Apple is working on "significant" evolutions to the iPad in Education program that should solve some of the barriers schools encounter when trying to deploy iPads in the classroom, according to a new report.
According to a federal study, the Los Angeles Unified School District's $1.3 billion push to bring tech into the classroom was crippled early on by inadequate planning and over-reliance on Apple's iPad.
The board of Pennsylvania's Steel Valley School District has officially voted to use a $291,791 donation from Apple chief Tim Cook — made by Cook in honor of former Apple board member Bill Campbell — to purchase iPads for each of the district's students and train teachers on how to take advantage of the technology.
Apple isn't just waiting around for iPad sales to pick up speed. In its earnings conference call with analysts, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook stated the first wave of IBM's Mobile First apps targeting businesses would arrive next month, while separately noting that iPad now accounted for 90 percent of U.S. tablets used in education.
Though Apple's contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District to put iPads in the hands of every student was canceled this week, the company still has a shot to win out in the end, bidding once again on the troubled $1 billion project.
Minnesota's St. Paul School District is preparing to deploy tens of thousands of iPads to students in 37 schools around the city, marking another victory for Apple in education even as a similar program in Los Angeles comes under fire.
Though it was much-touted when Apple signed the contract last year, the company's massive deal to sell iPads to the Los Angeles Unified School District has now officially been suspended, amid accusations that top employees at the district had improperly close ties with the Cupertino, Calif., company.
Even as Apple's education sales boom, some schools have begun to transition students and classrooms away from the iPad in favor of laptops — including Google's cheap cloud-based Chromebooks — as weaknesses have begun to emerge with the tablet form factor.
Apple on Tuesday launched an updated informational page, and corresponding email campaign, detailing how consumers in nine U.S. states can take advantage of back-to-school sales tax holidays for substantial savings on Macs and iOS devices next month.
As expected, Apple on tuesday released a major update to its iTunes U comprehensive educational software, bringing new discussion options for students and iPad creation tools for teachers.
Apple on Monday revealed that it will bring a major new update to its education-focused iTunes U app for iPad starting July 8, offering class discussions for students, and giving teachers the ability to create, edit and manage entire courses.
Apple on Wednesday added the flagship iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display to the company's long-running education discount program, the first time Apple has included the tablets in its less costly options for students and teachers.
Schools buying iPads for faculty or students can now receive an extra year of AppleCare+ warranty coverage, bringing it to three total years of protection, for the same $99 flat price.
The Mac's long history of success in the education market hasn't been slowed by the introduction of Apple's more affordable iPad, as Mac sales to schools and students have instead grown since the iPad first launched in 2010.
As part of his ongoing whistle-stop world tour, Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday spoke with officials from the government of the United Arab Emirates to discuss a range of topics including a possible partnership on new e-learning programs.
Major technical problems have forced an Irish secondary school to migrate its students back to paper books after their deployment of HP ElitePad tablets became what the school's principal termed "an unmitigated disaster."
Apple has replaced the unwieldy process of distributing hundreds or thousands of individual redemption codes with a new, streamlined method that allows administrators to remotely "assign" apps and textbooks to students or teachers.
Cupertino may own 94 percent of the education tablet market, but 3 out of 4 American elementary schools are still without the slates, according to a recent survey.
Just days after halting home use of the devices, some of the Los Angeles schools that have already issued Apple's iPads to students are taking the tablets back "until further notice."
The Los Angeles Unified School District has suspended home use of Apple's iPad by students until further notice following the revelation that a number of students had bypassed the school-installed security features on the device.
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Roger Fingas
Mikey Campbell
Sam Oliver
Daniel Eran Dilger
Neil Hughes
AppleInsider Staff
Shane Cole
Kevin Bostic
