Students of the country’s second largest school district, L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD), will soon have a new part of their school supply kit–an iPad. This week, the school board finalized a $30 million deal with Apple to provide each student at the districts 47 schools with the tablet and educational software.
According to the L.A. Times, the school will be spending $678 per tablet, and each will have a three-warranty included along with the software. Though the decision to use iPads in the classroom was not without some controversy, as some of the school board members said that this funding was used for the most cost-efficient brand of tablets, the ultimate vote by the Board of Education was unanimous.
Members of the Board of Education explained that using iPads in the classroom would allow students to be comfortable with the same tools they will likely be using in the workplace, as well as computers students will use to take standardized tests. Additionally, despite the worry that other more affordable tablets should be used, one district staff member explained that these were the “superior product,” and will allow students that are moving to or from the district to be familiar with the new tools.
Regardless of the disagreements behind this decision, this move does show the trend of moving away from paper-based school systems, and toward a digital one. However, there are other resources needed besides purchasing tablets for students. For school districts making this transition, partnering with a document scanning service can help move the large volumes of paper to electronic versions. By efficiently scanning all paper files, schools can help their students both utilize the advantages of a high-tech education as quickly as possible.
Tab Service Company is a Chicago based company with over 53 years of experience as a data processing service provider. We provide business with outsourcing solutions for document scanning services, data entry services and mailing/lettershop services. As a SOC2-approved organization, we apply industry-best practices to our approach with clients.