Kids hack School issued Ipads.

[zuben el genub]

Students Hack School-Issued iPads Within One Week - Slashdot

Maybe there is hope. If the school gave my kid an Ipad, it would only be allowed for schoolwork and turned OFF or in a case of some kind so no one could turn on the camera.

Remembering the case where some kid got busted for drugs as the camera was on at all times on a Macbook.

If kid wanted an Ipad - I'd argue for Android first, then maybe buy one that she could use for social activities without the school knowing anything.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I'm glad my tax dollars didn't go into this program. (I'm in Los Angeles county but property taxes go to my suburb.) I thought it was a terrible idea right from the get-go, when you consider the many OTHER, more worthwhile projects the money could've gone to in the LAUSD. We know there were other, less expensive (and probably better and more secure!) choices, if they really had to go through with the idea of providing tablets to students. Oh well, hopefully there's a lesson, or two, in here somewhere.

 

[Codegerm]

Yeah there is a lesson to be learned. It is called reading actual books and writing on actual paper. I would be kinda ticked off if the school board here started wasting money issuing tables.

 

[mikedt]

Yeah there is a lesson to be learned. It is called reading actual books and writing on actual paper.

That's what we do at my school. :thumbup:

 

[sfbloodbrother]

I'm for using technology in school. Teachers should be taught this new era of teaching and learning, because everything is different now. I'm far iPads in the classroom, don't care whether its Android, iOS, or Windows Tablets, if the students are learning, that's all that matters.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I just glanced at an article in the LA Times--it seems some of the schools have already started taking back the iPads. Stay tuned...

 

[zuben el genub]

EPIC FAIL: Los Angeles high schools now confiscate all free iPads they gave students

Confiscated!

 

[mikedt]

Sounds like gross incompetency at the education department. They'll be complaining they're underfunded next.

Was it an LA school that got into trouble for spying on students with webcams on school issued macbooks?

 

[BRAINZ2013]

I wonder what they will do with all them ipads

 

[Codegerm]

What got me was the sheer amount of money they were committing 30 million?!

sfbloodbrother, Technology is a tool that is of use in the classroom, but students need to learn how to do things manually aswell.

There are times when you can't always depend on it in the real world. I work in a technology field and there are places where due to DOD security regulations I was not permitted to have my laptop or even my smartphone with me to service the equipment there, but I was able to bring my manuals. Not to mention breakdowns of that technology, I still had to do my job as a technician even when the network was down.

 

[out of ideas]

EPIC FAIL: Los Angeles high schools now confiscate all free iPads they gave students

Confiscated!

great quote from the article

School district officials apparently believe the problem is temporary and that they will somehow find a way to prevent high school kids from using their school-issued iPads in exactly the way Apple designed iPads to be used.

 

[MoodyBlues]

What got me was the sheer amount of money they were committing 30 million?!

I remember seeing something yesterday(?) in the LA Times that mentioned a BILLION dollars for this little project. Amazing when, as I've said before, there are so many other things they could be spending money on. iPads? Really?

sfbloodbrother Technology is a tool that is of use in the classroom, but students need to learn how to do things manually as well.

^ This. I totally agree.

There are times when you can't always depend on it in the real world. I work in a technology field and there are places where due to DOD security regulations I was not permitted to have my laptop or even my smartphone with me to service the equipment there, but I was able to bring my manuals. Not to mention breakdowns of that technology, I still had to do my job as a technician even when the network was down.

For as technology oriented as I've always been, it may seem strange that I'm a firm believer in being able to do things the old-fashioned way. But I am! Power can go out, Internet connections can go down, servers can get hacked, batteries can drain, phones can get dropped in the toilet...the list is endless!

 

[mikedt]

I wonder what they will do with all them ipads

Sell them at a fraction of their value, and write the whole thing off as a fiasco?

 

[TJGoSurf]

Should have gotten them something useful like a Galaxy Note 10.1.

Kids have been hacking things ever since they've been given things. Cars, phones, video games...the list goes on.

 

[Codegerm]

Should have gotten them something useful like a Galaxy Note 10.1.

Kids have been hacking things ever since they've been given things. Cars, phones, video games...the list goes on.

They shouldn't have gotten them tablets at all, regardless of whether it's an iPad or a Galaxy Note 10.1 or any other tablets. There are far better things that the school board could be spending the money on.

 

[zuben el genub]

Sounds like gross incompetency at the education department. They'll be complaining they're underfunded next.

Was it an LA school that got into trouble for spying on students with webcams on school issued macbooks?

No, PA:
School Laptop Spying Case Probed By Feds : The Two-Way : NPR

 

[EarlyMon]

I can see pads being cheaper than a lot of books.

Then again, I can also see hacking to be a valuable endeavor that could lead to job skills.

Pop quiz.

If you were hiring a new HS graduate, you'd want someone smart enough to jailbreak an iPad -

(_) True
(_) False

If you were hiring a new HS graduate, you'd prefer someone who didn't break the rules and didn't jailbreak his iPad.

(_) True
(_) False

When you went to HS, you were mostly bored because there were few new learning challenges presented by your school and you just wanted to get a move on with life.

(_) True
(_) False

 

[rabidhunter]

I can see pads being cheaper than a lot of books.

Then again, I can also see hacking to be a valuable endeavor that could lead to job skills.

Pop quiz.

If you were hiring a new HS graduate, you'd want someone smart enough to jailbreak an iPad -

(_) True
(_) False

If you were hiring a new HS graduate, you'd prefer someone who didn't break the rules and didn't jailbreak his iPad.

(_) True
(_) False

When you went to HS, you were mostly bored because there were few new learning challenges presented by your school and you just wanted to get a move on with life.

(_) True
(_) False

Interesting questions you pose there Jam Mon the Early Mon

 

[zuben el genub]

Those that write textbooks will figure out a way to overcharge - if not by price, then services and fees.

Ebooks are trending that way in reference to libraries:
Daily Kos: eBooks: Library eBooks, Part III: The High Wall

 

[Joelgp83]

I can see pads being cheaper than a lot of books.

Then again, I can also see hacking to be a valuable endeavor that could lead to job skills.

Pop quiz.

If you were hiring a new HS graduate, you'd want someone smart enough to jailbreak an iPad -

(_) True
(_) False

If you were hiring a new HS graduate, you'd prefer someone who didn't break the rules and didn't jailbreak his iPad.

(_) True
(_) False

When you went to HS, you were mostly bored because there were few new learning challenges presented by your school and you just wanted to get a move on with life.

(_) True
(_) False

I'd hire the guy who was smart enough to not waste his money on apple devices in the first place.

 

[bjacks12]

I'd hire the guy who was smart enough to not waste his money on apple devices in the first place.

Or at least be able to explain his choice of Apple products adequately. If it's a college student who has a Macbook Pro for checking FB and writing papers, I'm going to assume that they don't make good decisions. If they use it for Photoshop, then I'll be ok.

I just don't like it when they don't say anything other than 'Mac is just better'.

 

[zuben el genub]

I have no idea why the school admins or board is so out of touch with the way a lot of kids treat tech. All they'd have to do is to check fora like this one, one for Ipad, etc, to get the general drift. Nothing against tech per se, but it has to be used in the right context or better understood. I'm sure the powers that be weren't total angels when they were young.

Quote from article:
As the LA Times reports:

The vast majority of the cost will be covered by school construction bonds, a payment method that has sparked some concerns and legal and logistical hurdles.
​

Yes, today's iPads will likely be unusable in 2016, but they will be paying for them until 2043 with money that was meant for facilities. That's the real scandal.

Full link:
The real LA schools iPad scandal | ZDNet

 

[MoodyBlues]

Oh, this just keeps getting better.

Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy took on critics of his $1-billion iPad program this week in a live call-in segment of a show on the L.A. Unified School District-owned television station.

The effort was an attempt to counter critical media attention over the superintendent's efforts to provide a tablet computer to every student and teacher in the nation's second-largest school system. So far, most of the coverage has focused on early problems, such as more than 300 high school students bypassing a security filter so they could reach unauthorized websites.

The Times disclosed that 69 iPads were missing from a school that tried out the devices last year. And some parents are confused by conflicting messages about their responsibility for the devices.

In the hourlong KLCS-TV program Thursday, Deasy characterized the rollout as a spectacular success overall. He also took on right away a persisting question: Why do the devices cost so much, $678, when they are available in stores for less?
...

(Source: L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy defends iPad program in TV special - latimes.com)

 

[zuben el genub]

Someone convinced a non-tech school board otherwise, that's why.
The supplier could have been official to the district, or a favorite, not to mention related to someone in a position to make purchasing suggestions.

Hope the public sees through the nonsense. What kind of comments are on the web page, assuming the district has one?

 

[MoodyBlues]

No, really, it just KEEPS getting better and better:

Keyboards will be necessary for Los Angeles students to take new state standardized tests on iPads, an additional cost in the $1-billion effort to provide tablets in the nation's second-largest school system, The Times has learned.

In the past, L.A. Unified School District officials said that keyboards were not required and they removed them from specifications for an initial contract that went to Apple, maker of the iPad. Eventually, Apple is expected to receive about $500 million from L.A. Unified for the tablets. Other components of the project, including teacher training and expanded bandwidth, will cost an additional $500 million.

Against those expenditures, the price of keyboards would be modest, about $38 million, based on retail prices, less by district estimates. But it's a purchase that officials have yet to bring to the Board of Education.
...

(Source: L.A. Unified students need iPad keyboards to take state tests - latimes.com)

Am I the only one thinking that Chromebooks (the low-end versions) would've been a MUCH better way to go? They'd have real keyboards, they'd cost a fraction of the iPads, and they'd have the power, flexibility--and SECURITY--of Linux, plus tons of open source software. :dontknow: