Abstract:
Chapter 1
Statement of Problem
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently spent over $1 billion to put iPads in the hands of all 600,000+ of its students. This program quickly came under fire when many students were able to bypass the school district’s content filters and have unfettered access to the Internet. There were also issues of iPads being reported as missing (causing the district to repurchase them) and the fact that the installed curriculum was scheduled to expire after three years and would require renewal at a cost of $50 - $100 per iPad device. A 2013 Los Angeles Times article by Howard Blume quoted LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy defending his program by saying, “[Technology] is no longer a maybe or a luxury. It is a fundamental right of students.” Critics, however, pointed out the spiralling cost of a computer device that is doomed to become outdated quickly, and there were other concerns about how the technology would be used in the classroom.