Classroom Technology News in Brief

L.A. Shifts Gears Over Computers-for-All-Students Policy

By Benjamin Herold — March 03, 2015 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The Los Angeles Unified district cannot afford to provide all its students with a digital computing device, interim Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines has announced.

That decision marks a major policy reversal for the country’s second-largest district, which for nearly two years has been under scrutiny for its seemingly star-crossed effort to give iPads to 641,000 students, as well as to staff members and administrators.

“We are committed to providing technology to our children,” Mr. Cortines said in a statement Feb. 20. “We will need to identify alternative ongoing resources to fund the curriculum that is preloaded on some of the devices, which is of course why I believe that, currently, the district does not have sufficient funds to purchase and maintain technology in a 1:1 model.”

In November 2013, Education Week reported problems associated with the Pearson digital curriculum intended to be included on the iPads. Later, the district’s independent evaluator, the American Institutes for Research, concluded that the curriculum had gaping holes, was plagued by technical glitches, and was almost never used in the classroom.

This past December, the FBI raided district headquarters, taking away 20 boxes of materials in what has been reported to be an investigation into the bid process that led to contracts for Apple and Pearson.

Former schools Superintendent John Deasy, who led the iPads-for-all effort, steadfastly defended the program. He resigned in October.

Fifty-eight schools now have a total of more than 90,000 iPads. The district plans to proceed with existing efforts to test laptop computers or Chromebooks at 21 additional high schools.

A version of this article appeared in the March 04, 2015 edition of Education Week as L.A. Shifts Gears Over Computers-for-All-Students Policy

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Classroom Technology Students Get Hundreds of Notifications on Their Phones Every Day. Even at School
Nearly a quarter of the cellphone notifications students receive each day come during school hours, new report shows.
2 min read
Group of diverse 8-10-year-olds sitting in a window sill looking at their cellphones.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Classroom Technology Opinion Skip the AI Hype: What Can Educators Do With It?
Artificial intelligence can provide practical assistance in the classroom, in the front office, and at home.
7 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Classroom Technology Monitoring or Blocking What Students Do Online Poses All Kinds of Problems
Schools need to do a better job examining the downsides of monitoring students online behavior and blocking internet content, says a report.
4 min read
Photo of high school student in classroom using tablet computers.
E+ / Getty
Classroom Technology Opinion How ‘Innovative’ Ed Tech Actually Reinforces Convention
Alfie Kohn warns that tech executives and other leaders aren't asking the important questions about teaching and learning.
Alfie Kohn
4 min read
Illustration of school children being helped out of a black box by their teacher. Inside the black box is their classroom full of education technology.
Robert Neubecker for Education Week