Education

Apple announces iTunes U downloads topped 1 billion

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

It could be the largest educational institution which never handed out one diploma. More than one billion downloads of class lectures, quizzes and assignments were downloaded from iTunes U, Apple announced Thursday.

In a press release, the technology firm unveiled class attendance numbers that would make even the best Ivy League schools jealous - if they weren't already offering part of the service.

More than 250,000 students are enrolled in the service with content from 1,200 colleges, universities and K-12 schools. While Yale, MIT and Stanford are among the U.S. schools involved, a growing majority of schools from outside the U.S. are also taking part, the iPhone maker said...

Quick Key, a game-changing app for educators

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUqZYcAnUlw

Walter Duncan is a classroom teacher with fourteen year experience who dared to think different when it comes to grading papers. Looking beyond the tedious manual process, he came up with an app which scans grade papers using the iPhone's camera and then immediately turns pictures into numbers and logs that data with any major electronic grade system such as PowerSchool, for example.

This saves a hell of a lot time compared to manually entering the results and if the video above is an indication, the software does scan as quickly as he can move the papers. This game-changing app for educators isn't ready for prime time yet as they're looking for testers over at Power2Teach...

Illinois school buys 7,000 iPads for students

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2013

The Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 in Illinois is going to put a cool seven thousand iPad 4 units into the hands of its students this Fall, another major win for Apple's iPad in education initiative. An extension of the district's experimental 2011 one-on-one program that put the iPad 2 in the hands of 1,500 students last fall, the decision highlights the growing importance of Apple's tablet on instructors and students...

Apple execs met with Turkish president to talk iPad education deal

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

We learned in August 2011 that the Turkish government was looking to place an order for 15 million tablets over the next three years in a bold educational project known as FATIH.

The project was supposed to put tablets in over 40,000 Turkish schools and was initially thought to be worth an estimated $1.7 billion.

The country's president even visited Apple's 1 Infinite Loop headquarters last May to discuss tablets and education. We haven't heard much regarding the initiative since, until today's report published by a Turkish blog which claims that several Apple executives met with Turkish president Abdullah Gül to talk the country's tablet project, now estimated at $4.5 billion...

Stanford’s free iOS developer’s class returns to iTunes U

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated May 1, 2017

Want to get started coding apps for iOS? Stanford University is relaunching their class 'Coding Together: Developing Apps for iPhone and iPad', with new material for iOS 6. We previously reported on the class in 2011. Since enrollment in the class is free on iTunes U and on Piazza, all you really need to participate is enough familiarity programming in C to get you through a couple first-year computer science credits. Over the course of the program, the class will teach students to program in Objective C.

The class is short, running from January 22nd to March 28th. While the class has already started, you can still sign up for enrollment on iTunes U and on Piazza as late as February 1st. You can also peek at the free lectures on iTunes if you are curious...

Can a smaller iPad up the cool quotient in education?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

As Apple dresses up San Jose's California Theatre for Tuesday's big event, rumors multiply suggesting a strong K-12 push for the iPad mini. The Next Web was first to report of this, providing a screenshot depicting an e-book listing on the iTunes Store which inadvertently mentioned Apple's iBooks 3.0, which hasn't been released yet.

Today, Bloomberg confirms the iPad mini's focus on education and expands on existing reports by writing that Apple expects the forthcoming device to widen its lead in education over Amazon and Google, whose respective seven-inch tablets start at just $199. Eve with the smaller iPad expected to command a premium, possibly starting as high as $329 (or $249 if Barclays Plc is right and this leak is legit), Apple certainly will offer discounts to educational institutions which buy devices in bulk.

We're also expecting interesting back-to-school promos centered around the iPad mini, much in the same way the company's been doing for years with MacBooks, iPods, iTunes Gift Cards and other gear...

San Diego School District spends $15 million on 26,000 iPads for students

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

There's no way around the fact that Apple's killing it with the iPad. It's crushing every other tablet out there while continuing to appeal to broad demographies. Perhaps nowhere else is the iPad's versatility so much evident as in education, where iPads are being used to teach, learn, study, research and more.

We've grown accustomed to the headlines announcing that this and this educational institution bought that many iPads to implement these devices into their curriculum. Despite the strides Apple's been making in education, we were still positively surprised to learn today that the San Diego Unified School District has purchased approximately 26,000 iPads worth a cool $15 million in one of the largest programs of its kind to date...

iPad for Academics: setup, workflow, and accessories

Guest Author ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

With the rise of iPads in education continuing at a steady pace, it only seems natural to find ways to replace PC-dependent methods of academic work. Over the past year, I have tasked myself with replacing traditional education methods with the functionality of my iPad, from reading textbooks to taking lecture notes. Only recently have I taken the ultimate challenge: completing an entire research paper using only Apple's groundbreaking tablet, from conception to submission.

In trying to find solutions to the glaring obstacles in my path, I devised a workflow to make this task feasible. I compiled a list of strategies, study habits, iOS apps, accessories, and web apps that made me more efficient in everything from research to writing...

Cheaper iPad 2 could help Apple make major headway into education market

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

Nobody was surprised when Apple announced that it was going to continue selling its one-year old iPad 2 at a discount alongside its new tablet last month. After all, the Cupertino company pulled the same thing with the iPhone 4 and 4S.

Considering that Apple has sold more than 70 million iPhones over the past two quarters, it's safe to say that keeping the older iPhone around is paying off in spades. And it looks like keeping the iPad 2 around will yield similar results...

350,000 Textbooks for iPad Downloaded in Three Days

Guest Author ∙ January 23, 2012

Last Thursday, Apple took the stage at Guggenheim Museum in New York City to unveil its new educational content and publishing tools based on the iBooks platform. The event was centered around the releases of iBooks 2, iTunes U for iOS, and iBooks Author for Mac. And, as reported by AllThingsD, the response to the company's educational efforts has been nothing short of phenomenal.

According to Global Equities Research, upwards of 350,000 interactive textbooks for iPad were downloaded from the iBookstore during the first three days of availability. iBooks Author, Apple's free textbook creation tool for Mac, also had just shy of 100,000 downloads during its opening weekend. Best of all, it's a win-win situation for both students and publishers...

Will Textbooks for iPad Change Education?

Jake Smith ∙ January 20, 2012

Yesterday, Apple held an event focusing on education at New York City’s Guggenheim Museum to unveil a couple of new products that are supposed to change education. Apple opened up the event with the video below, where teachers explained what is wrong with education and why many students do not get the fullest education offered — or simply do not graduate.

Apple unveiled three new products yesterday: iBooks 2, iBooks Author, and iTunes U apps for the iPhone and iPad. iBooks 2 allows for textbooks publishers to sell their textbooks for $15 a pop, while iBooks Author allows for anyone to create text books simply through a Mac application. Lastly, iTunes U is an iOS app that allows for teachers to customize topics, provide students with office hours, post messages to the class, and give assignments.

With these announcements, Apple is working towards changing education, because really, education is not where it is supposed to be. But then comes the question: is Apple really the company that should be taking this charge, or should someone else? Moreover, will yesterday's announcements make a difference? As someone infinitely familiar with the inter-workings of high school education, I try to breakdown why I do not think Apple is up for the task...

iBooks Educational Event Wrap Up

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 19, 2012

There's been quite a bit to digest today regarding Apple's excellent educational event. I think the rumors that we'd see a "Garageband" for iBooks pretty much panned out like we expected.

To sort out all of the details, we've compiled a post explaining the highlights from Apple's event, along with details on the software involved and videos plus download links.

If you're at all behind on Apple's Media event this morning, don't worry, we've got you covered.