In what is being termed to be a win for education, all 640,000 students under the Los Angeles Unified School District will be receiving iPads by the end of next year. A move to promote learning and education through the use of modern day technology, the Los Angeles School District also hopes that this will give an equal opportunity to all students, of all backgrounds.
Earlier last month, a $30 million fund was rolled out and reportedly gave 31,000 students iPads in the district. Most affiliated with the program thought that it was the entire program and no one could tell when another like it would come about, but surprisingly, that was just the beginning of it all.
Chief facilities executive for LAUSD, Mark Hovatter, stated that the initial phase of deployment is currently in process in 49 schools of the district, which contains a total of 1,124 educational institutes ranging from high school, middle school and elementary schools.
“”This is phase one, a mix of high school, middle school, and elementary students,” he told Citeworld.
“The most important thing is to try to prepare the kids for the technology they are going to face when they are going to graduate,” Hovatteradded. “This is phase one, a mix of high school, middle school, and elementary students. We’re targeting kids who most likely don’t have their own computers or laptops or iPads. Their only exposure to computers now is going to be in their schools.”
After the iPads are ready to go, the next part of the program is to actually utilise them to their fullest extent. This, according to officials, will happen through the introduction of digital textbooks through an agreement with Pearson, a renowned educational books publisher. Not only will this hopefully increase the interest that students take in classes, but will also help in eliminating huge costs that schools face in purchasing and maintaining traditional paper textbooks.
$30 million has already been used and a lot of work is still to be done. Using public money to fund it entirely is just not possible, which is why the district is looking for other ways to have it funded for. It is expected that a number of private donors will also come on board with the board in purchasing more iPads to hand out to all students and ultimately, promote educational excellence to all new levels.
Source: Macgasm, TheVerge, TechVibes
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