L.A. school district ditches iPad curriculum, seeks refund from Apple

[COKid]

The Los Angeles Unified School District has canceled further plans to use expensive curriculum that was part of a $1.3-billion effort to provide iPads to every student, teacher and campus administrator. In addition, the district wants a substantial refund from Apple, maker of the iPad.

 

In a letter this week to Apple, the district wrote that it "will not accept or compensate Apple for new deliveries of [Pearson Education] curriculum." Nor does the district want to pay for further services related to the Pearson curriculum.

 

The iPad effort was a signature initiative of then-Supt. John Deasy, who resigned under pressure in October. The project encountered problems from the start. Questions arose about whether Apple and Pearson enjoyed an advantage in the bidding process -- an ongoing FBI investigation is looking into that issue.

 

As part of the contract, Pearson provided English and math curriculum as a subcontractor to Apple. A three-year license to use the curriculum added about $200 to the $768 cost of each iPad.

 

Pearson could offer only sample units of the curriculum during the first year of the license, which was permitted under the agreement. But district teachers and schools never widely embraced the Pearson curriculum. And this week, the school board authorized the purchase of new math textbooks, which were expected to be made obsolete by the Pearson software.

 

The district's letter also alludes to other problems, such as the quality of the software and the ability to use it.

 

"As you are aware, LAUSD is extremely dissatisfied with the work of Pearson," according to an April 13 letter signed by general counsel David Holmquist. "While Apple and Pearson promised a state-of-the-art technological solution ... they have yet to deliver it."

 

Rest of article: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-ipad-curriculum-refund-20150415-story.html

[A Real American!]

Finally Logical thinking and wise choice won.

Why would you buy a child's toy for education on the first place? Get something decent like Android Tablet or Windows Tablet or even Surface. iPads' aren't meant for education/ work and are only acceptable for Games, Facebook and Music.

[rfirth]

$768 per iPad? Where's the volume purchasing discount?

 

The whole program would have cost 80-90% less if they used Windows or Android tablets.

[ctebah]

Finally Logical thinking and wise choice won.

Why would you buy a child's toy for education on the first place? Get something decent like Android Tablet or Windows Tablet or even Surface. iPads' aren't meant for education/ work and are only acceptable for Games, Facebook and Music.

 

Funny how you say "logical thinking" and then say something like that.  iPad has by far the largest choice of educational material than any other tablet through various Apps...

[123456789A]

Anyone could tell you $1.3 billion for iPads is a waste. What they need is good teachers, not tablets.

[majortom1981]

Funny how you say "logical thinking" and then say something like that.  iPad has by far the largest choice of educational material than any other tablet through various Apps...

Here in NY on state contract I can get a 14 inch laptop for literally half the price. so is the ipad worth double the price of a laptop? especially when its aschool using tax payer money? heck NY state contract has lenov 10 inch atom tablets for $530 on state contract if you want to compare tablets.

[Raa]

I'd have to agree with them.

[Praetor]

the project was failure from the start. and AFAIK there's not volume discount in Apple produts.

[episode]

Here in NY on state contract I can get a 14 inch laptop for literally half the price. so is the ipad worth double the price of a laptop? especially when its aschool using tax payer money? heck NY state contract has lenov 10 inch atom tablets for $530 on state contract if you want to compare tablets.

What does screen size (and price) of a laptop have to do with ANYTHING?

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

Needs an obvious tag.

 

Computers are certainly part of any education these days, but administrators seem to think that computers = smart, which the Internet collectively disproves daily. That isn't even counting the fact that high school kids generally try their damnedest to destroy anything they are handed.

 

When I graduated high school, they spent more on giant computer rooms than any other purchase. Didn't really do jack for anyone.

[neufuse Veteran]

wow..... didn't see that coming..... the day they first announced this plan...

[LightEco]

First, I find it laughable that Apple gave them practically no discount on those iPads. Especially with the margins Apple makes on each one, that's insane.

 

Second, isn't it basically Apple's MO of promising the best tech thing ever and releasing something "meh"?

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

Well, Apple was known to basically throw computers at schools in the 80s and 90s. But they are a very different  company now.

[PeterTHX]

Well, Apple was known to basically throw computers at schools in the 80s and 90s. But they are a very different  company now.

 

Yes.

 

It's appropriate though. They exploit child labor in building their products. This is a legal way to get kids in the USA to fatten their profit margins, using our tax dollars to boot!

[vcfan]

The iPad effort was a signature initiative of then-Supt. John Deasy, who resigned under pressure in October.

shame someone puts their fanboyism over whats good for the kids.

[Rippleman]

Finally Logical thinking and wise choice won.

Why would you buy a child's toy for education on the first place? Get something decent like Android Tablet or Windows Tablet or even Surface. iPads' aren't meant for education/ work and are only acceptable for Games, Facebook and Music.

 

The thing about buying an Android based tablet is... well... then you are stuck with Android which is not as good as the other two systems in that kind of enviroment. A MS surface though would be awesome. But the ecosystem/app quality of education apps for IOS are untouchable at the moment (even with expensive hardware) and for foreseeable future.

[ctebah]

These guys were going to get a decent discount on iPads after the initial roll out but that much money is still too much IMO.  They could have used cheaper tablets but Pearson wanted their software on better hardware and in the end Pearson dropped the ball big time.  Most of the students could not access any of their curriculum months after they got the iPads.

[Darrian]

Finally Logical thinking and wise choice won.

Why would you buy a child's toy for education on the first place? Get something decent like Android Tablet or Windows Tablet or even Surface. iPads' aren't meant for education/ work and are only acceptable for Games, Facebook and Music.

Most educational apps teachers use are primarily made for Mac, or at least they were when I was going through school ages ago.  I guess they assumed that iPad would be the same?

[BajiRav]

The thing about buying an Android based tablet is... well... then you are stuck with Android which is not as good as the other two systems in that kind of enviroment. A MS surface though would be awesome. But the ecosystem/app quality of education apps for IOS are untouchable at the moment (even with expensive hardware) and for foreseeable future.

Well app ecosystem was not a factor here because they were going to use a custom app. The quality of the Pearson app wasn't apparently good either.

tl,dr They could have developed that app on any platform if they were competent developers.

[Ryoken]

Despite what people are saying here, I find it unlikely that Apple did not give them a discount. I've done work for both a School Board, and a Collage, and in both cases they get very nice discounts from Apple, in addition to service and replacements at the drop of a hat.. And this is above and beyond the normal Educational Discount that you get as an individual.

 

For those saying it would be cheaper to go with Windows or Android, that only applied if the services they wanted were available on those platforms (hint, they aren't).. otherwise the Schoolboard would be paying for the development of the software and curriculum itself, which is VERY Expensive. A huge library of these are already available on iOS and OSX. While the article mentions one app that was developed for them, it's likely there were many more that were stock for use in other subjects.

 

Lastly, don't let what I said come of as I support what they were doing. It was stupid. Computers in schools and classrooms are great, but for a lot of subjects you learn better with a pencil and paper. Math being an excellent example. I'd rather have a textbook and a notepad for Math any day over any app on a tablet or software on a computer. Seciously, not everything needs to be digital. Having computers for (duh) computer class, great idea. Writing papers, also great. But not everything.

[chrisj1968]

Anyone could tell you $1.3 billion for iPads is a waste. What they need is good teachers, not tablets.

 

tablets changing the game in the class room. instant searching on topics. but teachers can be better

[Mockingbird]

Microsoft should swoop in and do a trade iPad for Surface 3 publicity stunt.

 

"Nation's second-largest school district trades in iPads for Surface 3s" would make really good news heading.

[majortom1981]

Despite what people are saying here, I find it unlikely that Apple did not give them a discount. I've done work for both a School Board, and a Collage, and in both cases they get very nice discounts from Apple, in addition to service and replacements at the drop of a hat.. And this is above and beyond the normal Educational Discount that you get as an individual.

For those saying it would be cheaper to go with Windows or Android, that only applied if the services they wanted were available on those platforms (hint, they aren't).. otherwise the Schoolboard would be paying for the development of the software and curriculum itself, which is VERY Expensive. A huge library of these are already available on iOS and OSX. While the article mentions one app that was developed for them, it's likely there were many more that were stock for use in other subjects.

Lastly, don't let what I said come of as I support what they were doing. It was stupid. Computers in schools and classrooms are great, but for a lot of subjects you learn better with a pencil and paper. Math being an excellent example. I'd rather have a textbook and a notepad for Math any day over any app on a tablet or software on a computer. Seciously, not everything needs to be digital. Having computers for (duh) computer class, great idea. Writing papers, also great. But not everything.

First off. For all my discounts, new york state, education, military they only give $50 off as a discount. Also there is no way the software wasn't also available for an x86 PC. Heck the article said for 1 or so years it wasn't available on the iPad either. The article said the promised software once available was really bad.

[redfish]

tablets changing the game in the class room. instant searching on topics. but teachers can be better

 

Why remember anything when you can just search for it online? I don't know... I think separating kids from computers can have a role in education.

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

The role of education should not only be learning things, it should be how to learn things. The amount of information available at fingertips makes people as stupid as rote memorization.