Dive Brief:

• Fresno’s Central Unified School District, where 40% of students do not have Internet access at home, is rolling out a 1:1 program with Asus tablets.
• The rollout is happening in phases: This year, every teacher and staff member has a tablet and is receiving training; next year, the 15,000 students will get tablets.
• The Riverside Secondary School in British Columbia is running a pilot program with Samsung Galaxy Note devices before instituting a program that will include a bring-your-own-device component.

Dive Insight:

Both programs are taking it slowly and deliberately, perhaps having learned something from the hasty and troubled Los Angeles iPad rollout. Fresno is allowing a full year for staff and faculty to get up to speed. Riverside is working with Samsung to train teachers. One of the biggest downsides to iPad rollouts for districts, particularly those with funding stretched thin, is the price tag. Most cheaper tablets can do many of the things in the classroom the iPad can, especially given Google Play's education marketplace, so looking to more cost-effective alternatives — especially given a tablet's relatively short lifespan — should gain broader appeal.