More problems with IPads for Los Angeles School District

More and more schools across the United States are opting for 1:1 technology initiatives. In the Joplin R-8 School District, this is the third year of having laptops for all high school students. In August, eighth graders in the district's three middle schools were given IPads.

The next phase of the iPad project "will cost a quarter of a billion dollars or more," Ratliff told The Times. "Clearly, the board and the district should have answers to the many questions that have arisen."

The iPad rollout — at about two dozen schools so far — has encountered some high-profile problems, including a security breach that involved more than 300 students who deleted a security filter so they could reach unauthorized websites. That episode resulted in students relinquishing iPads at three high schools. The security breach occurred when students took their devices off campus; as a result, L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy directed all schools to keep the iPads on campus until further notice.

While the jury is still out on how well the IPads are going to work with Joplin's eighth grade (and eventually seventh grade, sixth grade, and on down), there is no doubt about how they are working in the Los Angeles School District...they are a nightmare.

That was addressed in an article in today's Los Angeles Times:

The next phase of the iPad project "will cost a quarter of a billion dollars or more," Ratliff told The Times. "Clearly, the board and the district should have answers to the many questions that have arisen."

The iPad rollout — at about two dozen schools so far — has encountered some high-profile problems, including a security breach that involved more than 300 students who deleted a security filter so they could reach unauthorized websites. That episode resulted in students relinquishing iPads at three high schools. The security breach occurred when students took their devices off campus; as a result, L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy directed all schools to keep the iPads on campus until further notice.

Another problem in L. A. has been the need for keyboards with the IPads, with some saying they are needed and others saying they aren't.

The article features a comment from a board member who says the teachers and students love the IPads. While that is quite possibly true, with the walls that are deliberately set up in our school systems between faculty and board members, and the barriers that have been erected to make sure that teachers have little or no voice in these types of decisions, it is highly unlikely the board member knows anything other than what has been passed on by administrators.