Wired
Virginia Union University is a black college/university with a long history. On Tuesday, the university announced the launch of a new event called “Mobile Learning, Mobile Life”, which mainly provides freshmen with Apple products and Apple programming courses.
It is reported that the program is equipped with Apple equipment kits for first-year freshmen, including an iPad Air, Apple Pencil, Smart Keyboard Folio, Apple Watch and AirPods Pro. This set of equipment is designed to prepare the “digital lifestyle” and workplace that graduates will enter after leaving the university.
Susan Prescott, vice president of Apple’s global developer relations and corporate and education marketing, said: “At Apple, we believe that education is a powerful force to promote fairness and opportunity. We are very happy to work with Virginia Union University to support their new mobile learning, mobile Life plan. We are proud that Apple products will become an integral part of VUU Panthers’ student life and can’t wait to see the future direction of development.”
Students can use iPad Air and Apple Pencil to study in class. Students can also bind the ID to the wallet application, and then use Apple Watch to enter the building, or pay for the cafeteria, etc. It is expected that AirPods will help students concentrate in online classrooms. In addition to hardware bundling, VUU will also provide Apple’s coding and application development courses to all students in an effort to diversify the STEM workforce.
Dr. Hakim J. Lucas, President and CEO of Virginia Union University, said: “Creating a smart campus at VUU is vital to the academic learning environment of 21st century students. Apple’s products, applications, and professional learning support will enable Our students have access to books, courses and research materials at their fingertips. Our cooperation has further enhanced the application of technology and will help us prepare students for the labor market and enable them to embark on the path of wealth for generations.”
Today’s announcement comes a few days after Apple allocated $5 million from its $100 million Racial Equality and Injustice Initiative Fund to four HBCUs. Alabama A&M University, Howard University, Morgan State University and Pralee View A&M University will receive three-year grants to promote their respective engineering projects.