iPad pain: billion dollar bust.

• Author: Soave, Robby
• Position: Citings - Los Angeles Unified Schools' iPad program - Brief article

In 2013, Los Angeles Unified Schools went all-in for a $1 billion program to promote online learning by putting iPads in the hands of every kid in the district. During the test run, dozens of the devices were lost, stolen, or compromised. Now the initiative has completely unraveled amidst allegations of corruption among the officials who inked the deal with Apple.

The iPad program was the brainchild of District Superintendent John Deasy,who thought kids and teachers would benefit from the devices. But in the limited number of classrooms where the program was tried, teachers had difficulty figuring out how to work them into their lesson plans.

Administrators at most schools refused to allow use of the iPads when kids were outside school supervision, which limited their functionality as a homework resource. When the devices inevitably turned up broken or missing, parents...