Loxley adds 'Apple in Education' solutions to its school IT business

Wanida Sangkaew, Loxley vice president for information technology and multimedia products, said her department this year targeted revenue of Bt200 million, 30 per cent from the education market, while the rest comes from corporate and e-commerce markets.  

Loxley has been present in the education market for a long time, but it just started providing Apple and Education solutions in October. After the company became an Apple authorised reseller, it prepared teams and resources. Currently, the company has two Apple professional development (APD) specialists, and aims to have two more by the end of this year.

These APD specialists train schoolteachers how to use Apple in Education solutions, Wanida said.

She said Loxley had been in the education market for 20 years, providing technology to help schools improve the education they provide. Now, the company will approach its existing customers with the latest Apple in Education solutions, led by iTunes U.

“Students themselves are ready to learn in new ways. Once the schools’ executives determine they need Apple in Education solutions, we take the further step of training teachers, before rolling out [the solutions] through the schools,” Wanida said.

Loxley has already trained teachers and implemented Apple in Education solutions in some schools, mostly convent schools such as Phraharuthai Convent School in Bangkok and Phraharuthai Nonthaburi School.

Wanida said the company provided solutions, training and support for schools in deploying iTunes U as well as other solutions from Apple to enhance teaching and learning in classrooms. According to Apple’s website, “iTunes U courses let teachers give each class a customised learning experience. Teachers can create and manage their course and students can experience it all from the iTunes U app on iPad.”

Wanida said: “At iTunes U, there is a lot of courseware available for schools. However, we also train teachers how to create their own courseware in any type of content format, including textbooks and video [iMovie]. Also, we train teachers how to utilise Apple’s technologies, hardware and software, especially iPads and iTunes U, to make the classroom into an interactive and engaged learning environment.” 

She believes the educational-IT market will begin growing strongly this year, for two main reasons. The government’s “digital economy” strategy is helping create a digital mood, while there are increasing demands from schools that need to use technology to enhance the teaching and learning process. 

“This year, Apple in Education solutions will be the key driver of our expansion in the education market. We aim to have 20 schools using these solutions this year. 

“To provide solutions like this, we need time to get schools to become our customers. We start from the concept of the smart classroom before ending up with the solutions and training. This takes about three months per school.”