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Apple Acquires Education Analytics Company LearnSprout
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I have around 30 iPads managed by configurator for middle school students now. Its nice to be able to update them all at once and put apps on them. Its a nightmare having to put apps that aren't free via configurator and Apples special volume app purchasing. I really wish Apple could figure out a better way for iPad user/app management that doesn't require a central hub using a mac running configurator. Hopefully 9.3 moves us in that direction.
Apple ( or any other tablet maker ) will never sell a lot of tablets to the educational sector until the price goes down.
And that should know that. Common sense really.
And that should know that. Common sense really.
Exactly. Not everything is app games and touch screen. My daughter is in 8th grade and she needs to do word processing. Google for education is what she uses. All she needs is the browser and her work is in the google cloud and saved instantly. She can start her work at school, finish it at home and vice versa. She can also submit her work to her teacher or another student to review. Everything is much much faster than with icloud.com. I cannot even make it login fast enough on icloud.com. Pain!! All I can say is that I love Apple's hardware. Their software especially cloud based is far behind. Recently, I started using Google Photos so that I will never lose my photos again - I can't believe how fast it is to look at my 94,000 photos even on my iphone.
Yeah. I think that they could make a MBA for Education, slightly stripped down and much less costly. They could also push Swift this way.
iPads are cool, but very limited for real homework.
DEP... It's one touch setup. Been out for a while now
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Why would you log into iCloud.com unless you need to do web based work???? Use iPads....
It will be interesting to see how Apple addresses FERPA concerns related to other edtech cloud app providers. I could see that being a strong selling point.
Yes. They are losing to chromebooks in the hardware and cost dept. They need a stripped down edPad with a wired physical keyboard cover. No bluetooth. No touch id, get rid of bloat.
Then the software dept. ...combined with iOS 9.3, Learnsprout and other recent efforts they may stop the bleeding in education. Steve would be awfully mad about this. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste". Lets not lose more kids to goog.
Schools, like most companies, like things easy to manage and to remotely administer as needed.
Chrome I'd re-read the terms of use on since student ideas should not become Google's property, but most children aren't going to be that disruptive for the market. Not by any relevant means.
If only Apple saw that schools aren't as flush with cash... Especially in today's thinner budgets. And especially as Apple CEOs have lambasted schools for apparently not producing enough capable students, milking them with high prices only serves as a huge slap in the face for their trying to exploit than to do a little more than take corporate welfare from taxpayers...
Yes. Google would then make a platform that worked well, was widely adopted and a lot of people came to depend on, then shut it all down randomly.
I have quite a bit of inside knowledge with that bit, and know several folks at LearnSprout.
First, PowerSchool did quite well under Apple. It wasn't nourished nearly as much as it would have been had Apple really been targeting the administrative software space for schools, but it didn't do poorly at all. In fact, despite the growth of the product (which is now by far the market leader in the US) over the past ten years, the time spent under the thumb of Pearson is seen as much much less productive (and more frustrating) than the time spent with Apple paying the bills. I'm sure there are still a few folks there who would welcome Apple coming in and taking the reigns again (but more than that finally being an independent company again has the team really excited).
Second, though, I do wonder about the LearnSprout acquisition. Again, this is not entirely in a disinterested manner, as I know some of the folks over there quite well and sincerely wish them the best. Is Apple going to be taking on the district administration software market again? If so, what has changed in the 10 years since they divested themselves of PowerSchool that makes this seem like a good fit? Unlike then, Apple no longer has a server hardware business. Unlike then, Apple no longer sees back-office professionals as the key to overall growth. So, what has changed to make this seem like a good idea?
First, what is LearnSprout? It is administrative software that hooks into data owned by another system (the Student Information System - PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, etc). Using that data, it provides analytics to highlight correlated trends - ex decreasing attendance and falling grades - and identify at-risk students. It is not student-facing software at all (unless something significant has changed in the past year). It has nothing to do with iPads vs Chromebooks in the classroom (speaking of which, though, the only people I've ever heard say anything at all good about chromebooks are the budget folks at the districts; a local district here bought several cart-fuls of Chromebooks along with a smaller number of iPads; the iPads are always checked out by classes and have to be reserved well ahead of time, while the Chromebooks are almost never used).
Okay, that said, what could Apple want with LearnSprout? Apple has had educational ventures before, including many smaller teams at least as of the time they divested PowerSchool (2006). However most of those have been focused on student-facing activities. LearnSprout doesn't seem to fit there.
Alternatively, the district administrative marketplace has been undergoing a significant corporate reshuffling with Pearson divesting PowerSchool (and Pearson promptly ending up in severe financial trouble after having gotten rid of their cash cows) and smaller companies consolidating (PowerSchool/InfoSnap buyout a month or so back for instance). It is likely that many of the smaller players such as LearnSprout saw this and decided to actively seek out a buyout. Reports that the LearnSprout investors' investments were barely covered in the buyout indicate that LearnSprout wasn't the power player in the deal, and that they were reacting out of fear. The deal also happened last year about the same time as the PowerSchool divestiture completed, so that timing doe seem more than coincidental.
Finally, maybe Apple saw some engineering talent that they wanted to poach. The folks there are using Python, MongoDB, and I think some C# as well. Doesn't seem like a really strong fit for Apple from an engineering direct experience perspective, and I don't know of any talent there that would be considered acqui-hire targets. So, this doesn't seem likely to me.
Overall, the only scenario that fits is that LearnSprout was seeking shelter in the storm, Apple saw a bargain investment, and pulled them in. Hopefully that doesn't mean they get spit back out again a few years from now.
Wont go that far, I work in education and although chrome books are good, we are more interested in Microsoft products and apple at the moment. Fine I'm British so its probably different, but trying to convince the governors to give us £200 per google machine is impossible as the privacy issue going around at the moment - Microsoft we can squeeze £400 out of the governors.
It may look like it working but Google isn't that successful and gets companies like the one I worked for to help make products for it, which it struggles to sell
My school has been like a flag, flapping in the technological wind over the past 20 years. We've installed, uninstalled and reinstalled so many different systems it's hard to keep track. Right now the trend is Chromebooks and web apps, which is great as long as the internet is up. On those not-so-rare occasions when we do lose our connections, it's as if the power went out.
I have yet to meet anybody, except ICT folk, who sing and dance about Blackboard. Student users don't like it , teachers (Other users) don't understand or like it. So why is it in almost any large learning environment ?
With Universities across the world running out of physical space and more folk wanting to learn, the time is ripe for a platform that can deliver the university experience online.... MIT and the Open University in the UK are very well positioned. Apple might take a feather from their caps.
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At the same time I could say that in the school I teach in, all students have iPads so that must mean that chrome books have missed their opportunity. One school does not accurately represent the market.
Our school also has Google Docs. The two are not mutually exclusive. Just because a school used iPads doesn't mean they have to use iCloud with it.
PowerSchool still exists. It was sold by Apple to Pearson. Pearson has not done all that much to it in the 10 years since it was sold. The bones of the program are exactly the same. Pearson created an iPad app for PowerTeacher back in 2010. It was updated a few times until November of 2012. It was completely unusable, as they had just ported the java code to an iPad App. Pearson sold the company in August of 2015. Finally, in December of 2015, the new company released a new App for the iPad that is actually usable. PowerTeacher is the most used program in schools in CT. I don't know about other states but with little improvement, PowerSchool is dominating this market (Locally at least). I don't think it was that Apple let it rot and fail. It was actually an award winning program when Apple sold it to Pearson back in 2006. I think they just were not interested in the education marked at that time with the whole "Revolutionizing the phone industry" thing they had going on shortly after that.
well...we need darth vader to supervise everyone. Fear will keep things in order.Read that as : It aggravates all student grades across the school.... hone in....
Probably not far from the truth
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Ah, asking for the American way fire and hire new people making the same old mistakes.
How about using the experience of the current crop of VPs , jointly analyzing what can be improved, make a plan and carry it out?
Nah, not as easy as firing everybody.
PS: Had this sign on my office wall:
In every company works somebody who knows what is going on.
This person MUST BE FIRED!!!
Apple has purchased education-technology startup LearnSprout, reports Bloomberg. LearnSprout is a company that develops software for schools and teachers to track student performance and other metrics. Apple will likely use its technology to build out its classroom tools to encourage schools to adopt iPads and other Apple products.
Apple confirmed the acquisition with the standard statement it gives on purchases: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
According to its website, LearnSprout software is already used in more than 2,500 schools across the United States. It aggregates all student grades across the school, letting teachers and administrators hone in on students that may need more help. LearnSprout aims to allow schools to analyze collected data, discovering trends on attendance, college readiness, student health, and more.
To combat waning iPad sales, Apple has been making an effort to make the tablet more appealing to educational customers. In iOS 9.3, Apple is introducing a wealth of new education-oriented tools, including shared iPads for students, a dedicated Classroom app that allows teachers to guide students through app-based lessons, an Apple School Manager for easily managing student accounts and courses, and new Apple ID creation and management options for schools.
Article Link: Apple Acquires Education Analytics Company LearnSprout
I always thought this since they started manufacturing iPads. Work with Pearson and other textbook companies (or buy them out), turn everything digital, and revolutionize the textbook in universities and then high schools, ms, and es. They would have had a virtual monopoly and greatly increased their revenue.
Apple has purchased education-technology startup LearnSprout, reports Bloomberg. LearnSprout is a company that develops software for schools and teachers to track student performance and other metrics. Apple will likely use its technology to build out its classroom tools to encourage schools to adopt iPads and other Apple products.
Apple confirmed the acquisition with the standard statement it gives on purchases: "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."
According to its website, LearnSprout software is already used in more than 2,500 schools across the United States. It aggregates all student grades across the school, letting teachers and administrators hone in on students that may need more help. LearnSprout aims to allow schools to analyze collected data, discovering trends on attendance, college readiness, student health, and more.
To combat waning iPad sales, Apple has been making an effort to make the tablet more appealing to educational customers. In iOS 9.3, Apple is introducing a wealth of new education-oriented tools, including shared iPads for students, a dedicated Classroom app that allows teachers to guide students through app-based lessons, an Apple School Manager for easily managing student accounts and courses, and new Apple ID creation and management options for schools.
Article Link: Apple Acquires Education Analytics Company LearnSprout