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Earlier this week Apple held an event in Chicago for educators where new products and services were announced. Although this new tech is geared towards teachers and students, their features will be helpful to many people in their everyday lives.
Apple showed examples of how iPads are being used in schools around the world to encourage creativity and student engagement. Teachers from different countries demonstrated how they used iPads in the classroom with positive results for their students.
The new iPad and other tech are designed to inspire creativity and learning, which could be useful to everyone.
New iPad
At the event, Apple introduced a new, less expensive iPad that works with the Apple Pencil. Previously, only the more costly iPad Pro worked with Apple’s stylus but now the new, lower-priced iPad will work with it as well.
The App Store has over 1 million iPad apps and over 200,000 apps for education and reference, Apple announced at the event. These apps allow students to be not only consumers of information but also creators of content, explained a teacher from London who uses iPads in her classroom.
The new iPad has
- Touch ID
- 8 megapixel HD Camera
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- 10 hour battery life
- Weighs 1 lb (0.45 kg)
- A10 Fusion chip (the same chip in the iPhone 7/7 Plus)
- Cellular or Wi-Fi only models available
The new iPad has a 9.7 inch (24.64 cm) screen, 32 GB of storage and costs $299 for schools and $329 for everyone else. A 128 GB version is available for $429. The 32 GB cellular model is $459 and the 128 GB cellular model is $559.
The new iPad is available for pre-order now in silver, space gray and a new gold.
iCloud
Apple users get 5 GB of free iCloud storage for photos, documents and more. Schools using Apple’s managed education accounts will get 200 GB of free iCloud storage.
iWork Apps
Apple’s suite of iWork apps, similar to Microsoft’s Office apps, now works with Apple Pencil. Pages is a word processing app, similar to Word. Numbers is a spreadsheet app, like Excel. And Keynote is a presentation app, similar to PowerPoint.
Pages has been updated with Smart Annotation, allowing teachers to mark up students’ projects within the app. The markups can then be shared with students in the app.
These apps come free with iPhone, iPad and Mac computers and will now be more versatile, allowing for use with Apple Pencil.
Updates to the iWork apps are currently available.
iBooks Creation in Pages
Apple also announced that it’s bringing digital book creation to the iPad. Built into Pages, iBook creation can now happen on an iPad or on a Mac.
Pages will include templates for books, reports, stories, lessons and more. Creators can add drawings, photos, videos, sound and other interactive features. People can collaborate with others in Pages, creating iBooks for group projects.
Coding
Apple will make coding more accessible to students, offering to bring coding classes to schools. Swift, the coding language used for apps in Apple’s iTunes App Store, can be learned through a fun, free app called Swift Playgrounds, which is available for everyone.
This app teaches coding by designing a maze game so you learn the elements of coding as the game progresses. Each level teaches a new element of Swift coding which can then be used to design apps, program drones, control robots and more.
Augmented Reality
Apple gave examples of how Augmented Reality apps will be used in classrooms. An app in development, Boulevard AR, was demonstrated that brings artwork from museums around the world into classrooms to be viewed by students up close.
Check out => Augmented Reality vs. Virtual Reality – What’s the Difference?
The Free Rivers app from the World Wildlife Fund was also demonstrated. This app brings the environment into the classroom, showing how nature is influenced by humans. Students can interact with landscapes and create virtual environments, then see how their actions affect ecosystems.
Froggipedia lets users see the anatomy of the frog, inside and out. They can even dissect a frog using virtual reality, then take a quiz about what they learned.
I dissected a frog today #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/ot8Fl79puo
— Sam Murphy Kelly (@HeySamantha) March 27, 2018
iPad Accessories
Logitech has launched a rugged case and keyboard combination for the new iPad priced at $99. Logitech also has a stylus for the new iPad called the Crayon priced at $49. According to The Verge, these two items are only available to schools. The Logitech Crayon is great, but it’s limited to the education market.
The Apple Pencil is $99 but priced at $89 for schools.
Privacy
Information stored on the iPads and in iCloud will not be shared with Apple, only within the school. Teachers will have access to some of the students’ data to be able to view progress, see schoolwork and mark up students’ work, for example.
Your Thoughts
Are you excited about the announcements from Apple? Are you glad that a new, more affordable, iPad is available? Do you see the uses for this new tech inside and outside the classroom?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Hi Carolyn,
That’s an amazing post on Apple. Apple Brand need no Introduction as it is one of the best. Thanks for sharing this amazing information.
Keep it up.
Hi Robin, Yes, these developments from Apple are exciting, both for the educational world and for the rest of us. Who knows what this emphasis on creativity will inspire for the future? These students may be the ones who change our lives in the next generation.
One of the best company ever I like. Am just the biggest fan of Apple. Keep up the good work, really a great blog.
Hi Anuj, You sound like a true Apple fan. And a Wonder of Tech fan!
I hope that these new updates from Apple are useful to you.