Apple wins $30 million iPad contract from LA school district [u]

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
The second-largest school system in the U.S., the L.A. Unified School District, has awarded Apple with a $30 million contract to provide iPads to every student it serves [updated with comment from Apple].

Education


The deal was approved by the district's board in a unanimous vote on Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. The district will pay $678 per device, and the iPads will come preloaded with educational software.

Update: Later Wednesday, Apple issued a press release touting the board's decision to exclusively adopt the iPad for classroom use. The company also noted that the $30 million deal is the first phase of a larger roll-out for the Los Angeles school district.

"Education is in Apple?s DNA and we?re thrilled to work with Los Angeles Unified public schools on this major initiative as they plan to roll out iPads to every student across 47 campuses this fall," said Philip Schiller, Apple?s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Schools around the world have embraced the engaging and interactive quality of iPad with nearly 10 million iPads already in schools today."

Apple said that the iPads will come with the Pearson Common Core System of Courses, as well as iWork, iLife, iTunes, and other educational third-party apps."Education is in Apple?s DNA and we?re thrilled to work with Los Angeles Unified public schools on this major initiative as they plan to roll out iPads to every student across 47 campuses this fall," Philip Schiller, Apple?s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

"The Board voted unanimously for Apple because iPad rated the best in quality, was the least expensive option and received the highest scoring by the review panel that included students and teachers," said Jaime Aquino, LAUSD Deputy Superintendent of Instruction. "The vote is another step forward in the District?s plan to equip every one of its students with a device by 2014. When completed, the LAUSD will become the largest district in the nation to provide each of its students with the technology."

Members of the board characterized the deal is one of the "most high-profile contracts" they will ever approve, declaring it "as big as they come."

With the board's approval, the iPad will be used by students at 47 campuses in the L.A. Unified School District. The board opted to choose Apple as the sole vendor after students and teachers rated the iPad as the highest quality tablet available on the market.

The contract is so significant that Apple's rival Microsoft got involved, asking the district to pilot more than one product and consider its Windows devices. The Redmond, Wash., software company argued that most businesses use Microsoft platforms, and Windows tablets would be a good way to expose students to those devices.

District staff, however, declared Apple's iPad the superior product. They said it wouldn't be fair to require some students to use a different, lesser product than the iPad.

iPad sales to educational institutions have become increasingly common as tablets have grown in popularity. Data from last year demonstrated that Apple's iPad is definitively replacing sales of traditional PCs in education.

One pilot program in Idaho dubbed "iSchool Campus" has earned rave reviews from educators and students alike. In addition to providing a more engaging way to teach students, Apple's tablet has also helped reduce costs at Paul Elementary in Minidoka County, Idaho, by eliminating 20,000 paper copies a month.

iPad adoption isn't limited to grade school either. An initiative at Arkansas State University will require all incoming students to have an iPad as of this fall.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 73
    rcoleman1rcoleman1 Posts: 153member
    The iPad is definitely a superior device IMO...and yeah I own one! Go Apple!
  • Reply 2 of 73
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    This's just show how risky iOS 7 is. This deal was made with iOS 6 in mind (the best tablet). Who knows how many teachers and students like Book Shelf or Page Turning in iBook. SJ wanted technology to be easily accessible by people but Tech heads didn't know better and want it to be something else. Now it looks like even Apple want to prove themselves to tech heads. I just hope it still is an easy and enjoyable to use like before.
    I'll miss you Page-turning.
  • Reply 3 of 73
    boeyc15boeyc15 Posts: 986member
    Great for Apple, but Im skeptical that LAUSD(or vast majority of US school systems) has the 'teaching culture/systems/programs' (ala Finland school culture, Kahn Academy etc) to take advantage of the iPad or any computer to fundamentally improve education. I sincerely hope my skepticism is proved misplaced and that I'm just being an old fuddyduddy..
  • Reply 4 of 73
    abazigalabazigal Posts: 114member
    The irony comes when you realise that on the other side, Google and Microsoft are practically giving away their hardware either free or at cost. And we don't even know if there are any takers yet...
  • Reply 5 of 73
    iaeeniaeen Posts: 588member
    matrix07 wrote: »
    This's just show how risky iOS 7 is. This deal was made with iOS 6 in mind (the best tablet). Who knows how many teachers and students like Book Shelf or Page Turning in iBook. SJ wanted technology to be easily accessible by people but Tech heads didn't know better and want it to be something else. Now it looks like even Apple want to prove themselves to tech heads. I just hope it still is an easy and enjoyable to use like before.
    I'll miss you Page-turning.

    Seriously? You think the removal of page turning animation makes the device less user friendly? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

    Also, what makes you think this decision was made with iOS 6 in mind? According to the articles this decision was made after the announcement of iOS 7.
  • Reply 6 of 73
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member
    iaeen wrote: »
    Also, what makes you think this decision was made with iOS 6 in mind? According to the articles this decision was made after the announcement of iOS 7.

    "The board opted to choose Apple as the sole vendor after students and teachers rated the iPad as the highest quality tablet available on the market."

    I don't believe they had access to iOS 7. Do you?
  • Reply 7 of 73
    Simply BEAUTIFUL, that's the way of doing things. It is the best for our children:):):)
  • Reply 8 of 73
    womble2k2womble2k2 Posts: 118member
    "District staff, however, declared Apple's iPad the superior product. They said it wouldn't be fair to require some students to use a different, lesser product than the iPad."

    I couldn't sum this up any better!
  • Reply 9 of 73
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    30 million is pocket change to Apple, it's like you finding a buck in the street.
  • Reply 10 of 73
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    But they could have had twice as many surfaces with keyboard covers! :no:
  • Reply 11 of 73
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    iaeen wrote: »
    Seriously? You think the removal of page turning animation makes the device less user friendly? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

    Also, what makes you think this decision was made with iOS 6 in mind? According to the articles this decision was made after the announcement of iOS 7.

    Why is the page-turning animation disappearing? Who made that decision?
  • Reply 12 of 73
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    matrix07 wrote: »
    This's just show how risky iOS 7 is. This deal was made with iOS 6 in mind (the best tablet). Who knows how many teachers and students like Book Shelf or Page Turning in iBook. SJ wanted technology to be easily accessible by people but Tech heads didn't know better and want it to be something else. Now it looks like even Apple want to prove themselves to tech heads. I just hope it still is an easy and enjoyable to use like before.
    I'll miss you Page-turning.

    IOS 7 looks great. Clean up the icons a bit and we are ready to go. Who said page turning is gone?
  • Reply 13 of 73
    tbelltbell Posts: 3,146member
    evilution wrote: »
    30 million is pocket change to Apple, it's like you finding a buck in the street.

    The deal is worth more than the money.
  • Reply 14 of 73
    Whilst device costs are quite tiny these days, it is support that costs big money.

    Full permanent lock down here will save a fortune. Obviously the brighter tech students can carry two devices but for the majority this might do.
  • Reply 15 of 73
    simsonicsimsonic Posts: 29member
    boeyc15 wrote: »
    Great for Apple, but Im skeptical that LAUSD(or vast majority of US school systems) has the 'teaching culture/systems/programs' (ala Finland school culture, Kahn Academy etc) to take advantage of the iPad or any computer to fundamentally improve education. I sincerely hope my skepticism is proved misplaced and that I'm just being an old fuddyduddy..
    .

    You must be old. I'm a teacher at SDSU and all my classrooms are 100% digital. It's a sustainable practice that makes for better teaching.
  • Reply 16 of 73
    Can you elaborate on the sustainable part? Because buying devices that obsolesce every five years or so seems unsustainable.
  • Reply 17 of 73
    Microsoft - what is it that you offer for the workforce??? Anyone can go from an Apple to using a PC and about the only program that I know of which is most commonly used is Excel and I much prefer Apple's "Numbers" - Microsoft's sales pitch is dated and rather amusing as well. Buy mine because it's in the workforce and just like the workforce,, we will not include an email client unless you pay for it - even though Apple's email is far superior, we won't include MS word unless you pay for it - even though Apple's Pages performs better than word and publisher combined.
    Good luck MS - you should have thought of your customer first and I'm enjoying my very first iMac and yes,,, I operate windows 7 using Parallels in Full screen mode for just one piece of software which we need for work and coreldraw; 90 percent of my time is spent on using Software for Mac.
  • Reply 18 of 73


    #0 Million here and 30 Million there, before long you're talking real money.

  • Reply 19 of 73
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    [quote name="matrix07" url="/t/158128/apple-wins-30-million-ipad-contract-from-la-school-district#post_2348814"]This's just show how risky iOS 7 is. This deal was made with iOS 6 in mind...[/QUOTE]

    ... No... This just shows how the passage of time works. See, they were talking about this for a while in the past, and now they've decided on it. iOS 7 was revealed a week ago. Obviously they'll be going with iOS 7.

    [QUOTE]Now it looks like even Apple want to prove themselves to tech heads.[/QUOTE]

    So all the school corporation deals Apple had before the announcement of iOS 7... don't count, huh? :rolleyes:
  • Reply 20 of 73
    eberghebergh Posts: 27member
    "The second-largest school system in the U.S., the L.A. Unified School District, has awarded Apple with a $30 million contract to provide iPads to every student it serves.."

    "... the iPad will be used by students at 47 campuses in the L.A. Unified School District..."


    Something about this story does not! According to the district website, " LAUSD enrolls more than 640,000 students.... at over 900 schools, and 187 public charter schools"

    That certainly doesn't sound like they are buying an iPad for EVERY student if they are only sending them out to 47 sites!
    -eb
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