Apple preps 2010 school field trips

Even though students will be using Garageband, iPhoto or Final Cut, the skills they would use to navigate those programs carry over to other programs made by other companies. Showing students how to use Apple products can make them more comfortable using technology and more willing to create with the tools they have available at school or home. In the end, it's more about the process than the product.

@Jordan

The math game you describe is certainly one good example of using a computer in education.

While it is good to have you expound your point of view I disagree with your perspective and conclusions.

I think Jerg makes some good points.

Kids are subjected to subliminal messages all the time. Let's quit pointing fingers. I agree that there are other places that can be visited instead of the Apple store. I also understand a lot of the budgets really don't allow for better field trips.

Sure Apple may be tapping into our children but let's not forget about fast food and other companies giving kids shiny toys for becoming fatties. Apple is giving the children a unique, fun experience that they may not be subjected to elsewhere. If they leave the children with a good memory of their product, fantastic!

Who are you to determine that every single field trip grade schoolers take should be educational? You make it sound like they are going to a strip club or a cigar bar. I can't think of any place more inoccuos or harmless than the Apple Store. They would be learning about computer applications that can be used to encourage creativity that they would otherwise not have learned in school. They would be in a controlled environment with employees who are proficient in the applications they will be learning about. Who knows, maybe after learning about GarageBand some kid might discover he's the next Justin Bieber. Or another kid might be the next Micheal Moore or James Cameron after using Final Cut Pro. Apple is a company that makes tools. Any software used to create is a tool. Don't be so backwards.

@Jordan

"Let's have our kids walk around outside all day learning about animals....or let's lock them up in a store with no windows so they can sit on a computer all day."

You kind of make it sound as though if a kid goes on a field trip to the Apple store that child is somehow doomed.

Are they locked in school? Is school attendance a negative?

I am all for kids going to the zoo and other outdoor healthy activities.

But it's not either or. Kids can and should do healthy outdoor activities. On that we agree.

Going to the Apple store takes kids into a new environment. Those kids from families that don't have computers or with little computer savvy get an opportunity to create things, along with other kids who may know more about computers. I see this as essentially an alternative fun and learning outing. They are learning how to us a computer to do some tasks. That is learning never-the-less. I don't see any negative to this experience at Apple. An activity can be both fun and a learning experience. One does not cancel out the other.

They are not locked up! They can exit an Apple store faster and more easily than one can exit the zoo. (At the zoo, all kinds of vendors will want to sell them balloons, t-shirts, junk food, toys, souvenirs, etc.)

The fact that Apple(or the zoo) sells stuff doesn't bother me at all.

If other companies want to offer kids a chance to do the same that's fine with me; whether indoor or outdoor.

Going to a museum is an indoor activity, but again it provides another opportunity to learn. Their are indoor opportunities to learn and be healthier as well as outdoor opportunities to do the same.

I am curious as to whether you have children?

This is a great way to introduce students to computers and Apple. It will also help educate those teachers who are windozers.

Their are very few tours that don't have at least some connection to a business or other organization.

So what!

One could argue that a free trip to the zoo is an attempt to get kids to influence their parents to join the zoo. Big deal.

People are free to sign up or not sign up for a variety of tours sponsorships services etc.

Companies that support high school teams may well be civic minded. They also usually have a product, service or membership to sell.

Some people who post on TUAW obviously are against anything Apple does.

Why they bother to read and post on an Apple blog seems like a waste of their time and meaningless to most TUAW readers.

I guess it's a barometer of some kind. The more negative posters are the better Apple products are selling. Apple gets into their heads and they can't let go. Does that sound like any poster you know?

I'd be in favor of this, if it wasn't so thinly veiled as a ploy to get the kids in to suck their parents into buying stuff, and you know, Apple provided something educational in return.

The one thing I am VERY curious about, is how a teacher can bring this up to the principal or whoever, and sell it as a genuinely educational experience. THAT is what I'd view as something to witness.

wait, so does that mean a field trip to the white house is a thinly veiled threat to educate kids to be politicians?

Thinly veiled marketing, eh, Apple? Wouldn't it be better to arrange a field trip for the teachers as a part of professional development time so they can get more hands-on exposure to techniques and tools?

What are we going to see next, Microsoft arranging field trips to their Microsoft stores in an attempt to raise market share by capturing future consumers when they're young?