“Everyone Can Create” is the latest curriculum from Apple, announced at their Chicago event in Lane Technical College Prep High School.
If that line seems familiar to you that’s because it’s an evolution of their previous initiative – “Everyone Can Code”
On a damp Tuesday morning in Chicago, Apple’s objective was clear – Education.
At Apple’s first spring event in 6 years, CEO Time Cook once again took to the stage to highlight the company’s commitment to better the education system through technology
A Cheaper, Better iPad At The Center An Ambition By Apple
First on the agenda was an update to the much loved iPad, one that includes the support for Apple Pencil.
A spec bump is a definite expectation with each new generation of devices, more importantly, the inclusion of Apple Pencil for use on the new iPad.
So now, beyond just embracing technical knowledge like coding through programs like Swift and Swift Playgrounds, the iPad will also have at its disposal a creative possibility through art and design in line with “Everyone Can Create”.
You can read more about it in our event day coverage here, but the gist of it is that Apple wants this iPad to further drive their push in helping students and educators everywhere.
Of course, with a new device comes new updates to apps that will help to realise this mission.
A Curriculum That Lets Anyone Create
The biggest updates are with iWork productivity apps. Pages, Numbers and Keynote now have direct Apple Pencil support letting you annotate, draw, sketch, and write onto your documents and spreadsheets.
Once you’ve finished putting the final touches to your works, you can then turn them into a digital book for easy sharing.
Pages now enables users to create interactive digital books straight from the iPad. These books can be created collaboratively by several users at once, and be customised with drawing tools in iWork or via your Photos library.
While new hardware and apps will definitely make learning easier, it’s also as important to have a program that facilitates using those tools.
That’s what “Everyone Can Create” is for.
The main aim is to let teachers easily integrate drawing, music, filmmaking or photography into lessons of any subjects, and Apple has announced a laundry list of educational institutions worldwide where this new intitative will be launched.
However, the true nature of “Everyone Can Create” lies in its name.
Apple wants to enable enybody, and everybody the ability to create content, beyond just programming apps.
If you didn’t already know, anyone using an iPhone and iPad has access to a great number of free iOS apps from Apple and other developers.
There’s Pages, Numbers, Keynote, GarageBand, Clips and iMovie to name a few, and more often than not, they are already pre-installed in your device.
Being A Creator Need Not Be Complicated Or Expensive
Sure everyone wants to be the next big YouTuber with all the fancy equipment money can buy, but the very tool that can get you started could very well be already in your hands.
That is perhaps what Apple was trying to convey in their keynote.
The new iPad that was unveiled on-stage didn’t have the ‘Pro’ moniker yet Apple is heavily touting it as a device that can turn anyone into a creator.
More than it just being an affordable option for schools to purchase in bulk as a means to facilitate the learning of multimedia skills to students, this is also a device that anyone can buy off-the-shelf.
Among the flurry of devices that Apple has released in the past year like the iPhone X and iMac Pro, it can be easily forgotten that the world’s most valuable company makes more than just high-end devices.
Even then despite the disparity in price and performance, there is still a common thread that wherever you are in the product tier, the Apple ecosystem has you covered with the tools and privacy when you do want to start creating.
Now I can’t wait for what Apple has in store for WWDC 2018.
If the Chicago event was to encourage everyone to start creating, then in June, Apple will be showing you how to further yourselves once you’ve started and take creation to the next level.
Image credits: Apple