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Aside from how Pearson performed, I'm rather surprised that they choose to buy so many iPads. What does the iPad offer to the pedagogical process? Are they teaching kids about programming or computer skills? Probably not. Did they expect Pearson to produce an entire curriculum just for the iPad? Why not a website instead, which is so much more easily accessed and maintained? Did these schools want to be "technologica…
> “Only two schools of 69 in the Instructional Technology Initiative ... use Pearson regularly,” according to an internal March report from project director Bernadette Lucas. “Any given class typically experiences one problem or more daily. Teachers report that the students enjoy the interactive content — when it’s available. When it’s not, teachers and students try to roll with the interruptions to teaching and learning as best they can.”
They've just kept Apple on the hit list because they know they had more money than brains to attempt to purchase an iPad for each student. If they want to add more technology to the classroom, hire some programmers to build educational software with a committee of teachers. Make it a webapp so the district can use whatever array of hardware they already own. This was just a school district looking to waste money as f…
Contrary to popular belief everyone REALLY doesn't need to be a programmer.
Aside from how Pearson performed, I'm rather surprised that they choose to buy so many iPads. What does the iPad offer to the pedagogical process? Are they teaching kids about programming or computer skills? Probably not. Did they expect Pearson to produce an entire curriculum just for the iPad? Why not a website instead, which is so much more easily accessed and maintained? Did these schools want to be "technologica…
Aside from how Pearson performed, I'm rather surprised that they choose to buy so many iPads. What does the iPad offer to the pedagogical process? Are they teaching kids about programming or computer skills? Probably not. Did they expect Pearson to produce an entire curriculum just for the iPad? Why not a website instead, which is so much more easily accessed and maintained? Did these schools want to be "technologica…
More or less, yes: "Under the contract, Pearson was to provide English and math curriculum."
> Why not a website instead
The article says "Deasy had said the technology effort was a civil rights imperative designed to provide low-income students with devices available to their wealthier peers." It's easy for you and me to assume that every man, woman, and child in America has easy access to the web, but it's not necessarily so. Giving a tablet to every single student does seem like a reasonable way to level the playing field. In theory, it would be more portable, simpler to use and maintain, and less abusable than, say, a laptop.
It's unfortunate that things broke down along the way. This could have been a really good idea, if it was implemented properly.
More like seeks refund from Pearson? The body of the article directly contradicts the headline. I'm hope that FBI investigation turns up some dirt, Pearson is a name that comes up too often in public education, and seems like universally negative reactions. How do such shit companies manage to gain such a stranglehold, particularly when it comes to government contracts? Across 50 states and the innumerable local gove…
Although the threatened legal action applies to Apple and Pearson, the district also sent letters Tuesday to two other companies: Lenovo, a device maker, and Arey Jones, a computer distributor. These companies also have included the Pearson product on some devices purchased by L.A. Unified.
So, they had problems with non-Apple devices as well?
There's also this statement:
Pearson could offer only a partial curriculum during the first year of the license, which was permitted under the agreement. Teachers and principals never widely embraced the product.
Okay, so the product they bought wasn't embraced. And there aren't any real reasons given other than a vague: “Any given class typically experiences one problem or more daily."
What does that even mean?
Aside from how Pearson performed, I'm rather surprised that they choose to buy so many iPads. What does the iPad offer to the pedagogical process? Are they teaching kids about programming or computer skills? Probably not. Did they expect Pearson to produce an entire curriculum just for the iPad? Why not a website instead, which is so much more easily accessed and maintained? Did these schools want to be "technologica…
The answer to that is folded and in the wallet of the schools accountant.
When a vendor comes in and says, "We know how to solve your problems," there is reason to be doubtful.
I'm not saying that such efforts have no promise, but there typically needs to be a long growth period during which the tools have to be adapted, sometimes radically. In this complicated a sphere, bottom-up may well work better than top-down.
This is almost 100% about Pearson. The article even has this gem buried toward the end: Although the threatened legal action applies to Apple and Pearson, the district also sent letters Tuesday to two other companies: Lenovo, a device maker, and Arey Jones, a computer distributor. These companies also have included the Pearson product on some devices purchased by L.A. Unified. So, they had problems with non-Apple dev…
It means there is a complex system that isn't reliable enough for its target usage and the end users have no way of pressuring for its improvement.