Apple’s Mysterious High School Announcement: 4 Education Tools the Tech Company Seems Poised to Announce Tuesday
When Apple reveals its educational plans for 2018 and beyond at its keynote event on March 27 in Chicago, we will finally get a glimpse of what they have in store. The media invitation from Apple mentions an education-focused event at Lane Tech College Prep High School and encourages attendees to "join us to hear creative new ideas for teachers and students." The inclusion of a script "a" drawn with an Apple Pencil provides additional hints about what Apple has planned for the education world.
As with any Apple event, which is often shrouded in secrecy to generate anticipation, there are numerous speculations about what the big reveal will be. People are guessing anything from upgrades to coding apps to product evolutions and potentially even new pricing strategies.
Apple’s last education-focused event was in January 2012 when it introduced iBooks 2 in New York City. The most recent Apple keynote was held in September on the company’s campus in Cupertino, California, where they unveiled the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and three new iPhones. However, the timing and location of the upcoming event in Chicago suggest that something different is in store this time.
In December, Apple announced a partnership with the City of Chicago to bring its Everyone Can Code program to 500,000 students. This initiative aims to enhance coding skills from kindergarten to college and enables students to build mobile apps without any prior coding experience. Alongside the Everyone Can Code program, Apple’s Swift Playgrounds app for iPad is another tool that promotes coding education.
Considering Apple’s recent Chicago partnership, it seems unlikely that hosting a keynote event in the same city just three months later is a mere coincidence. This suggests that Apple’s announcement will likely build on their coding education efforts.
One possible announcement is the introduction of ClassKit, rumored to be part of the upcoming iOS 11.3 update. This feature could provide teachers and students with a platform to create educational apps. Although Apple has not released much information about ClassKit, the keynote event on March 27 may provide more details.
On the product front, there is speculation about a more affordable MacBook Air to compete with Google’s Chromebook, which is already widely used in schools. Reports suggest a 13.3-inch retina display device priced around $800 to $900.
Additionally, there is speculation about a cheaper iPad model. Apple released a lower-priced 9.7-inch iPad around a year ago, priced at $329. Introducing an even more affordable model would help make iPads more accessible for educational purposes.
Lastly, the invitation itself, featuring a stylized logo, hints at the possibility of an Apple Pencil 2. However, with the current price of $100, a new version of the Pencil would need to significantly reduce its price to be more appealing in an educational setting.
Overall, the March 27 keynote event in Chicago is highly anticipated, and there are several educated guesses about the announcements Apple may make. Only time will tell what exciting educational initiatives and product updates Apple has in store for us.
