The Los Angeles Board of Education announced today its approval of $30 million worth of iPads in the first part of a multi-year commitment. According to Apple, this initial order for the secodn largest school system in the US will surpass 31,000 iPads. Apple, Microsoft, and countless vendors across the Android ecosystem have all pivoted in the last few years to develop strong education offerings. While investment to develop education-specific solutions has been slow, the market is heating up. This is thus a big win for Apple, signaling to other schools in the US and worldwide the potential for iPads to enter classroom environments.
While clearly a weighty purchase for the LA Board of Ed, the challenge has really just begun as the school must now invest in professional development, device management, applications, digital textbooks and other solutions to more fully recognize the potential impact of thes devices to transform education. In the world of educational apps, the landscape of apps for 3rd graders is much different than that for 5th, 7th or 9th graders - we will have to see how the Board of Ed goes about equipping each student with applications.
Questions around spares pool management, device repair, lost devices, device provisioning and data security must also be answered by the school department. Apple's VPP program for educational institutions and business organizations has yet to satisfactorily meet education organization requirements. The program is described as "cumersome" and "challenging" by end users, requiring designation of separate Program Managers and Program Facilitators, unique volume vouchers for each, and management of app redemtion codes through large CSV files.
This is clearly an exciting announcement, hinting at the future of mobile technology to transform education. School districts such as the one in Los Angeles will be instrumental in driving this shift.
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