Surveys by the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles and the United Teachers of Los Angeles reveal discrepancies in teacher and administrator reactions to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s $1-billion iPad program, The L.A. Times reports. The program, which aims to provide all teachers and students in the district with iPads, has equipped 47 public and charter schools in the area with the tablets during Phase I.
When asked whether the program should be continued, 90 percent of administrators surveyed agreed, while only 35.8 percent of teachers said the same. The AALA survey consisted of 24 principals, assistant principals and instructional specialists from Phase I schools, out of a total 38 who were contacted for the survey. The UTLA survey included responses from 15 percent of teachers from Phase I schools.
The survey findings suggest that one of the issues with the program was the initial rollout itself. Seventy six percent of administrators felt the rollout was very or moderately smooth. In contrast, only 33.5 percent of teachers strongly agreed or agreed that “iPad rollout at my school was organized and smooth,” while 50.3 percent of teachers either strongly disagreed or disagreed.
Within its first few months, the program has faced considerable issues, including the problem of more than 300 high school students bypassing security filters on the tablets and visiting blocked sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Pandora. The district has slowed down the program in an effort to improve subsequent phases of the rollout.