Nearly 50,000 Students in Glasgow, Scotland to Receive Free iPads to Assist With Education

[MacRumors]

Nearly 50,000 students in Glasgow, Scotland will receive free iPads to assist with their education, as part of a seven-year £300 million agreement between Glasgow City Council and Canadian IT firm CGI, according to the BBC.

As part of the deal, every student in academic year P6 to S6 will receive their own iPad to keep for school use, while younger students in academic years P1 through P5 will have shared access to an iPad. A total of 47,000 iPads will be handed out to students by 2021, and 4,900 teachers will also receive one.

The initiative will also include the installation of Wi-Fi in every classroom and faster internet connections overall.

The report notes that all of the iPads will be tracked and managed by the Glasgow City Council, which can lock or erase the devices remotely, while social media platforms and inappropriate websites will be blocked. The initiative has already been tested at a number of schools across Glasgow.

"This is the biggest Apple education initiative in Europe and I'm delighted that Glasgow is once again leading the way in innovative practices," said Glasgow councillor Chris Cunningham, according to STV News.

Article Link: Nearly 50,000 Students in Glasgow, Scotland to Receive Free iPads to Assist With Education

 

[macfacts]

Those students are being tricked into being tracked. For sure they have MDM enabled so the city/school can track then in and outside of school time.

 

[Silver Pegasus]

Those students are being tricked into being tracked. For sure they have MDM enabled so the city/school can track then in and outside of school time.

They are quite open about it.. They don’t have to have the iPad turned on at home if they don’t want to.

 

[macfacts]

Wow, Apple gave nearly 50,000 free iPads.

If you didn't pay for it, youre the product

 

[Plutonius]

The iPad is a tool for teaching but it should only be a part of learning.

Too often schools rely on computers to do the teaching.

 

[PastaPrimav]

The iPad is a tool for teaching but it should only be a part of learning.

Too often schools rely on computers to do the teaching.

That's definitely something you pulled out of your ash.

 

[RemedyRabbit]

Those students are being tricked into being tracked. For sure they have MDM enabled so the city/school can track then in and outside of school time.

Dunno how to break this to you m8 but the schools and the state already know the home address of every single school kid.

 

[PJivan]

If you didn't pay for it, youre the product

And were did you read that they are free?

 

[BootsWalking]

From the article:

"The rollout, which is aimed to encourage children to embrace the digital age, is the biggest Apple education project in Europe."

Did children really need any encouragement to embrace the digital age? They were born into it. That's like saying people need encouragement to embrace dish washers.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Those students are being tricked into being tracked. For sure they have MDM enabled so the city/school can track then in and outside of school time.

Schools generally require the students’ address, social security number, etc for admission.

 

[Plutonius]

That's definitely something you pulled out of your ash.

Check out this article.

or this one.

 

[PastaPrimav]

Check out this article.

Psychology today? Nope.
[doublepost=1566924503][/doublepost]

Those students are being tricked into being tracked. For sure they have MDM enabled so the city/school can track then in and outside of school time.

Tracked in what way?

Please demonstrate a way in which they are being "tracked" that they are not already being tracked. Because I guarantee you, they are already being tracked in every way that counts.

 

[mannyvel]

If you didn't pay for it, youre the product

Well they did pay for it; it's a 300 million pound contract.
[doublepost=1566925066][/doublepost]

The iPad is a tool for teaching but it should only be a part of learning.

Too often schools rely on computers to do the teaching.

Teachers in the US don't teach, for the most part; they present information. Many kids learn despite the school system, not because of it.

Teaching the way it should be isn't scalable enough for mass consumption...although with AI it might be possible. But right now there's no money in it.

 

[chabig]

The iPads are not free. Somebody is paying for them.

 

[squizzler]

Glasgow is a terrible place. It needs all the help it can get. Send donations people!

 

[Pafoofnik]

Free? Free? Nuttin' ain't free. Either the Scottish taxpayers will be on the hook or we, the consumers of Apple products, will end up paying for Apple's "generosity" by paying slightly higher prices for the things we buy. Nuttin' ain't free.

 

[mi7chy]

They had to give it away for free because no school would buy it over Chromebook.

 

[maerz001]

Wow, Apple gave nearly 50,000 free iPads.

Nope, not Apple gave it for free!
It was the government. Payed by taxes.

 

[bbednarz]

Good lord you people are miserable... 50,000 free iPads and you people are finding negatives lol

Get a grip.
[doublepost=1566925556][/doublepost]

The iPad is a tool for teaching but it should only be a part of learning.

Too often schools rely on computers to do the teaching.

Evidence for this? Too often it is the parents who substitute the iPad for being a parent and their child's learning/development. Can't say I know many teachers who prefer the new tech over the stuff they have always used in the past.

 

[JPack]

Tax dollars paid for iPads.

All this in the context of Apple paying 0.005% tax on profits because all European sales are recorded in Ireland.

 

[testcard]

Glasgow is a terrible place. It needs all the help it can get. Send donations people!

Those razor gangs terrorising the Gorbals...

 

[ghanwani]

For those who mention the school already knows where students live, please see this:
https://www.computerworld.com/artic...nts-using-laptop-webcams--claims-lawsuit.html
And this is the first one I found when I did a search. There are many others. This can be abused.

For those who suggest that students can simply turn the device off at home--
(a) how likely is that?
(b) it may not be an option if they receive homework assignments that need to be done with the help of the iPad.

As to Apple's part in this, the article doesn't say anything about whether Apple has done anything here, other than sell the iPads to whoever is providing them.

 

[citysnaps]

Good lord you people are miserable... 50,000 free iPads and you people are finding negatives lol

Get a grip.

Ain't it the truth. Another big whine-fest so people can feel good about themselves for the next hour.

 

[cardfan]

Can’t say I care too much. Many schools in the US have moved on past iPads. Lots of failures. Lots of blame. Much of it apple’s problem.

I’d rather see PCs or macs in my kids schools to be honest. But sadly chromebooks rule.

 

[DevNull0]

Wow, Apple gave nearly 50,000 free iPads.

Right in the summary, it's part of a $300 million deal, that's $6000 per iPad. Presumably (hopefully), that money is paying for more than just the iPads, but it's pretty clear Apple is only involved in the sense that someone is buying hardware from Apple and then making insane profits off tax dollars.

Also fwiw, I'm Canadian and very familiar with CGI. They're huge and I've had a few friends who worked for them. They are vile scum, if they're involved it's safe to assume they're massive corruption and kickbacks going on.