Bach Seat

Finally some sanity in the rush to push iPads into schools. Miami-Dade school district Superintendent Alberto Carvalho decided to put a hold on the district’s $63 million 250,000+ tablet project. Mr. Carvalho cited problems in LA, Texas, and North Carolina as good reasons to slow down. “Those events put us in a position to say ‘we best pause and learn from their mistakes?” Superintendent Carvalho said according to the Miami Herald.

The article cites Leslie Wilson, CEO of the Michigan-based One-to-One Institute, which advocates successful digital convergence policies. She says that larger iPad efforts have seen a “high rate of failure,” which she blamed on a lack of planning.“We see precious little of that,” she said. (rb- I wrote how about the failure of leadership on these projects here and here.) Ms. Wilson applauded Mr. Carvalho’s decision to step back and look at others’ pitfalls. “When Miami-Dade’s superintendent says ‘I’m pushing the pause button,’ I say bravo. There’s no reason not to get this right,” Ms. Wilson said.

Troubled school tablet projects

Despite the troubled school tablet projects across the country, The Herald says board members push Superintendent Carvalho to move forward. “I hope we will not be delayed in terms of getting devices into kids’ hands as soon as possible,” said School Board Member Carlos Curbelo.

LAUSD’s Apple iPad experiment still seems in shambles, costs have just jumped 14%. The LA Times reports that the Apple (AAPL) iPads will cost nearly $100 more apiece — or $770 per tablet. The earlier lower cost estimate for each iPad “preceded the actual procurement process,” the district said in response to questions from The LA Times. “The negotiated discount [i.e. $678] does not go into effect until the district has reached the $400-million spending threshold. “This sticker shock can be avoided, but only after the L.A. Unified School District has spent at least $400 million for the devices. In other words, the district would have to buy nearly 520,000 iPads before getting lower prices.

Other cost increases announced included classroom carts, that charge the iPads and keep them secure, cost rose for this first phase rose from $2.6 million to $3.2 million, according to the paper. The iPad curriculum from Pearson Education Inc. (PSO) is still being developed and not available to those schools that have received their iPads. It is unclear if LAUSD will receive a credit from Pearson for late delivery or if it will ever be available.

Another topic at the same meeting was the progress in preparing the schools for iPads. The district reported less than half a percent (40 of the over 1,000 school network) of the schools’ Wi-Fi infrastructure was upgraded for the iPads – so far. (rb- I wonder if they have addressed the proprietary Apple Bonjour issue, and how they are going to limit the number of devices (Apple TVs, Printers, other iPads, Mac’s etc.) that can be selected.

LA parents also have expressed confusion about their responsibility for the devices. And officials have yet to purchase mechanical keyboards that will be necessary to use the iPads on new standardized tests.

Budget shifts

To keep the overall budget in check the board shifted iPad project costs to the general fund, which is used for basic operations. That shift is relatively small, about $550,000 at this point, although it’s unclear whether more expenses would be transferred in the future. The price per device, higher than retail, includes a protective case, a limited three-year warranty, technical assistance and training, and one Apple TV setup per 20 students.

The LA Times also reports that these problems have prompted four LA schools to opt-out of the troubled program. Another LA Times article seems to show that the iPad debacle may cost controversial LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy his job.

rb-

Like I said in my last post on this issue, the LA iPad debacle is driven by the politicians with no real sense of the work required, and I am sure not enough budget to do the work. When I spoke with educational “leaders” about what they were going to do with the iPads they wanted to implement them without solid articulated plans. As is always true in education, there were no plans or funds on how to sustain their projects, they spent all of their money to get the iPads in never mind a plan.

Despite doing the right thing in Miami, the politicians are pushing the Superintendent to just throw the expensive iDevices at the students without any planning.

Related articles

• Los Angeles school board looks at laptops after troubled iPad rollout (updatednews.ca)

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.