Education

Google launches Toontastic 3D, a playful storytelling app for kids

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 12, 2017

Google today launched a new education-focused apps aimed at kids aged 6-8 years old, called Toontastic 3D. With this app, your youngsters can draw, animate and narrate their own cartoons. The concept and game mechanics are easy to grasp so your kids should feel right at home. They simply move their characters around onscreen to tell their story. The app records their voice and animations and stores content on their device as a video.

Tim Cook to deliver MIT’s 2017 Commencement address on June 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 8, 2016

In the run-up to this coming summer, Apple's boss Tim Cook will head to Cambridge to deliver his address at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Commencement exercises. Cook will address the Class of 2017 on Friday, June 9, the university announced today.

Cook previously gave the commencement address for his Alma Mater Auburn University in 2011 and last year delivered the commencement address for GWU.

10.5-inch iPad Pro rumored to target education and enterprise markets

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 24, 2016

Apple may position its rumored new 10.5-inch iPad Pro model as the go-to tablet in the education and enterprise markets, if a report Tuesday in DigiTimes is anything to go by. The Taiwanese trade publication learned from Asian supply chain makers that the Cupertino firm's decided to add a new screen size to the lineup because existing 9.7-inch models proved too small and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro too expensive for business users and students.

Apple: ConnectED program now reaches over 32,000 students

Cody Lee ∙ August 10, 2016

Apple on Wednesday announced that its ConnectED efforts now reach over 32,000 students. In a note on its website, the company said that as of the start of the 2016 school year, there are 32,145 students at underserved public schools in the US that are learning on iPad through the program.

Apple releases Education Starter Guides for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 8, 2016

Integrating the iPad into curriculum just got easier as Apple yesterday released a collection of guidebooks on the iBooks Store that its educational teams designed to help educators learn how to use iPads and first-party apps in the classroom. The new Education Starter Guides for iPad series consist of six interactive guidebooks with photos and videos.

Created and published published by Apple's in-house Education team, the new e-books are promoted in an email blast to iTunes U users and on the Education section of the iBooks Store.

Annual Apple Summer Camp launches for kids eager to learn using technology creatively

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2017

Apple Retail today launched its annual summer camps for kids eight to twelve years old. The workshops are available in North America and across a bunch of European countries and revolve around lessons designed to teach kids how to use technology creatively. Some of the workshops cover topics like “Stories in Motion with iMovie”, “Interactive Storytelling with iBooks” and “Coding Games and Programming Robots”.

Registrations are now open, you can sign up here.

iTunes U gains new import options and other perks in latest App Store update

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 8, 2016

Apple's iTunes U application has received a refresh in the App Store, bringing out a few new features. For starters, iTunes U 3.3 for iOS now takes advantage of third-party Document Provider extensions.

This enables iPhone, iPod touch and iPad owners to easily add new materials from various cloud services for which they have an app installed on their device, such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox and so forth.

Apple’s 2016 Back to School promo goes live in the United States and Canada

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 17, 2017

Having launched in Australia and New Zealand in January, Apple announced that its annual Back to School promotion is live starting today through September 5, 2016 at Apple retail and campus stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada.

The promotion gives qualifying students, parents of students and educators who buy an eligible Mac with education pricing a free pair of Beats Solo2 Wireless headphones, or Powerbeats2 Wireless for eligible iPhone or iPad purchases.

$4.99 Apple Music subscriptions now available to eligible students in seven countries

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2016

As first reported by TechCrunch, Apple's begun offering half-price Apple Music subscriptions to students who are enrolled in an eligible college or university.

Costing just $4.99 per month in the United States with the same features as the regular $9.99 per month plan for consumers, the fifty percent discount is now available to students in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

The company is working with UNiDAY, a student verification technology provider, to ensure that students who sign up are actually enrolled in classes.

iTunes U gains support for Shared iPad feature, Spotlight Search integration and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 24, 2016

iTunes U, Apple's application that gives you access to its collection of free education content on iTunes and lets you create your own teaching material, was refreshed today in the App Store with half a dozen new features.

Among the biggest enhancements is integration with iOS 9's Spotlight Search as well as support for the Managed Apple IDs and the Shared iPad features, which are both part of Apple's new classroom experience in iOS 9.3.

Back to School promo goes live in New Zealand and Australia with free Beats Solo2 headphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 3, 2016

Apple’s annual Back to School promotion is back with a new deal launching today in Australia and New Zealand. University students, students accepted to a university and parents buying for a university student are being tempted with a free Beats Solo2 on-ear headphones, a $199.95 value, with an eligible Mac purchase.

When purchasing a new MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac or iMac with Retina 5K display, customers shall receive an instant credit for the purchase of a pair of Beats Solo2 wired headphones in Gloss Black, Gloss White, Gloss Red or Gloss Blue or wired Beats Solo2 headphones in Space Gray, Silver, Gold or Rose Gold.

Apple acquires education startup LearnSprout

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has acquired education-technology startup LearnSprout, reports Bloomberg. The outlet has received confirmation of the buyout with the boilerplate statement, "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

Terms of the deal are not known at this time, but we do know that the San Francisco-based LearnSprout has raised more than $4 million from investors. The company specializes in education tracking and analytical software, which it has rolled out to more than 2,500 US schools.