iPads break in the hands of kids, taxpayers pay

[Satellite]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...LF-broken.html

A school which gave out iPads to every pupil in hope of improving their education has admitted that just a year later half the costly devices have been broken.

Honywood Community Science School dished out iPad2 tablets to its 1,200 pupils a year ago, at vast cost to the taxpayer.

Despite warnings that children would not be able to look after the fragile computer tablet, the school in Coggeshall, Essex, allowed children to take the device outside the classroom, playground and street and home at evenings and weekends.

It was hoped that the iPads would be a useful learning tool, as well as keep the school up to pace with international competitors embracing the technology in the classroom.

But after just one year, more than four in ten of the iPads had been sent off for repair, after being knocked, dropped or scratched. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal 489 had to be replaced after being found to be beyond repair.

...

Can't decide on what's the worst part here. Is it:

The fact that the school buys one of the most fragile brands in the market for KIDS.

or

The fact that the school pays overprice for Apple products and the taxpayers have to pay for the costs. Which means those who boycott Apple would still have to pay for their products.

[Curtiss]

The worst part is that any school's committee seriously thinks children need iPads to learn jack.

[SaptaZapta]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...LF-broken.html


Can't decide on what's the worst part here. Is it:

The fact that the school buys one of the most fragile brands in the market for KIDS.

or

The fact that the school pays overprice for Apple products and the taxpayers have to pay for the costs. Which means those who boycott Apple would still have to pay for their products.

The government uses taxpayers' money in many ways which some of those taxpayers object to. Ever hear of Obamacare? Or any recent war? Seriously, buying Apple products when some taxpayers boycott them is hardly a "worst part" of anything.

As for why they bought "one of the most fragile brands" - well, they didn't know that, they didn't do research. They go by the same time-tested rule I knew as "no manager ever got fired for buying IBM."
If they'd bought some no-name Chinese tablets and half of those broke (as they would have, these are children after all), people would be all "Who's the idiot who decided to skimp and get cheapo junk? If you'd gotten genuine Apples this wouldn't have happened!"

But yeah, the stupid thing is getting tablets for schoolkids. Besides being too fragile, they're also far too toy-like. Should have given them desktops for home, if they absolutely had to bring them into the information age.

[Polantaris]

I think the worst is that it's not the only town that did it.

My hometown did it too: http://eb.gmnews.com/news/2011-12-01...nitiative.html

An old schoolmate who works as a substitute there now said that over half of them are broken, AND all students get a second one if they break the first one. Thankfully they don't get a third but the entire concept is ludicrous.

I can't find it now, but I remember an article at the time that said like either $1 million or $10 million from the budget went into them. Their reason to do it: Unused funds in the technology budget for the new school. I can find a million and a half other uses for that money and it wouldn't be all wasted by next year.

[Curtiss]

The government uses taxpayers' money in many ways which some of those taxpayers object to. Ever hear of Obamacare? Or any recent war? Seriously, buying Apple products when some taxpayers boycott them is hardly a "worst part" of anything.

As for why they bought "one of the most fragile brands" - well, they didn't know that, they didn't do research. They go by the same time-tested rule I knew as "no manager ever got fired for buying IBM."
If they'd bought some no-name Chinese tablets and half of those broke (as they would have, these are children after all), people would be all "Who's the idiot who decided to skimp and get cheapo junk? If you'd gotten genuine Apples this wouldn't have happened!"

But yeah, the stupid thing is getting tablets for schoolkids. Besides being too fragile, they're also far too toy-like. Should have given them desktops for home, if they absolutely had to bring them into the information age.

This reminds me of how my a school in my country got netbooks for the kids. The first education they got on it can be pretty much summed up as 'The Internet is for porn' as some were caught with downloaded porn soon after.

[Celan]

... Tablet PCs, especially iPads, which nowadays are often used for Facebook, Twitter, Angrybirds and Internet surfing...
..are supposed to 'improve pupil discipline and exam results'? EXCUSE ME?
That's like giving iPhones to 1200 pupils to 'improve communication between students and lower physical bullying danger'.
Especially when they could have buyed tablets that are probably better than the iPad (in multi-usable ways) that are way cheaper. And probably harder to damage.
I'm... just facepalming at this.
If it would be people who care about items that don't belong to one, it would be fine.
But if the iPads get sometimes damaged THREE TIMES, and sometimes even REPLACED, then, just...
God damn it, teachers. No, and I am telling you, NO SCHOOL consists of more than 50% of the nice, little students that always put their hands up, are never mean, always put an apple on your desk, and wrap their books in gift paper so they look extra-beautiful. They don't go home, do homework instantly, then walk their dog, study, and be nice and tidy, leaving nothing but a small scratch on their iPads when they return them.
NO.
GOD DAMN IT, NO.
If they had just kept the iPads in the classroom, basicly letting them be an IN SCHOOL ITEM, would have caused no troubles. That is the best thing and the easiest thing they could have done.
But NO, they got the puppy eyes of one fake girl that asks 'Can't we show them to our parents to see how good we learn at this school?', and they caused the chaos.

Urgh, stupidy. Ironic is too, that at the Apple page, the iMac is said to be high-quality and advanced and stuff, but the iPad? "WELL, WE CAN SECURE STUFF, AND WE CAN DISPLAY STUFF ON THE TEACHER'S APPLETV. Er, about the quality of the material? OH NO, NO WORDS."


I'm getting way too enraged by this pancake who thought it was a good idea.
And I swear, in 50 years, we're writing on Pads instead of Paper. What it's like to sharpen a pencil? What's a pencil? It's one of these stone-age-drawing stick thingies? PFFT, NAH.

[Mazz]

The Daily Mail is such a bad newspaper

[Curtiss]

And I swear, in 50 years, we're writing on Pads instead of Paper. What it's like to sharpen a pencil? What's a pencil? It's one of these stone-age-drawing stick thingies? PFFT, NAH.

Besides this, it should also be noted that it's really not a good idea to expose kids to too much technology. Yes, sure, there are babies with gadgets more advanced than my trusty laptop these days or have their parent-approved e-mail addresses, but let us not forget that 'old-fashioned practices' such as reading a book teach us the virtues of patience, treasuring one's property and the merits of dividing time as few people are able to finish a book in one sitting.

There are arguably settings in which technology can help in the classroom and liven up what may be a boring lesson (I'm thinking of how my lecturer used a digital blackboard to project images, too bad we never got to see it as she was teaching elsewhere then) but otherwise technology does a lot to kill the imagination and in this case teaches the kids that they need not be responsible for things that aren't their own which is a timelessly bad lesson for anyone to learn.

@Mazz; Care to elaborate?

[Mazz]

@Curtiss; I don't read it online much, but the few times I've encountered it otherwise I've just wanted to tear it up and/or burn it. All the stories told me I had cancer, I think 3 or 4 of them were taken straight out of other newspapers/magazines (hell one of the stories had a picture in it with the watermark from another magazine). I just really don't like it xD

IPADS THOUGH AM I RITE
Typical Essex.

[Curtiss]

@Curtiss; I don't read it online much, but the few times I've encountered it otherwise I've just wanted to tear it up and/or burn it. All the stories told me I had cancer, I think 3 or 4 of them were taken straight out of other newspapers/magazines (hell one of the stories had a picture in it with the watermark from another magazine). I just really don't like it xD

IPADS THOUGH AM I RITE
Typical Essex.

Oh! I had thought that they might have been misconstruing something as some local tabloids over here have been known to twist something to a completely different beast. Were that the case though, seems the broken iPads are still there. :| I really don't know how that works out.

[Polantaris]

And I swear, in 50 years, we're writing on Pads instead of Paper. What it's like to sharpen a pencil? What's a pencil? It's one of these stone-age-drawing stick thingies? PFFT, NAH.

The only way that will happen is if ScanTron creates an App.

Not like the margin of error between paper ScanTron and an App ScanTron would be any different, either

[DeanNim]

Oh! I had thought that they might have been misconstruing something as some local tabloids over here have been known to twist something to a completely different beast. Were that the case though, seems the broken iPads are still there. :| I really don't know how that works out.

*coughSPH???cough*