education - page 2

Live blog: Apple’s first big product unveiling of 2018

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Apple Education Event invitation
Apple is focusing on students and teacher for its first keynote.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s first big event of 2018 is practically here! Unlike most Apple keynotes, today’s “field trip” education-oriented event in Chicago won’t be streamed live.

Don’t worry. Cult of Mac will be in attendance and we’ll be live blogging everything with up-to-the-minute info on all the new goodies. Not only is Apple expected to preview some new educational software, but we could also see a new iPad, improved Apple Pencil and maybe even a new MacBook Air.

The keynote starts Tuesday, March 27, at 10 a.m. Central time. So save this page and get ready for Apple’s most mysterious event in years.

Apple store goes down ahead of today’s big education event

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Apple store down event
"We'll be back."
Screenshot: Cult of Mac

The Apple online store is down ahead of today’s big education event, which kicks off at 10 a.m. central time.

Downtime is an indication that Apple is preparing to add new products to its lineup, which could be available to purchase or pre-order later today. Recent rumors have hinted at the arrival of a new MacBook Air and an even more affordable iPad.

Udemy classes cost just 10 bucks through December 29

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Jump at this chance for lifelong access to Udemy courses for just $10.
Jump at this chance for lifelong access to Udemy courses for just $10.
Photo: Udemy

This post is presented by Udemy.

Massively online open courses have transformed learning. Thanks to MOOCs, pretty much anyone with an internet connection and a desire to learn can receive a vital education on almost any topic.

Of course, these online courses aren’t free. But Udemy is holding a Holiday Flash Sale that’ll get you pretty close. From now through Friday, December 29, 2017, Cult of Mac readers can access any course costing $200 or more for just $10.

Apple expands its ‘Everyone Can Code’ program beyond the U.S.

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code pic
Want to learn Swift? Apple's happy to help.
Photo: Apple

Having experienced success with its “Everyone Can Code” initiative inside the U.S., Apple is expanding its coding education program to more than 20 colleges and universities in other countries.

Twenty different international universities — in Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K. — will now offer Apple’s one-year Swift Curriculum, designed to give people tools to get jobs in the “app economy.”

Tim Cook reveals how Apple thinks different about charity

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Tim WWDC
Apple CEO Tim Cook at WWDC 2017.
Photo: Apple

After Apple ranked third in Fortune’s annual list of companies that Change the World, Tim Cook sat down for a wide-ranging interview to discuss how Apple is making a dent in the universe now.

The Apple CEO talked about everything from education and health initiatives to how Cupertino thinks different about charity. He also revealed that some of Apple’s research and development regarding health and wellness won’t ever be about making money.

Here are some of the highlights:

Watch Apple’s WWDC sessions for a free crash course in coding

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Apple's free videos and transcripts of WWDC 2017 sessions will teach you a thing or two.
It's basically a free app development course!
Photo: Apple

Each year, the Worldwide Developers Conference offers a golden opportunity for developers looking for an inside scoop on making the most of Apple’s technology. Luckily, you don’t need to attend to gain all that knowledge: Apple just made the 100-plus WWDC 2017 developer sessions available online.

Anyone can watch the videos for free — and even search a massive database of full WWDC session transcripts.

Tim Cook pushes Trump for compulsory coding classes for kids

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Tim Cook discusses Apple's enterprise ambitions at BoxWorks in San Francisco, September 2015.
Tim Cook thinks coding is one of today's most important subjects.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

During Monday’s White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Tim Cook pushed for the U.S. government to make coding a required class for kids.

This is something Cook has publicly discussed before. When Apple debuted its kid-focused Swift Playgrounds app, he said, “We believe coding should be a required language in all schools.”

Six community colleges in the U.S. will be teaching Swift this fall

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Time for your Swift class!
Photo: Apple

Want to learn Swift in school? Apple wants you too as well, which is why its just launched a new app development curriculum for its mobile programming language aimed at high school and community college students.

The curriculum, which is available as a free download today from the iBooks Store, will be adopted by six community college systems serving nearly 500,000 students this fall. No doubt more will follow in the near future.

Apple launches new ‘Today at Apple’ website for stores worldwide

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Apple's new website keeps you in the loop on classes in your area.
Apple's new website keeps you in the loop on classes in your area.
Photo: Apple

Apple is revamping its efforts to keep customers educated on all of its platforms today with the launch of a new website called ‘Today at Apple.’

The new sub site provides Apple fans with portal that shows all of the events, classes and other happenings at local Apple stores, giving users an easy way to sign up for the 4,000 sessions held across the globe each day.

4 biggest surprises from Apple’s totally unsurprising update

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Will we get more than the iPhone 7 next week?
None of today's announcements were keynote-worthy.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s “surprise” announcement of new products and software wasn’t all that surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the latest rumors.

Today’s updates were practically announced yesterday when the company said its store would be down in the morning for “maintenance.” Despite all the rumors of new iPads and RED iPhones that have been out for weeks, Apple still managed to sneak in a few surprises that were both good and bad.

We’re eagerly awaiting Apple’s rumored April keynote, but here’s the biggest, most surprising news from today’s teaser.

iPads linked to bullying in schools, claims British politician

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Is there a link between bullying and iPads in class?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Bullying in schools? Blame iPads, claims U.K. politician Edward Timpson, the Minister for Children and Families.

Speaking to the House of Lords Communications Committee, Timpson said that iPads are “forming too much” of kids’ school days, and as a result are being increasingly used inappropriately for “bullying and harassment.”

How to get a discount on the new MacBook Pro

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touchbar
The new MacBook Pro isn't wallet-friendly.
Photo: Apple

The new MacBook Pro is the most gorgeous laptop Apple’s ever made. It’s thin, powerful and touchable. There’s just one big problem: It’s expensive as f***!

Dropping two grand on a new MacBook isn’t an easy decision for many Apple fans. But if you’re lusting after the new MacBook Pro and don’t have quite enough cash to foot the bill, there are a few ways you can get a lower price.

Apple’s new Swift Playgrounds app turns kids into coders

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Coding is fun with Swift Playgrounds.
Coding is fun with Swift Playgrounds.
Photo: Apple

Apple introduced a powerful new way to teach kids how to learn to code today with a new app called Swift Playgrounds that makes learning Swift as easy as ABC.

The iPad app helps students learn to code by presenting a number of simple lessons aimed at kids, though simpleton non-coder adults can learn a great deal from it as well.

Harvard and MIT teamed up for this open-source online education platform

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Education is easy with EDX's learning platform.
Education is easy with EDX's learning platform.
Photo: EDX

This post is brought to you by EdX.

It’s often said that the internet makes it possible for anyone to get educated on any subject. But just as in offline modes of education, the many models of online teaching and learning are far from perfect, with plenty of room for improvement and innovation.

A joint effort between Harvard and MIT — dubbed EdX — is aiming to provide not only a place for learning new skills, but a platform for innovating new ways of teaching and learning over the web. It’s a nonprofit online education platform partnered with nearly 100 of the world’s leading universities and institutions — Harvard, MIT, Microsoft, Caltech, Columbia, you get the picture — to provide students anywhere in the world access to more than 1,000 certified courses. As an open-source platform, it also offers educators an opportunity to design and implement their own modes of teaching.

Apple pushes U.S. government to teach kids how to code

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Tim Cook takes home $125 million for Apple’s best year since 2009
Tim Cook added his name to this important petition.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

With its recent purchase of educational startup LearnSprout and its “Hour of Code” programming classes at Apple Stores, Apple has demonstrated that it’s pretty darn serious about education.

Proving this once again, CEO Tim Cook this week put his name to a petition asking the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to provide $250 million in federal funding to school districts so as to allow every K-12 student in the United States to learn how to code.

Apple’s Classroom app for iPad lands on App Store

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iOS 9.3 embraces education.
iOS 9.3 embraces education.
Photo: Apple

Apple is putting more tools in the hands of educators today with the official launch of the new Classroom app for iPad that promises to opens up new, more engaging ways of teaching and learning on the iPad.

The new app is part of the new iOS 9.3 education features Apple has added that allow teachers to manage student devices, share work and assignments, as well as track students’ progress to help them stay on track.

Everything new (and exciting!) coming in iOS 9.3

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ios-9-3-banner
This is a bigger update than anyone anticipated.
Photo: Apple

Apple released the developer beta for iOS 9.3 today. To the surprise of many, it actually includes quite a few brand new and useful features whether you’re in the classroom or trying to sleep — or both. There are so many new features that we can actually dedicate an entire post to explaining all of them. So here we are doing exactly that.

Note that since today marks iOS 9.3’s release only for developers, it might be a while before the rest of us see the final version show up in the Settings app. But without further ado, here is everything you can look forward to in iOS 9.3.

L.A. schools to receive $6.4 million from botched iPad deal

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iPad Air 2
Hopefully this disastrous chapter is over for all involved.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The long-running disaster that was the Los Angeles Unified School District scheme to provide iPads to every student, teacher and campus administrator is apparently over — with Apple among the companies agreeing to pay out a $6.4 million settlement.

The tentative payout is hopefully the last phase in an aborted $1.3-billion plan for the second-largest district in the U.S. to get its hands on new iPads and Pearson educational software.