Filed under: Retail, Education
Apple Stores welcome kids via Field Trip
Letting a bunch of kids loose in a candy store might be a sticky mess, but letting them loose in an Apple Store should be a delightful, brushed metal and glass wonderland of fun. Right? That's the idea behind Apple's new Field Trip program for elementary, middle and high school students and their teachers.
Apple is inviting groups of up to 25 students for the hour-long programs, which can feature a big-screen presentation of work that the students have already done in class (Keynote/PowerPoint, movies & more) or hands-on creation sessions that allow the kids to make new projects in the store. Parents and friends are welcome to come watch the fun.
Session reservations are available through November 21; the 'school champion' organizing the event gets email templates to send to attendees, the option of printed invitations, and a complimentary subscription to One-to-One training for a year. Not too shabby.
[via Apple Hot News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Harry said 3:49PM on 10-10-2008
Ha, that sounds like a really good idea. Sounds like a good way to make money, inviting kids into stores, so they can nag their parents to buy them a Mac!
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mentalsticks said 4:08PM on 10-10-2008
Great. Even more instructive than bowling classes, I daresay. How about a "behind the screens" at the local McDonald's?
With this kind of junk on the curriculum, it's not surprising that the US's mean IQ is among the lowest in the rich world.
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Brian said 7:11AM on 10-11-2008
Just so you know- Being a potential field trip and being a part of a curriculum are two very different things. Besides, part of the reason are education system is in the toilet is due to the fact that, since the early 80's, no President has paid attention to actual educational research or listened to actual teachers. They've relied on lawyers and part time librarians to shape educational policy so that we now look at schools and children as if they are assembly lines that must reach a quota instead of them as individuals.
Do some research about this issue instead of spouting off talk-radio bullet points. @sshole.
mentalsticks said 2:05PM on 10-11-2008
no, you are an @sshole!
Adam said 4:22PM on 10-10-2008
I hope these events would be published on the store's online calendar, so I can know when to stay away...
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angeL said 9:41PM on 10-10-2008
Do you live at the Apple store?
Matt said 4:35PM on 10-10-2008
This is so Seventies. Tandy and Apple did this then, with their TRS-80s and IIs respectively, to get 'em in schools and homes. I remember enjoying visits with my class to the Computer Center (ooh!) and then seeing my first Lisa (aah!).
/wants a Model 1 emu for his iPhone
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joey said 4:36PM on 10-10-2008
Is this similar to their camp that they put on at each store for free?
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/06/06/apple-camp-08-schedule-posted/
I remember during the 3G launch as I was the next person in the store they had ask me to participate in a movie the kids where making (learning iMovie). I had my Tux shirt on :)
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bob said 5:14PM on 10-10-2008
seems like a neat idea, but schools don't have the money to take 25 kids to someplace educational let alone a mall, especially for 60 minutes. how about apple cough up some dough to have kids go to art museums, the orchestra and science museums instead? then they want to buy apple gear to produce the thigns they see on their real field trips.
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Jeff said 6:11PM on 10-10-2008
Apple Retail has been doing this for years, they've just changed the name. Apple used to call it School Night, no change in curriculum, just the name. Most stores only get one or two schools during the season. Best to avoid the store that evening with pupils, parents and teachers in attendance. Call the store for the reserved dates, they are not posted to the site.
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Jash Sayani said 4:57AM on 10-11-2008
Last news I read was "Apple is not allowing teens to enter the Apple Store as they are jailbreaking the display iPhones and installing Racing Thunder" !!!
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msr said 3:33PM on 10-12-2008
Sorry, but this is a horrible idea. The last place a child needs to go on a field trip is a STORE. Children need to go to places like museums and archeological digs. They are already constantly bombarding with branding and advertisements, and the school is slowly becoming little more than a place for companies to sell more wares. I love Apple products, but I would pull my child out of this (or any other branded "field trip") faster than the teachers could think.
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