Ondrej Holzman Apple has announced the purchase of tech-education startup LearnSprout, which develops software for schools and teachers to track student performance. It is expected that Apple will use the newly acquired technologies in its educational projects, which it is currently expanding mainly on iPads.
"Apple buys small technology companies from time to time, but we generally don't discuss our intentions or plans," confirmed Bloomberg acquisition Apple spokesman Colin Johnson's obligatory response.
Learn Sprout currently used by over 2 schools across the United States, it works by collecting student grades from across the school so that teachers can then check how students are doing. LearnSprout's ambition is to enable schools to analyze collected data, for example based on attendance, health status, classroom readiness, etc.
With this acquisition, the price of which has not been disclosed, Apple is clearly aiming to improve its services specifically for schools and educational facilities. Especially in the American market, Chromebooks, which are more affordable tools for many, are starting to put a significant pressure on it. Already in the forthcoming iOS 9.3, we can observe essential news for teachers, such as the Classroom app or multi-user mode.
