From Clayton Morris:
- This event will focus on iTunes University and Apple in education
- I learned of the event back in September when it was originally scheduled for late Fall in New York but it was eventually postponed.
- The event will be in New York rather than in the Silicon Valley because New York is more centrally located for textbook and publishing.
I’m excited at the prospect that Apple might be returning their focus towards education, but part of me worries that they may be focusing more on Higher Ed than other areas. In the primary school where I work, the client-facing (ie teachers and students) tech is predominately Apple, and for years we’ve relied upon their solid commitment to the education market. Tools such as Remote Desktop, Workgroup Manager… the various methods we employ to manage users and deploy software all changed with the release of Lion and iOS. Even the App Store model makes it difficult for us to license software across the network, as it requires an Apple ID and can only be used on up to five machines, forcing us to contact vendors outside of the App Store to see if concessions can be made.
Third-party mobile device management (MDM) tools for iOS devices (apart from the now inaccurately-named IPCU) tend to be expensive and have an entirely different learning curve to them – which can make it even more difficult to integrate the device. Although it’s possible Apple didn’t countenance the popularity of the iPad in schools. Unlikely though. John C Welch has a book worth reading on the topic. Don’t even get me started on how to license software for iOS devices.
I would really hope that any big announcement will include digital textbooks and a solution for buying iOS apps. Even sorting out all the various tax issues Apple has in the EU to bring the App Store Volume Purchase Program to this side of the pond would be a massive step in the right direction.
