Apple Invades EdTech Industry: Acquires Education Startup LearnSprout
Apple has announced the acquisition of a 3-year old education startup, LearnSprout, a company that has already raised close to $5 Million in funding, and competes with Clever, which has raised more than $40 Million. Apple believes the student progress data from over 2500 schools that LearnSprout caters to, will prove useful in making a comeback into the $15 Billion K-12 market.
Apple recently released iOS 9.3 beta to developers, and made the invasion very clear with Apple IDs for schools and <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/apple-ios-9-3-promises-sweeter-dreams-with-night-shift-safer-notes-and-better-maps.86347">Apple iOS 9.3 Promises Sweeter Dreams With Night Shift, Safer Notes And Better Maps</a>. Google already has a stronghold in education, thanks to the affordable Chromebook. For the first time, Chromebook sales have crossed 51% in the K-12 market, beating Apple’s iPad sales. Microsoft recently donated cloud services worth $1Billion to Universities and non-profit organizations in its efforts to gain a market share. But Both Google and Microsoft have robust cloud services to offer in addition to their affordable hardware. Apple wouldn’t want to sit this one out.
Even though there are more than 150,000 educational apps on the Apple app stores, they are mostly standalone. What Apple needed to cover up the lack of cloud services is a performance and learning tracker that can be administered and managed by teachers. LearnSprout has been doing just that, and Apple might want to incorporate it into the Apple School Manager web tool it is launching. The School Manager tool is aimed at making user onboarding easier for schools by helping them create multiple Apple IDs, book purchases, etc.
Even though the iPads offer a more interesting way of interactive learning than Chromebooks, schools generally can’t afford iPads for all students. Plus, there is the fragility and maintenance costs. But it would be interesting to see the trend after Apple launches the School Manager app, considering it has already slashed iPad prices.
Source: <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/16/01/28/apple-acquires-analytics-startup-learnsprout-to-boost-educational-tech" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Apple acquires analytics startup LearnSprout to boost educational tech | AppleInsider</a>
Apple recently released iOS 9.3 beta to developers, and made the invasion very clear with Apple IDs for schools and <a href="https://www.crazyengineers.com/threads/apple-ios-9-3-promises-sweeter-dreams-with-night-shift-safer-notes-and-better-maps.86347">Apple iOS 9.3 Promises Sweeter Dreams With Night Shift, Safer Notes And Better Maps</a>. Google already has a stronghold in education, thanks to the affordable Chromebook. For the first time, Chromebook sales have crossed 51% in the K-12 market, beating Apple’s iPad sales. Microsoft recently donated cloud services worth $1Billion to Universities and non-profit organizations in its efforts to gain a market share. But Both Google and Microsoft have robust cloud services to offer in addition to their affordable hardware. Apple wouldn’t want to sit this one out.
Even though there are more than 150,000 educational apps on the Apple app stores, they are mostly standalone. What Apple needed to cover up the lack of cloud services is a performance and learning tracker that can be administered and managed by teachers. LearnSprout has been doing just that, and Apple might want to incorporate it into the Apple School Manager web tool it is launching. The School Manager tool is aimed at making user onboarding easier for schools by helping them create multiple Apple IDs, book purchases, etc.
Even though the iPads offer a more interesting way of interactive learning than Chromebooks, schools generally can’t afford iPads for all students. Plus, there is the fragility and maintenance costs. But it would be interesting to see the trend after Apple launches the School Manager app, considering it has already slashed iPad prices.
Source: <a href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/16/01/28/apple-acquires-analytics-startup-learnsprout-to-boost-educational-tech" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Apple acquires analytics startup LearnSprout to boost educational tech | AppleInsider</a>
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