Apple is donating iPads to 50,000 students and 4,500 teachers

Apple today announced that it would donate iPads to more than 50,000 students and that 4,500 teachers would also receive the devices at 114 schools participating in the ConnectED program. Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple has continued its longstanding commitment to education and is a participant in ConnectED, an initiative championed by President Barack Obama to bring technology to underserved schools.

President Obama unveiled ConnectED in June 2013, and Apple has participated from the outset. Just last month, the company announced that it was partnering with 114 schools, working with 9,042 teachers and providing iPads to 32,145 students. Aside from donating iPads, Apple also provides professional instruction for teachers, wireless infrastructure upgrades, and ongoing support.

Additionally, Apple is throwing its weight behind the movement to teach all students how to code. “Every student should have the opportunity to code,” Cook said today. “So we’ve created a program called Everyone Can Code.” The program will leverage the iPad app Swift Playgrounds, which was announced at the WWDC in June. According to Cook, instructors at more than 100 schools will teach coding with Swift Playgrounds this fall.

Above: Apple’s Everyone Can Code initiative will use Swift Playground, an iPad app that teaches coding.

Image Credit: VentureBeat/Screenshot