Dive Brief:

• Next Tuesday, Apple will unveil changes to iTunes U, an education app available on iPads.  
• The upgrade will offer teachers the ability to create, edit, and assign work via iPad, as well as start group chat sessions on the tablets.  
• The changes are viewed as an attempt for Apple to get teachers to swap out textbooks for iPads.  

Dive Insight:

Getting the market share of school tech users is important for companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard, which is why many will notice an inundation of products and upgrades meant to entice schools. This can be done through bulk purchases, upgrades to apps, or durable products.  

Despite having the market share of classroom tablet users — 94% use iPads — Apple is constantly looking for ways to get more schools to choose iPads. The company had a great PR opportunity when the Los Angeles Unified School District signed a $30 million contract with to supply the tablets every student in its 47 schools. The initiative, however, ultimately stumbled several times, including a widely reported incident in which students were able to find ways around security restrictions so they could browse the Internet and play games during class.