Apple Updating Schoolwork and Classroom Apps With New Distance-Learning Features and More
Apple is bringing some significant updates to several of its education apps, led by a new Schoolwork 2.0 for iPad and Mac, reports CNET.
Schoolwork is Apple's app that allows teachers to distribute class materials known as Handouts to students, assign activities within compatible apps, collaborate with students, and view student progress. CNET says Schoolwork 2.0 will bring new feature like Files integration, speed improvements, and more.
Apple designed Schoolwork 2.0 to include features found in other iPad OS apps, like Files, and to speed up navigation around the software. There's a new Handout library with a source list on the left side that makes it easier to navigate to different classes or the student's library with drafts and favorites. On the right are cards with things like reminders for a field trip or a math assignment.
Other new features include a redesigned Handout detail view and new communication integration to let teachers FaceTime or message students at a tap.
In addition to Schoolwork, Apple is also updating its Classroom app for iPad that functions as a teaching assistant within a classroom to launch apps and websites across all devices in a classroom, share a student's screen to the teacher's iPad or a classroom Apple TV, share documents, and more.
The updated Classroom app includes pinch-to-zoom functionality, automatic syncing of Apple School Manager classes to the teacher's Apple ID, and new temporary sessions for shared iPads.
The updated versions of Schoolwork and Classroom are coming "soon," according to CNET, with no specific launch dates given.
Popular Stories
iPhone 14 Pro models are widely expected to feature always-on displays that allow users to view glanceable information without having to tap to wake the screen. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman said the feature will include support for iOS 16's new Lock screen widgets for weather, fitness, and more.
"Like the Apple Watch, the iPhone 14 Pro will be...
Benchmark testing has indicated that the 256GB variant of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 chip offers slower SSD performance than its M1 equivalent, and now real-world stress testing by YouTuber Max Yuryev of Max Tech suggests that the 256GB SSD in the 13-inch MacBook Pro is also underperforming in day-to day-usage.
The M2 MacBook Pro with 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM was slower than the M1 MacBook ...
Following the launch of Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip, it has been discovered that the $1,299 base model with 256GB of storage has significantly slower SSD read/write speeds compared to the equivalent previous-generation model.
YouTube channels such as Max Tech and Created Tech tested the 256GB model with Blackmagic's Disk Speed Test app and found that the SSD's read and...
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman outlined additional M2 Macs on Apple's product roadmap, including new Mac mini models with M2 and M2 Pro chips, new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, and a new Mac Pro tower with M2 Ultra and "M2 Extreme" chips.
Following the M2 series of Macs, Gurman said the first M3 series of...
TSMC will manufacture Apple's upcoming "M2 Pro" and "M3" chips based on its 3nm process, according to Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes.
"Apple reportedly has booked TSMC capacity for its upcoming 3nm M3 and M2 Pro processors," said DigiTimes, in a report focused on competition between chipmakers like TSMC and Samsung to secure 3nm chip orders. As expected, the report said TSMC will...
With many customers choosing to upgrade their iPhone every two or three years nowadays, there are lots of iPhone 11 Pro users who might be interested in upgrading to the iPhone 14 Pro later this year. Those people are in for a treat, as three years of iPhone generations equals a long list of new features and changes to look forward to.
Below, we've put together a list of new features and...
Polish developer Michał Gapiński has released a new and improved version of his "Tesla Android Project" which brings Apple's CarPlay experience to more Tesla vehicles than ever before.
According to Gapiński, version 2022.25.1 provides "100% functional CarPlay integration for any Tesla," and comes with several new features and bug fixes.
The project now supports DRM video playback so that...
Apple today launched its annual "Back to School" promotion for college/university students in the United States and Canada. This year's promotion offers a free Apple gift card with the purchase of an eligible Mac or iPad, rather than free AirPods like last year. Apple is also offering students 20% off AppleCare+ plans during the promotion.
Apple is offering a $150 gift card with the purchase ...
Top Rated Comments
Apple has an enormous amount of hubris about how they want education to work, versus how it actually works, and that's why their solutions are largely being cast aside regardless of financial resources. Apple wants to sell hardware—for Apple, it's about moving iPads as an end goal in itself; education wants a service, less-so the hardware, so they can be more self-deterministic on how to physically provide that service. Their competitors have no such preconceptions and focus on creating solutions that are self-sustaining and relatively easy for educators to administer. Until that idea sinks in at the executive level in Cupertino, Education is a lost cause for Apple.
Other posters here have it spot-on: Apple devices are not cost effective for 1:1 student deployments. Last time I got new devices for my kids, I talked to our Apple Edu rep and all but BEGGED him: help me help you win this bid. Couldn't do it. We went Chromebook for the kids and MacBook Air for the staff. For less than the cost of naked iPads with no cases, no warranty, and no management, I got Chromebooks with a 3-year accidental damage warranty, 6 years of management, and white glove service so they were already labeled, inventoried, and enrolled when they arrived. I handed them out to kids new-in-box. Yes, kids can make more multimedia on an iPad than a Chromebook, but here's the thing: they weren't doing that when they had MacBooks; they weren't doing it when I switched them to iPads; so how can I justify the premium for an Apple device when none of the benefits are actually benefits? How about instead I get them Chromebooks and have a mobile lab of 5 MacBook Pros for the occasional multimedia projects? Way more cost effective, and even the Apple Edu rep couldn't argue that point.