-
Why some schools choose laptops over iPads
Via the Atlantic | Megan E. Murphy For an entire school year Hillsborough, New Jersey, educators undertook an experiment, asking: Is the iPad really the best device for interactive learning? It’s a question that has been on many minds since 2010, when Apple released the iPad and schools began experimenting with it. The devices came...
By LA School Report | August 6, 2014
-
LAUSD board approves labor deals — but not yet for teachers
The LA Unified School Board yesterday unanimously approved labor contracts for four of its major union partners, all of which would put (at least a little) more cash in the pockets of employees after years of devastating budget cuts and furlough days. The district signed off on deals with Service Employees International Union Local 99...
By Vanessa Romo | July 2, 2014
-
After year of iPads only, laptops are making LAUSD debut
Not too long ago the iPad train barreling toward LA Unified seemed unstoppable. At the beginning of the school year, it was a given that all district students would have an Apple device in their Millennial and Generation Z hands by the end of 2016. But after a series of very public blunders and intense...
By Vanessa Romo | June 30, 2014
-
School board blocks appointee critical of iPads
What is normally a routine, no-questions-asked formality for the LA Unified School Board hit a snag today. Board Member Tamar Galatzan opposed the reappointment of Stuart Magruder, an outspoken critic of the use of bond money for iPads, from the School Construction Bond Oversight Committee (BOC). The board effectively blocked Magruder’s reappointment by removing him...
By Vanessa Romo | May 20, 2014
-
‘Repairs Not iPads’ Facebook group moves into the open
The Facebook group, “Repairs Not iPads,” whose pictures of deteriorating LAUSD facilities have gone viral, took on a real-world turn yesterday afternoon when the group gathered at Esperanza Elementary for its first press conference. Matthew Kogan, who anonymously launched the Facebook effort in December, told LA School Report that the event was intended to introduce some of the...
By Chase Niesner | February 20, 2014
-
iPads going home? ‘That’s concerning to me,’ says Ratliff
Some LA Unified schools may be moving closer to allowing students to take district-bought iPads home again, and that has caught district officials by surprise. The district put an end to the practice in September after students figured out how to bypass the device’s security filters. But school board member Monica Ratliff, chair of the...
By Vanessa Romo | February 7, 2014
-
Commentary: If iPads are the answer, what’s the question?
“I don’t have to stress that a billion dollars is an insane amount of money,” Jacques assures me right away. I feel much better. I was starting to think I was the one who was insane. To understand how LAUSD’s billion dollar commitment to Apple iPads makes any sense, I’ve consulted a panel of experts:...
By Ellie Herman | January 21, 2014
-
Glimpses of LA Unified meeting: iPads and kumbaya*
Debate at times was intense as ever yesterday. Tamar Galatzan and Steve Zimmer still didn’t seem to agree on much, the board ignored a recommendation from the Bond Oversight Committee and nobody thought Monica Garcia had a great idea in giving the entire board responsibility for taking District 1 interests into consideration with their votes. But...
By LA School Report | January 15, 2014
-
LA Unified board OKs more iPads, caretaker for vacancy
The LA Unified School Board made two major decisions today that will go a long way toward shaping the months ahead. The six members green-lighted Phase 2 of the iPad plan, ensuring enough tablets for standardized testing in the Spring, and they approved the appointment of a non-voting representative to serve District 1 until later...
By Vanessa Romo | January 14, 2014
-
Big LA Unified decisions: Open seat and (of course) iPads
Two lingering issues are expected to hold center stage at the LA Unified School Board meeting tomorrow – the vacant District 1 seat and the Phase 2 iPad release. Now that the City Council has approved a June 3 election date to fill the seat left open by the death of Marguerite LaMotte, the board...
By Michael Janofsky | January 13, 2014