How Apple lost the K-12 education market to Google

Apple’s share of the K-12 education market has been eroding since at least 2017, when cheap Windows computers and Google Chromebooks began to take over the market. These days, Chromebooks dominate in schools, according to market-research firm Canalys.
In Southern California’s Downey Unified School District, the Apple Learning Coach program is helping teachers supercharge their lesson plans with technology. Here, Lewis Elementary School teacher Lindsay Barnes works with students in her first-grade classroom.
Business Insider columnist Michael Gartenberg talked to several school principals and superintendents who told him that Google’s support for collaboration and Chromebooks’ multiuser capabilities make it the clear choice for institutions that are already under budget constraints.
Michael Gartenberg for Business Insider:

Apple once worked hard to position the iPad as its offering for education… But as one principal of a relatively affluent private school pointed out to me, the cost of an iPad — along with a Magic Keyboard (cover folio keyboards did not meet their needs), plus an Apple pencil — was the equivalent of at least three comparable Chromebooks that could be used by more than one student. Chromebooks are also much easier to repair or replace and log back in. There’s no need for the complex restore process that Apple uses, particularly for iOS devices.
Chromebooks’ affordability, classroom-specific features, and compatibility with Google’s suite of educational tools make them an ideal choice for institutions looking for a device that can meet the specific needs of the classroom.
But maybe more importantly, Google now owns the K-12 market because Apple appears to be uninterested in it.

MacDailyNews Take: The problem isn’t Apple, it’s the U.S. public education system. In general, it focuses on test-taking. So, Google makes cheap test-taking netbooks to cater to that market. Apple doesn’t make cheap test-taking netbooks.
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What U.S. public schools have been prioritizing, test-taking over creative solutions for learning, is wrong. Generating a bunch of people adept at memorization, but unable to think creatively and who can learn in myriad ways, is a recipe for failure. – MacDailyNews, March 28, 2018‎
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See also:
• Apple CEO Steve Jobs blasts teacher unions, says US schools are ‘unionized in the worst possible way’ – February 16, 2007
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