The iPad is becoming the tool of choice for medics, plane pilots and now the perfect education tool for the San Diego schools. The San Diego Unified Schools District spent $15 million on around 26,000 iPads that will be used across 340 classrooms this fall.
This is one of the largest purchases of iPads to this date and it appears that the slates will be used by 5th and 8th grade students, plus some high school students. Apple CFO, Peter Oppenheimer mentioned this purchase during a quarterly results call in April. 10,000 units were already bought at the time and 15,000 more were slated to be moved later. 26,000 is the total number of units reached by the San Diego Schools organization, for 2012 at least.
Such acquisitions are the result of a funding program called Proposition S, that offers funding for modern technology in local schools. The San Diego area chose the cheaper $399 iPad 2, that costs $370 with an educational discount. It’s not clear how the iPads will be used, but with all the textbooks offered by Apple and the ability to create new ones, it’s easy to figure out how to teach young minds using the iPads.
