Chromebooks have become the top choice in American schools and are gaining ground globally, prompting Apple to upgrade its educational offerings to make the iPad a more compelling option for teachers.
During the March 27 presentation, hardware took a backseat. Instead, the spotlight fell on apps and management tools that give teachers more control, especially collaboration—an area where Chromebooks excel and iPads have lagged.
Apple didn't unveil the ultra-cheap 'ePad' that some anticipated, but its core message remained: the iPad is the ideal device for both students and educators.
The goal was to make the iPad the number one item on every teacher's wish list.
Apple is aggressively targeting the education sector with iPads. It has established the Apple Teacher program for professional development and Apple School Manager for easy bulk deployment of student accounts, with upcoming improvements to device management.
Additionally, iTunes U offers a range of educational materials for both teachers and students. However, the focus is on the newly announced services.
How SchoolWork and ClassKit Are Changing Classroom Dynamics | TechRadar
SchoolWork and the ClassKit Framework
The overarching theme revolves around Schoolwork, Classroom, and ClassKit.
ClassKit was first glimpsed in the iOS 11.3 beta. Like HealthKit, it's a developer framework, and it will debut with iOS 11.4.
The centerpiece is Schoolwork, a new app arriving in June. Teachers can use it to distribute assignments via the cloud, monitor student progress, and grade work—all from one place.
Through ClassKit, Schoolwork integrates with other apps—for instance, a music teacher could link it to GarageBand.
Apple emphasizes that privacy remains a priority: only the student and teacher can see progress data.
The Schoolwork app provides a clear overview of student activity
Creating Books with Pages
iBooks Author is making a comeback—more or less. Its functionality has been folded into the updated Pages app.
Pages now handles book creation, allowing users to craft interactive digital books with remarkable ease.
Students can collaborate on books that are compatible with the Books app on iPad, iPhone, Mac, and iCloud.com.
A new Presenter Mode transforms Pages into a teleprompter, with adjustable speed and formatting options.
Classroom App Comes to Mac
Classroom has been available on iPad for a few years; now it's arriving on Mac for more convenient administration.
Positioned as a digital teaching assistant, Classroom lets teachers send and receive files, remotely control student devices—such as launching the same app simultaneously on all iPads or directing everyone to a specific book, media file, or webpage.
A new Shared iPad feature allows students to grab any iPad, tap their profile, and resume their work. Apple says the device resets for the next user within a minute after sign-out.
Enhancements to Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Smart Annotations
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote now support the Apple Pencil and the new Logitech Crayon, enabling more than just basic scribbling—though that's possible too.
The standout feature is Smart Annotation, which attaches handwritten notes and proofreading marks to specific text; they automatically follow if the text is rearranged.
Real-time collaboration on iWork documents stored in Box is now supported, but only on High Sierra. Additionally, Apple has increased the free iCloud storage for education from a meager 5GB to 200GB.
Pages also gains the ability to display facing pages with distinct headers, footers, and objects on left and right pages—a long-standing feature in other word processors that will benefit book creators.
Both Numbers and Keynote now support donut charts, and Numbers has enhanced CSV and text import capabilities.
The Everyone Can Create Curriculum
Finally, Apple introduced Everyone Can Create, a curriculum inspired by the Everyone Can Code initiative that teaches programming in an engaging, supportive manner.
This new program focuses on guiding teachers to leverage Apple devices and third-party apps for creative educational activities.
Everyone Can Create provides free resources for teachers, demonstrating how to incorporate technology into lessons via music, drawing, and filmmaking.
For instance, Apple suggests using the iPad camera to explore fractals, or employing the Apple Pencil with image apps to study symmetry.
Everyone Can Create will be featured in Apple Store's Today at Apple sessions, including Teacher Tuesdays that already cover coding and movie production. The sessions launch later this spring.
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