Apple won a contract this week with the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide iPads to its students, netting Cupertino $30 million across the next two years. The agreement will roll out iPads to students at 47 campuses; the iPads cost $678 apiece (nearly $200 more than a standard entry level iPad) and come loaded with educational software. Bizarrely, with tablets priced at $678 apiece, $30 million only nets LA schools approximately 45,000 iPads, while the school district comprises 640,000 students. We asked Apple to clarify and were told that the contract is for 31,000 iPads (for both students and teachers) which come with "Pearson Common Core System of Courses delivered via a new app." That's in addition to Apple standards like iWork, iLife, and iTunes, as well as "a range of educational third-party apps" included. The first iPads arrive in classrooms this fall, in what is deemed the "first phase" of a larger rollout.
The battle for LA's school contract was hard fought, with both board members and a Microsoft rep pushing back against student / teacher ratings and the overall cost. The teachers union president Warren Fletcher requested the money be spent on hiring new staff over mass-buying iPads, while district officials argued that national student tests require computer literacy, the LA Times reports -- the board voted unanimously (6 - 0) to approve the contract.
Traditionally, iPads have been used in college-level education -- both Seton Hill (not Seton Hall) and Tennessee's Webb School use Apple's tablet.
[Image credit: 'flickingerbrad']
Filed under: Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Apple
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/NG112bOTpPs/
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