My tax dollars being fucking wasted: LA spends $30M on iPads for schools.
- Thread starter Shogmaster
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iTunes U is already there for each teacher to make their lessons and assignments. The custom app is for the district-wide curriculum.
deejay8595
my posts are "MEH"
Hey,
I work at a school district also which utilizes iPads in the classroom. Which software do you use to manage your iPads? We use Apple configurator to deploy apps, manage settings, and wipe devices but the process is very convoluted especially when deploying Apps.
The point is to create a legible, flowing fast handwriting style. It is demonstrably faster (when done right) than individual characters or print styles.
Of course, keyboards would make things even faster and more legible. But I think teaching basics like this still has value, even if it's just brain discipline - like folding sheets in the army.
At my high school, we have nothing but Apple products. All the computers are brand new Macs with huge screens. Many of the teachers were given iPads, most of whom don't even know how to use them. Oh, and this week they recently decided to put a statue in front of the school "to boost student morale".
Schools absolutely love wasting money.
I didn't learn cursive.
I can read it, but when I try to write it, it looks pretty bad. I know most of the letters, but not all.
Forget about capitals.
Schools absolutely love wasting money.
I didn't learn cursive.
I can read it, but when I try to write it, it looks pretty bad. I know most of the letters, but not all.
Forget about capitals.
flamingotripod
Member
For all the people saying that computers werent used that much in school in their time, this is 2013. Ive seen 8 year old kids having iphones for christ sakes. With the rate technology is advancing, all kids should have access to computers and be taught basic coding.
According to this, Apple has agreed to replace iPads that are stolen.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_23489311/lausd-spending-30-million-buy-30-000-ipads
A completely useless device in a place of learning to be honest. It's not going to revolutionize the way information is given to pupils. A waste of resources, instead money should be used to train good teachers.
In Finland the only thing that was needed for good PISA scores = qualified teachers and books.
In Finland the only thing that was needed for good PISA scores = qualified teachers and books.
I feel sorry for your students that you don't see the value in leveraging technology in the classroom.
GoldenEye 007
Member
Yeah I edited. My bad.
And keep knowledge-enhancing technology exclusively for the rich? That would be awful.
What about the apps that relate to specific lessons? Who pays for those? Who will make sure they are installed in a timely manner?
Shogmaster
Member
I brought Cintiqs and digital drawing into a drawing class for the very first time at one of the schools I teach (art college).
Thanks for assuming.
freenudemacusers
Member
poors should never get to experience technology
I think children should use papyrus and quill pens. If they misbehave, they get a stone tablet and a chisel. We coddle these kids too much and if we really wanted them to learn something we'd teach them with hitting: two hits for a wrong answer but only one if they're right. What more motivation could they require? My parents hit me and I turned out fine so this is foolproof.
Everything was done better in the past.
Everything was done better in the past.
Taking notes is very distracting to a lot of students. With an app like http://soundnote.com the students will be able to take some notes, but also record the presentations if they want, and the notes are sync'd to the audio. So if you go back to study a few weeks later and you cannot remember what a line in your notes mean, you can tap it and it will play the audio that was recorded at the time you took the note.
iPads are amazing for the classroom, and Apple has the resources and support with iTunes U to help LAUSD make this a success.
Hari Seldon
Member
You can do that with those digital pens at a fraction of the cost and much less distraction.
...why am I only just discovering this now, after I'm almost done with college? This is brilliant.
I imagine those pens are limited in that they only serve that one function, correct? An ipad includes that functionality and so much more.
Shogmaster
Member
Samsung's S-Note (pre-installed to Note devices) have the same feature, as do bunch of programs on Windows Tablet PC side.
Kano on the Phone
Member
We wrote our own. Works pretty damn well, though it brought a lot of uhhh legal troubles along with it. The two people that wrote it wanted to market it since it's one of the few solutions out there, and people were interested in it in the conferences it was demo'ed at. Initially the city said yes, as long as they get a bit of the profits. Then a couple months later they revoked it. Very sad... would of been helpful income for the city and a good product for K-12 establishments.
Kano on the Phone
Member
Why is free suddenly a synonym of better? This isn't some neckbeard building the cheapest PC he can, we're talking about educational software, which Apple apparently does really weell.
But can you do all of the other stuff you can do on an iPad? No.
And do they have iTunes U, iBooks author content, the thousands of other good apps that iPads have access to?
Well it is better than San Jose school buying a $725,000 pizza machine
http://www.mygovcost.org/2012/02/29/thanks-uncle-sam-the-tale-of-the-725000-pizza-machine/
Of all the ways the state waste money, I am not going to be upset at wasting it on kids.
http://www.mygovcost.org/2012/02/29/thanks-uncle-sam-the-tale-of-the-725000-pizza-machine/
Of all the ways the state waste money, I am not going to be upset at wasting it on kids.
I'm totally down with copying their entire system of government.
Save money on stuff = hire more teachers? educational developers on the internet do very well, as well.
Hari Seldon
Member
Who gives a fuck? Take the 650 bucks per student and give out performance based bonuses for the teachers. The only way to improve education is to improve the teachers. Not these stupid ass gimmicks that some school board member is surely getting a kickback for.
If you want to put technology in the classroom, put it in a programming class, with Ubuntu and a text editor. I don't give a shit if my kid learns the latest flavor of the month consumption device, I want them to learn how to fucking COMPUTE.
polyh3dron
Banned
Bingo. That SD card slot isn't going to teach the kids very much. Also, stretched phone apps.
Also, Shog is known to be quite the Apple hater.
FutureZombie
Banned
As someone who has worked in schools for the past two years, I can tell you that technology is a fantastic way to engage and motivate students. I went from a school that used Smartboard technology as much as possible to a school where the Smartboards sat idle and I can tell you that when I did a lesson using the Smartboard, the kids were super excited to participate.
People lament the loss of IT jobs overseas, but they don't want students using technology? This is a great gain for the school system if used to its full potential. There are many possible advantages here.
People lament the loss of IT jobs overseas, but they don't want students using technology? This is a great gain for the school system if used to its full potential. There are many possible advantages here.
Kano on the Phone
Member
Well at what? And as well as what? Using what benchmarks?
I think what you're actually looking for is this:
But thats the whole point. On the iPad they can learn to do a lot of things other than compute. Technology can be very beneficial for a lot more than learning to program.
What? This is not true at all. Income taxes are used for education in California. In fact Proposition 30 passed just last year that increased income taxes for education. Education accounts for almost half of the general fund.
Are you in Texas?
what are you arguing? that there are no web applications that have a focus on the classroom, or that they are not comparable to Apple? who I quoted is the context to what I am to what I am assuming you are asking.
You know, I fully agree that all kids should be taught basic coding, but it's worth noting that we've had computers in classrooms like crazy for ages now and programming hasn't really been pushed since the early 80s.
(...and, quite frankly, I think it's appalling that we have a fully interactive method of teaching algebraic concepts that we don't use. Bring back BASIC and have 2nd graders learn to use it.)
dem
Member
Configurator is a pain in the dick. I'll say that.
MDM solutions all look pretty useless to me so far for a school non 1-1 situation.
When you deploy apps through any MDM solution ive looked it... it still prompts you to log in with an Apple ID on the device before it will download the App. So you either have to 1: Assign a specific Apple ID to an iPad.. or 2: Let kids uses their own Apple ID's and let them take ownership of the apps the division paid for.
What a mess.
MDM solutions all look pretty useless to me so far for a school non 1-1 situation.
When you deploy apps through any MDM solution ive looked it... it still prompts you to log in with an Apple ID on the device before it will download the App. So you either have to 1: Assign a specific Apple ID to an iPad.. or 2: Let kids uses their own Apple ID's and let them take ownership of the apps the division paid for.
What a mess.
Mr. B Natural
Member
You do realize that you are ultimately paying your renter's taxes for him/her right?
Right?
Kano on the Phone
Member
I asked what made your answer a better solution, and you haven't answered except to say that it's cheaper/free. Then you said that hiring more teachers was the answer but also that the stuff that is available for free is good/just as good and I asked for your benchmarks.
Basically it seems like your answer is to throw more teachers and free educational resources at the kids.
I work at a University, we pay the EDU rate for the app but then use one account for all of the apps we want on there by default. Load all of the apps at once and they hand them out. We deploy 50 some iPads this way and it works well now that they don't need a password to update the apps.
Hari Seldon
Member
I see an iPad as a passive device that is intended to largely replace what the teacher should be doing. I'd rather improve the teacher, as that is a proven method that actually works. That is what they do in the Nordic countries and study after study shows this.
dem
Member
Are you using configurator for loading the apps on?
Configurator is annoying because once you supervise a device you can't hook it up to any computer to pull movies/pictures off of it. There's apps to get around it.. but it's still annoying.
Kano on the Phone
Member
And how do you go about doing this? Sounds simple.
Hari Seldon
Member
I think what you're actually looking for is this:
No one gets a job because they know how to use iOS. People get a job by knowing how to code an iOS app.
Hari Seldon
Member
Take the iPad money and use it for performance based bonuses, just like every other industry.
yes. if it were my choice, that is what I would do. Teachers need to be more qualified and in more abundance in classrooms. I have no idea where these Ipads are going, but they will probably not be ending up in low income districts. So, this Apple deal is likely benefiting those who are already receiving good education anyway. Of course they will still find some poor kids to highlight this project.
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