. Neither can it be denied that intelligent use of technology can be a huge teaching aid.
 
jontech said:
Should have given a Korean company a chance.....
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Haha, that's always the problem with those "computer to school" programs - content should be available through ALL PLATFORMS/DEVICES - that would be education benefit !

all these company sponsored s*** is rubbish !

I like to have apple to get the billions, but education is not the right place to fight company issues.

education = free = access from any/ everywhere (something like that :)
 
cdmoore74 said:
The kids lose??? You make it sound as if the iPad is a replacement for a good teacher. I still remember my tough as nails German engineer turned teacher who retired from Motorola in the 80's. That guy was brutal when I first started but after everything was said and done I received an A in that class; that was 17 years ago. I gained that guys respect due to hard work and motivation and I did not need a tablet to do it. I don't even remember the car I was driving but I still remember his name to this day.
We need better teachers; not tablets thrown in front of our kids. Please don't say that kids will lose because to me that's an insult to good teachers around the country who would never use a tablet as a primary teaching tool.
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This is an adage as old as the hills. You soon forget the nice teachers that let you slide and get by when it is tough. If you are worth anything, you really respect the SOB teachers that cracked down and taught you something. If you are not worth anything, you hated them.

For me it is a handful where I later discovered their professional backgrounds before they became teachers.

A gym teacher who was a former NFL running back before the days of the Players Union who had us run sprints every day.

An English teacher that dated an iconic 60's radical and left him over his extreme Islam lifestyle. She knew grammar down to the historic phase in and out of different contexts.

A chemistry teacher that was one of the best criminal toxicologists that left the crime lab scene over being scapegoated to avoid a lengthy trial. Knowledge of organic chemistry was second nature.

A computer science and calculus teacher that made a fortune in Silicon Valley reverse engineering IBM equipment leading to a compromise of Big Blue's patent suite. He gave us coding assignments that were of a professional level and kept on joking how we will never know the "joy" of a slide rule nor punch cards.

A biology teacher with Special Forces tours in Vietnam. He had hand to hand combat skills that were a blur to most of us in the school and had way too much practical knowledge of home grown toxins.

I'm sure my high school teacher's lounge had lots of good conversations.
 
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abhibeckert said:
Laptops are also obsolete and broken within a few years. My 1st Generation iPad is 4 years old now and still works just as well today as the day I purchased it,
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I type this from a now 6 year old laptop that I plan to use for another couple, it's not got amazing spec's but will do anything kids need to do in school and it just keeps chugging along getting me 6 hours of battery life and I can add a slice that adds 5. Laptops are only obsolete and broke if you do not take care of them and expect them to be a desktop replacement.

CFreymarc said:
I was thinking of Arduino but Raspberry Pi fits.
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Pi
Beaglebone
Arduino

Any of these systems on a board would be better than any iPad displays last a really long time. The whole system would be about the price of a chrome book and when they need replaced you just replace the Pi put your GM on it and put it back in the desk cost of replacement $60.
 
Zxxv said:
nope. this time it was not a parody. I was being serious. iPads rock. people love iPad. kids love iPad. schools should just use iPad.

grown ups should stop being childish and just supply the kids with the best product which at the time and now is iPad.
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If they are objectively the best for their cost, they should be used. Capitalizing is your friend, by the way.

But, yes, kids loving them and then being awesome aren't good enough reasons to spend millions. Them being the best would be. And I'd you think they are, then how.
 
lowendlinux said:
I type this from a now 6 year old laptop that I plan to use for another couple, it's not got amazing spec's but will do anything kids need to do in school and it just keeps chugging along getting me 6 hours of battery life and I can add a slice that adds 5. Laptops are only obsolete and broke if you do not take care of them and expect them to be a desktop replacement.

Pi
Beaglebone
Arduino

Any of these systems on a board would be better than any iPad displays last a really long time. The whole system would be about the price of a chrome book and when they need replaced you just replace the Pi put your GM on it and put it back in the desk cost of replacement $60.
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Exactly. Give the kids lots of ropes to play with and have fun. Don't let school turn into a pork fund going kids expensive toys.
 
An iPad in a production or education environment? srsly?

The ipad still feels like an 'I'm on the couch or on the toilet' device, especially the os.

writing an essay on the ipad? horrible. maths on an ipad? give me a break!

A touchscreen is gimmicky when it comes down to education (or even production). And i'm not talking about the very small 'creative' organizations or consultants.
Ok, except maybe in warehouse management.

Educational institutions are right to prefer Chromebooks.

Now if they created a very cheap macbook air, then they might get a deal.
 
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cdmoore74 said:
The kids lose??? You make it sound as if the iPad is a replacement for a good teacher. I still remember my tough as nails German engineer turned teacher who retired from Motorola in the 80's. That guy was brutal when I first started but after everything was said and done I received an A in that class; that was 17 years ago. I gained that guys respect due to hard work and motivation and I did not need a tablet to do it. I don't even remember the car I was driving but I still remember his name to this day.
We need better teachers; not tablets thrown in front of our kids. Please don't say that kids will lose because to me that's an insult to good teachers around the country who would never use a tablet as a primary teaching tool.
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Thank you. I was going to respond to his post, but you said it for me.
 
My daughter uses the iPad 'educationally' - there are some decent phonics and maths games she likes. It's great because she can 'do a little learning' without having to pull out pens, papers, books, etc.

But I really don't see iPads as some gateway to better education. Pen, paper, the tactile skills of using real books are superior. And in terms of learning 'technology', kids would learn much more with Python and a Rasberry Pi or similar for peanuts.

1.3 billion could pay for a lot of extra teachers and tutors offering tailored one-to-one learning no App could match.
 
sviato said:
Should just give them those leftover Windows RT tablets.
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I wish that was the case. There have been several teardowns of the Windows RT tablet and it is almost impossible to load another OS on it due the the SecureBoot environment. They really shot themselves in the foot.
 
I don't think innuendoes and rumors are what caused them to cancel it, but the FBI seeing something. Its silly to think a rumor would be enough to KO a billion dollar contract.
 
ApfelSchaf said:
LOL, maybe not. But why does the poster I was responding to get offended at the thought of companies attempting to undercut Apple (never mind all his/her tinfoil-conspiracy nonsense)? After all, companies undercutting each other is best for the consumer.
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You are an absolute fool if you think the practice of companies using the US govt. to undercut each other does not happen. It happens, and it is not for the consumers benefit.
 
The Doctor11 said:
Forget healthier food. Make it taste like something other than ****.
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If you need copious amounts of sugar and lard to make your food taste good, you're doing it wrong. Give the kids real food. I'll pay an extra few buck in tax if I have to.
 
An iPad for education - what kind of education are kids getting on an iPad? We ditch iPads for our 4 children as soon as they can type.

iPads are great for e-Readers, and playing Angry Birds, and maybe web browsing and movies.

Real computing skills, writing essays, doing core research, writing articles, etc. is done on a computer of some kind. Even a ChromeBook is better than an iPad.

I think there is going to be a tectonic shift away from Apple in a variety of industries / sectors over the next few years. I think this change will be so rapid.

But Apple will probably retain the jewlery market, since that's their focus with the "thinner lighter phones, headphones, and wristwatch" sectors. All running a rapidly aging and out of date OS.
 
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