Last year the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted to spend $30 million to roll out iPads to all students. The school district later bumped that figure to $40 million, but then ran into issues with misuse of the tablets. The roll-out has been bumpy at best, and now LAUSD is switching up its plans entirely.
According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, the school district will vote on allowing high schools to choose one of six devices, including laptops, instead of relying entirely on the iPad. “The benefit of the new approach is clear,” one board member in the LAUSD told Los Angeles Times. “Why would we treat all our students – whether they are a first-grader or a high school freshman – as if they all had the same technology needs? They don’t… To Have a one-device-fits-all approach does not make sense.”
Microsoft’s older Surface Pro 2 is among the products that will be tested for roll-out, as will the Dell Latitude E7240, the Lenovo Yoga Touch and a couple of Chromebooks, the news outlet said. One teacher explained that she prefers using a laptop with her students because the keyboard makes writing easier and the larger screen allows students to see more of a math problem.
There’s no word yet on how many schools will opt to ditch the iPad for other products.