Apple turns its focus back to the classroom

solutions for teachers.

“We’ve been at this for 40 years and we care deeply about education,” chief executive Tim Cook said. “We love curiosity. We know our products can bring out the creative genius of any child.”

Google, in particular, has been making inroads into the classroom, with Chromebook or Android tablets comprising 60 per cent of mobile computing shipments to U.S. elementary and high-school students, according to research firm Futuresource Consulting. Microsoft’s Windows PCs had 22 per cent of the market while Apple came in at 17 per cent.

In response, Apple has beefed up the capabilities of its lowest-priced iPad, giving users the ability to use the company’s Pencil accessory for annotating or drawing. The new iPad starts at $399 for schools ($429 for consumers), with a more powerful processor plus enhanced cameras and more advanced sensors for augmented reality.

The improved iPad was key to Apple’s strategy of creating new software that aims to help teachers create a cohesive educational experience on its platform.

“We believe our place at the intersection of technology and liberal arts make it possible to create powerful products and tools … This is something only Apple can do,” Cook said.

The company announced a new cloud-based app called Schoolwork, which allows teachers to assign homework on the iPad and track progress in real time. Meanwhile, Classroom — a program that lets teachers remotely unlock and open apps on iPads from a Mac computer — is getting an iPad app, plus iCloud storage is increasing to 200 gigabytes from five. Apple’s iWork is also getting some new features, with the classroom in mind.

Educators attending the keynote speech said they were impressed, but the company is facing an uphill battle, at least in Canada’s most populous province. Google’s Chromebook is still a cheaper alternative for classrooms, with some costing as little as $200.

“We are a Google board ... and most of the province is, but it’s the seamlessness (of the iPad) that I like,” said Gillian Madeley, a teacher-librarian and technology lead for the York Region District School Board in Ontario.

“The big difference when I look at iPad technology is its creativity component. It’s not about consumption, it’s about creating and pushing our students to the limit and then pushing their content out to others to see.”

Apple also announced a new curriculum called Everyone Can Create, which allows teachers to integrate music, video, photography and drawing into more conventional subjects such as math or history. Students can record their own voice or audio-record royalty-free music for science projects, for example, or use AR to simulate environmental impacts of building a water dam on a river.

“It is about taking risks and breaking down the walls of the classroom,” Madeley said.

Denise Salsman, whose Toronto Grade 7 classroom was surprised by Cook during his January visit, said she will be pushing for more iPads in her school.

“My mind was exploding with all of the possibilities,” Salsman said.

“I’ve already texted my principal and said that he might regret sending me here because I’m coming back with some requests.”