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Apple plans to shut down iBooks Author and iTunes U
Apple is discontinuing two products you’ve probably forgotten about: iBooks Author and iTunes U.
YouTube Originals launches a star-studded slate of COVID-19 content
YouTube’s Originals division is working on a slate of COVID-19-related shows. After YouTube launched the #withme campaign, it saw a huge increase in watch-time, Susanne Daniels, global head of original content at YouTube, told Deadline. The new COVID-19-related content will take advantage of the #withme traffic, and allow YouTube to produce shows that can be filmed remotely.
Netflix puts free documentaries on YouTube for students and teachers
To help teachers and students learning from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Netflix is making a handful of documentaries available for free on its Netflix US YouTube channel. At the moment, there are 10 documentary films and series available, including 13th, Babies, Chasing Coral, Knock Down the House and Our Planet. Each comes with educational resources, like discussion questions, ways to take action and more info.
Amazon #AtHome brings free content to Fire TV and Fire Tablet devices
To help keep users entertained while they stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon is bringing curated content from over 100 partners to a new #AtHome section on its Fire TV and Fire Tablet devices in the US. Fire users will have access to free TV shows and movies, including Billions, Silicon Valley, The Sopranos, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, Star Trek: Picard, The Twilight Zone and more. Amazon will stream the upcoming Prime Video SXSW virtual film festival and One World: At Home Together Concert, the benefit concert hosted by late-night comedians to raise money for the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
mTiny robot review: Screen-free coding for kids
My five- and seven-year-old constantly fight over who gets the iPad first. We have one, and they get to use it in tiny doses, usually when I'm at my wit's end. Their favorite app? ScratchJr, MIT's go-to coding tool for kids. They like to code. No. They love to code, like the good little 21st-century humanoids they are. They love coding so much and I am so unwilling to give them their own devices that I decided to try something new. It's also something that sounds so counterintuitive it actually might work: screen-free coding.
Amazon offers teachers a place to sell resources they create
Amazon has opened a storefront and publishing platform for people to buy and sell K-12 educational materials. People who create such resources can upload them for others to purchase.
Sphero Mini Activity Kit offers a mini-bot and 15 lessons for $80
For years, Sphero has pushed to bring robotics into the classroom. Now, the company wants to bring robotics and coding lessons to the living room, too. Today, the company unveiled the Sphero Mini Activity Kit: 15 step-by-step activities that can be done at home, as well as app updates aimed at budding coders.
Sphero acquires LittleBits and its set of scientific toys
The popular STEAM education company Sphero announced today that it has acquired LittleBits. You may remember LittleBits as the company behind toys that teach kids about electronics, and Sphero has made a name for itself creating educational coding robots. Together, the companies plan to bring STEAM and coding products to more classrooms, homes and educational programs.
Apple taps renowned artists for AR art walks
Apple has been pushing its way into the world of augmented reality for years. Now, it wants to get more users involved. Working with artists like Nick Cave, an American fabric sculptor and performance artist, Apple has installed AR art in public spaces in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Users in those cities can sign up for a free Today at Apple experience called [AR]T. It involves an interactive walk to tour the AR installations, an in-store session that teaches the basics of creating AR using Swift Playgrounds and an AR installation in the store.
YouTube TV will carry PBS and PBS Kids
PBS and PBS Kids are coming to YouTube TV. Beginning sometime this year, PBS member stations who choose to participate will have their programming streamed on YouTube TV's live TV and on-demand subscription service. The move will bring both educational and local TV to the platform, and it marks the first time PBS has partnered with a streaming service in this way.
Blipblox is a synth made for kids that adults will like too
Blipblox is a synthesizer designed for children. The company behind it, Playtime Engineering, even calls it a toy. And it certainly looks like one. It's made out of bright, glossy, primary-colored plastic. The large knobs and buttons are clearly meant for the clumsy hands of a child. Oh, and it's covered in crazy blinking lights that are mostly there for show. But if you start digging a little deeper, you'll find more than just a plaything.
iRobot enters the classroom with acquisition of Root Robotics
iRobot, the company behind the Roomba, is about to do more than vacuum your house, mop your floors and mow the lawn. Today the company announced that it's acquired Root Robotics, and it will add the Root educational coding robot to its lineup.
DJI's first educational robot is a $500 drone tank
Less than a month after launching its first-ever action camera, DJI is now introducing its first educational robot, The RoboMaster S1, which the company says has been in development for two years, was inspired by a robotics competition that DJI has sponsored and hosted for the past five years, called RoboMaster. DJI says that RoboMaster has been a passion project from founder and CEO Frank Wang, who figured the company could use its know-how in computer vision, artificial intelligence and camera technologies to create a robotics product that it could get "into the hands of everyone." The result of that, DJI says, is the new RoboMaster S1, or S1 for short.
STEM kits that don't look like STEM kits
Contrary to what you might think and hear, apps and screens aren't the best tools for kids to learn STEM concepts, even coding. Why? Innovation, pattern recognition, exploration, experimentation and creation underlie STEM principles. Kids need to manipulate tangible things. It's how they learn. While there are some great apps that supplement STEM learning, the best STEM activities for kids are blended ones -- the ones that require hands-on exploration, screens optional. Those that do require screens, like ones with coding apps, should augment the experience, not be the sole focus. Many of these toys and kits are designed for classroom use but are perfectly adaptable and suitable for home use, too, as my two kids, ages five and seven, will shout from the rooftops (supervised, don't worry). Check out these awesome blended learning STEM kits and toys. They'll have your little inventors ready to apply for their first patent in no time. READ ON: STEM kits that will get your kid's hands dirty
Our favorite coding kits for kids
There's plenty of reason to get your kid into coding. The next question is how. We've scoured the internet (and a few brick-and-mortar stores) for some of the best toys and kits to take your children from curious toddler to preteen inventor. READ ON: The best coding kits for kids
Lego 'Star Wars' droid kit teaches coding with R2-D2's help
All Lego Boost kits have the power to teach kids (and kids at heart) how to bring machines to life with coding, but the latest one has an edge over previous sets. The new Star Wars Boost kit has the adorable R2-D2 in its corner, supported by two other recognizable machines from the franchise: the mouse and the Gonk droids. It comes with 1,177 pieces that can be used to build the three droids, as well as a Bluetooth Move Hub that kids can insert into the figure they want to control.
Sphero gets into app-enabled music gadgets with the Specdrums ring
Back in June 2018, Sphero acquired Specdrums, a startup that found Kickstarter success with music-making rings. As part of that deal, we knew Sphero would be working on its own version of the product, and today the company's making it official. The new but familiarly named Specdrums are app-supported rings that let you, or your kids, play music by tapping the wearable instruments on different colors and surfaces. There are hundreds of customizable sounds and loops, all of which are created by tapping the Specdrums rings on the included playpad and other colored items around you.
Kano adds a touchscreen to its complete DIY computer kit
Twelve months ago, Kano unveiled a complete build-it-yourself computer kit powered by Raspberry Pi. It looked the part but ignored the fact that most children love tablets, smartphones, and other devices with a touchscreen display. Now, the company is launching an updated version that swaps the standard 10.1-inch screen for a touch-friendly version. That means you can swipe around the company's custom operating system and take care of programming challenges with your finger. It's called, unsurprisingly, the Computer Kit Touch and is available today for $279.99 through Kano.me and a bunch of online and bricks-and-mortar retailers.
Littlebits' latest kits are inspired by modern inventors
LittleBits is introducing three new kits that teach children about electronics and how to think with a creative, inventive and activist mindset. The Base Inventor Kit, which will retail for $99.99, comes with 10 color-coded pieces that snap onto a wearable "arm." A companion mobile app guides you through a series of activities inspired by real-life inventors; a sound-activated gripper arm, for instance, is based on modern prosthetics, while a "stuff protector" mimicks an alarm made to protect lions and cattle in Kenya. The app then challenges you to create new inventions that protect the environment or help your local community.
Apple is reportedly launching low-cost iPads for schools
Apple is set to unveil a new low-cost iPad model for educators and students next week, according to Bloomberg's noted Apple reporter Mark Gurman. It's reportedly also working on an educational MacBook model, but won't unveil that until later on. Nothing is known yet about the new iPads specs, features or, most importantly, the price. It's bound to be very competitive, however -- Apple is trying to break back into a market that has largely been taken over by low-cost Chromebooks and PCs.
