[Year 12 IT Apps] What Schools Must Learn From LA’s iPad Debacle

[Laurie Savage]

I've been following this on Audrey Watters' blog (Hackeducation). It seems
that heads will roll and possibly prosecutions for malfeasance and
corruption will follow. Sounds familiar? Anyone who's read the
Auditor-General's report on the Ultranet will recognize the same sorry
scenario. Never get between a consultant and a bucket of money - apologies
to Paul Keating.

Laurie

Laurie Savage

On 10 May 2015 at 13:56, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:

>
> "WHEN LOS ANGELES schools began handing out iPads in the fall of 2013, it
> looked like one of the country’s most ambitious rollouts of technology in
> the classroom. The city’s school district planned to spend $1.3 billion
> putting iPads, preloaded with the Pearson curriculum, in the hands of every
> student in every school.
>
> "Less than two years later, that ambitious plan now looks like a
> spectacularly foolish one. In August, the Los Angeles Unified School
> District halted its contract with Apple, as rumors swirled that Apple and
> Pearson may have received preferential treatment in the district’s
> procurement process, something the FBI is investigating. Then, this spring,
> the district sent a letter to Apple seeking a refund, citing crippling
> technical issues with the Pearson platform and incomplete curriculum that
> made it nearly impossible for teachers to teach. If a deal can’t be
> reached, the district could take legal action...
>
> "But while the the parties involved continue pointing the finger and
> picking up the pieces, the important question to ask now is what this
> fiasco means for the future of technology in the classroom. If one of the
> country’s largest school districts, one of the world’s largest tech
> companies, and one of the most established brands in education can’t make
> it work, can anyone?"
>
> Read more at http://www.wired.com/2015/05/los-angeles-edtech/
>
> --
>
> Real_men_don't_need_spacebars.
>
> Mark Kelly
> mark AT vceit DOT com
> http://vceit.com
>
>
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