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Schools Choose Apple for Ease of Use - Innovate Arkansas

Schools Choose Apple for Ease of Use

By Luke Jones, 7/16/2012 12:00:00 AM

If you've read our cover story on the use of tablets in classrooms, you may have noticed that almost everyone was using Apple products.

There are a few reasons for this. First of all, "they're super easy to use," said Michael Graham, an instructional technologist for Harrisburg Middle School. "Most Apple products are very intuitive."

Also, Apple is extremely focused on the education market. Graham said the company's sales teams is highly effective and usually visits education conferences. The company's Learning Labs are tailored for classrooms and come in MacBook, iPad and iPod Touch flavors.

"They're kind of the industry leaders in education," said Matt McClure, superintendent of Cross County Schools.

Not only that, but Apple's App Store has a much wider selection of programs useful for teachers, Graham said. But he's not totally sold on Apple.

"Google has its place," he said, noting that Google provides many similar services at a much lower price. "The Apple computers operate more like a Cadillac, and like a good, old work truck for Google. Apple is selling that experience, which is good - it's what I use personally - but it may not be the best for K-12 because of its costs versus functionality."