“News that Google Chromebooks outsold Apple iPads in the U.S. education market shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but Apple could yet make a come back,” Aaron Pressman reports for Yahoo Finance. “Schools ordered 715,000 of the much simpler and cheaper Chromebooks in the third quarter compared with 702,000 iPads, according to market tracker IDC. The quarter was the first time Chromebook shipments outpaced iPads in the education market.”
“Apple jumped out to an early lead in iPad sales to schools, but some districts have had issues integrating the multi-faceted tablets into their educational programs. In the most notable reversal, the Los Angeles Unified School district canceled a $1.3 billion iPad order amid numerous problems,” Pressman reports. “Apple already appears to have learned an important lesson from its education sales setbacks with the iPad. Instead of going after new billion-dollar contracts, one of the company’s latest iPad-in-schools initiatives involved giving almost $300,000 worth of devices to a small district in Pennsylvania. Students won’t get the devices until next year, after teachers and administrators have had a chance to plan how the devices should be used. The go-slow approach, with a focus on teacher training, fits with research about the most successful programs.”
“The Pennsylvania gift is part of Apple’s pledge to spend $100 million to aid poor school districts around the country. CEO Tim Cook in October said the company would give out iPads and Mac computers to students and teachers in 114 schools,” Pressman reports. “Apple’s donations, part of President Obama’s ConnectED initiative, obviously bolster the company’s image but also will help promote the use of iPads in schools.”
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