Apple has announced it received the Los Angeles School Board of Education’s approval to begin a massive roll out of iPad to its students across the school district starting this fall. The $30 million commitment for iPads is the first phase of a larger roll out for the country’s second-largest public school district.
“Education is in Apple’s DNA and we’re thrilled to work with Los Angeles Unified public schools on this major initiative as they plan to roll out iPads to every student across 47 campuses this fall,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, in a statement. “Schools around the world have embraced the engaging and interactive quality of iPad with nearly 10 million iPads already in schools today.”
“The Board voted unanimously for Apple because iPad rated the best in quality, was the least expensive option and received the highest scoring by the review panel that included students and teachers,” said Jaime Aquino, LAUSD Deputy Superintendent of Instruction, in a statement. “The vote is another step forward in the District’s plan to equip every one of its students with a device by 2014. When completed, the LAUSD will become the largest district in the nation to provide each of its students with the technology.”
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Apple will provide iPads that include the Pearson Common Core System of Courses delivered via a new app as part of the integrated solution. Apps such as iWork, iLife and iTunes, in addition to a range of educational third-party apps are also included.
Source: Apple Inc.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s iWork is the future. Not Microsoft’s Office.
We like Ballmer’s “strategy.” We like it a lot.
Ghettoizing Office on non-selling, unused tablets, thereby hastening its decline while quickly teaching the world a very important, very overdue lesson —— you don’t need Office in order to work and work is much more fun without Microsoft’s involvement —— is pure genius*.
*if he’s secretly working for Apple, that is.
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I just love Steve Ballmer!
He is one of life’s larger than life characters. I just hope he carries on his good work at M$ indefinitely!!!
I so wish he’d work himself up into another Monkey Boy Dance. The first one is just priceless.
Let’s not call it “Ballmer’s strategy,” it’s more like the Looney Tune-esque term “stragedy.” As in s(abotaged) tragedy. Ballmer T. Clown aka Uncle Fester aka Chair-molester doing his part to rid the world of the Microsoft pestilence. Long will he be remembered…
yes apple is the best. this is not news. happy to hear more ipads have been sold.
hilarious… and I’m around to read these news 🙂
The teacher’s vote that empowered them to use the best tools for their lessons…possibly overriding some of tech support’s windows-only vote.
The student’s vote who are young and not beholden to the dinosaur tech’s outdated opinions…
We could argue the relative weight of teachers vs. tools they use (which has more impact on education of kids), but regardless of that balance, both are critically important.
There are undoubtedly many dedicated, gifted, motivated and passionate teachers in rural Pakistan (or India), who teach kids in open air, with one single blackboard, with kids using a small board and a piece of chalk to write on (forget about text books). Regardless of these teachers’ passion and skill, they can only accomplish so much with the tools they have.
If California, and other states, hired more teachers like Jaime Escalante we would have an education system the envy of the world. Fact is, Jaime did what he did without iPads. An electronic device is no substitute for a dedicated instructor.
True, there is no substitute for a good teacher, I certainly had my share of unmotivated close to retirement ones that were a waste of School District salary. However, the iPad will keep text”books” current, give another dimension to learning, plus keep backpacks lighter And as Steve always said computers are TOOLS, these teachers need to use it as such, not as a substitute for a teacher but a new exciting engaging way used by teachers to get material across to kids.
Very true.
Though giving excellent teachers a supply of high-quality tools to assist their teaching should not be frowned on.
I agree but an iPad is merely a device that replaces many textbooks, up-to-date encyclopedia’s and is even more a device or portal of incredible information therefore education. A portable library. Even Walt Disney understood people retained more when information was combined with something else, in this case mesmerizing technology where any bit of knowledge is available at one’s fingertips, literally..
I still remember the 1997 Keynote speech from the late Steve Jobs, even that apple was very close to bankrupt, Apple still being the sole mayor educational provider.
Apple definitively has education on its DNA.
Apple was not near bankrupt. It had $4 billion in the bank. Will this myth never die?
Can’t WAIT to read all the blathering from butthurt M$/android drones.
If the L.A. Board of Ed could have just waited a bit longer, they would have been able to pick up so many more Surface RTs for $199 apiece. No wonder Microsoft was angry. They hated to see good money thrown away on high-priced Apple tablets when Surface RTs are just as good and for far less money.
/s
ROTFLOL!
I love MdN take but, onestly, CURRENT iWork suite is an horrible pile of S h i t.
C’mon Apple! When we can enjoy next version of iWork?
As I posted at the LA Times comment section for the article, this is actually not expensive. It works out to $226 per student per year. Probably close to what they spend on textbooks and it will be offset by not buying some textbooks. Currently CA spends over $8,000 per year per student so this is a drop in the bucket. Moreover, the national average is over $11,000 per student so this is really inexpensive.
The comment section there was full of troglodytes claiming that kids will sell them for drug money, surf for porn, smash them on purpose and endless other vile attacks. What is with those people? Have they no pride in their own town? You would think the reactions would be more along the lines of Hurray! since the kids got something good.
iWork might be the future if they really work hard in much stronger compatibility with Office. That part is actually really important. I have heard many people working on documents on Macs that tries to merge then later with Office documents from a PC just to have so many problems they got the wrong impression of a Mac. To many Mac works great… Inside its own universe. But the whole works isn’t Mac, yet. So compatibility is extremely important.