I can't believe the LSD is paying for all of these kids to have iPads. As far as I'm concerned they are toys and if parents want their kids to have one then it's up to the parents to buy one. Why are we paying teachers? Can anyone guess why the cost of education has gone sky high. Plus we will be paying for a "family resource center". If schools would concentrate on teaching the basics the cost of education could be lowered considerably.

http://ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=73048

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It is pretty bad when one of these iPads costs twice what my computer costs and is programmed to do a lot less. 

But I had severe reservations when the LASD said these were available for all students and the kids are able to take them home.  Apparently, about 99% of the parents allowed this option, but I am having reservations.  The kid can use it to tap into just about any music video through VEVO on our home internet connection, showing the filters they use has their limitations.  By the end of the semester, we might just join the 1%. 

Is it wasteful, sure-- but a majority of the public agreed to fork the extra money over by a public vote.

I'm pretty sure most folks thought that vote was for computers and computer infrastructure not for iPads. I doubt the voters would have approved the extra money had they known exactly what it was for. 

I was at a school function when former Superintendent Cal De Kuyper (now making more $ as Zeeland's super) put out his case for the technology fund.  I believe he envisioned a day when the whole school district would have these available, but it didn't sound like it would happen so soon. 

At the informational meetings the school conducted, they told us that if the units get damaged so that they wouldn't work there would be a $29 charge.  This would not apply if they were lost or stolen, however, so I envision a young student losing their's somewhere or an older student getting their's filched.  They seemed to avoid telling the parents what that would cost, but the typical iPad price is $600 and above.  That's a lot of money to some families.

I guess you people will have to keep this in mind the next time more school money comes up for a vote.

I got mine for $499.  Not sure why they chose to purchase them, but I can see some advantages. E - books are great, maybe they are concerned with how much a back pack weighs when full of books, perhaps they are concerned with the environment and want to save the trees. Maybe eBooks are cheaper than regular text books. Personally I think schools should teach way more than the basics. If I was in charge, school would be year round, the hours would be 9-5, second language would be mandatory oh the list would go on and on.

Actually, I looked and found that the 16 GB model does go for $499 and that is the model the school uses, the 32 GB does generally retail for $599 which I had thought they were using until I looked it up.  Here's a link to the LASD's iPad policy  which tells a bit more about specs and rationales.

Besides Willy, who has made his feelings on the subject pretty clear, I know a couple folks who own land in the LASD who are 'irked' that all the district's kids got iPads on their dimes, when they have no kid in the district, and the schools around where they actually live are scrimping for coins. 

Personally, I think the LASD policy reminds me of Obamacare with healthcare replaced by technology.  It's gonna be costly, inefficient, and not accomplish the objectives as well as the old system.

Thanks X for posting that link regarding the iPads. After I read it all I can say is what a load of crap. Typical progressive mindset is costing us untold amounts of money. They can come up with all of the BS reasons for having these toys but it won't do anyone a damn bit of good when the batteries go dead. Kids have got to learn without being connected to wiring. Once they can function without being plugged in then they can branch out into the internet.  But I don't want to pay for this experimentation.

This is the real reason for schools using our tax dollars to squander on ipads

"Personally, I think the LASD policy reminds me of Obamacare with healthcare replaced by technology.  It's gonna be costly, inefficient, and not accomplish the objectives as well as the old system." I totally agree

According to X's link a replacement ipad costs $479 the charger costs $29 and the case costs $35. Add to that the insurance coverage of $30 per ipad and the cost to the taxpayer to provide this toy is $573 dollars. In a very short time these ipads will be outdated and we the taxpayers will be paying once again to provide an unnecessary "learning" device. This reminds me of the movie "The Music Man". I wonder if Ludington was paid a visit by "The Music Man" or does he/she work for the school district and convinced the LAPD to persuade the parents that the kids could not live or learn without this expensive technology.

If you have seen Cal De Kuiper at his best, he could charm the socks off of you.  New superintendent Andrea Large doesn't do a bad job in marketing this, but she lacks a little bit of the used-car salesman attributes that Cal had.  I mean that as a positive quality.

Large did mention they received a good deal on the iPads, but conveniently left off the specifics on what constitutes a good deal for iPads, whose price doesn't fluctuate as much as most technology.  As Dave notes, Android based tablets and computers that can do quite a lot are available for under $100 on sale at local stores like Wal-Mart and Rite-Aid. 

However, I'm sure the iPad salesman earned their pay and used plenty of gimmickry and charm when they got LASD  to make this big $$$ agreement.  The brand of iPad, iPod, etc. are generally deemed as high status, not some generic rip-off (that can do the same or more) that costs five times less.  Face it, the purchasers primarily brought the brand in this instance.

Price wise, depending on which IPad you were to purchase of course, you can find them as cheap as $399 if you were to purchase an IPad 2. If you were looking for the most recent IPad, they can be found in at least some stores starting at $449.

Anywho, while I don't have a major issue with schools looking to keep within the technology curve as our culture evolves, I've never been crazy about any school system providing tablets... at least the more expensive ones anyway. Myself, I have a Galaxy Tab 7" tablet that I've had for just about a year now. The reality is that it really does as much as the IPad's do and for now half the price.. granted the screen size is smaller. There are plenty of other tablets available though, at my store we have Android based tablets for as low as $69. I'd be more inclined for schools to provide the cheaper tablets if they wished to provide tablets at all.

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