Thursday, October 9, 2008

Victoria's Secret Joins Apple: Offers Field Trips for Kids









I can't be the only one that thinks this is a bad idea.


From the web site:

Take your students on a Field Trip to an Apple Store for an unforgettable learning experience. On their Field Trip, students can create something amazing right on the spot. Or they can bring in a project they’ve already created and turn our store into a theater, sharing their achievements with parents, teachers, and friends. No matter which option you choose, everyone will have a great time

Look I get that marketing and sales are amoral departments.  Their singular focus on what....  Oh yea MARKETING AND SALES.  But Someone at Apple has to have had a little bell go off in their head that says... ding ding ding ding... ARE you F-Ing NUTS?!


Would you think that field trips to these "Better Mall locations" would be a good idea?

Victoria's Secret (what would they do?)

Wal-Mart (Teach kids how to use an inventory handheld, let them pitch in at no cost)



Look at the upside


Kids love a day out of the school,

Teachers love a day with no teaching?  Is that a problem?

FREE well except for the bus, lunch and all that learning you did not do today.


And the Downside


Headline Risk  (Imagine if you will... a news story with the  upsides listed above in a frontpage article of local news paper.  Watch dads head explode about his kid is spending the day at the galleria instead workin on the learnin of the writin  You Betcha!)  


I pay property taxes for THIS!


A corp program alternative that would carry a much lower risk albeit at higher cost and o yea A POSITIVE RESULT?


Higher, or better yet get volunteers thru local partnerships, graphic artists, musicians, photographers, OR MBA's loaded for bear with Apple gear to give hands on demonstrations of how they use technology to do their special voodo.  Go ahead bring the T shirts but leave some gear for the school.  (hint: leave a phone number)





10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Apple store near me has a learning theater. An area where they do workshops and stuff. And how do you figure teachers get the day off? Have you ever taken a group of X students on a field trip? I imagine you have your hands full taking 2 kids to the mall? Let alone a whole class.

BnVested said...

Teaching is hard. I am not rapping teachers. I am dinging Apple for willfully pulling kids out of classrooms for the purpose of creating demand for their products.

Anonymous said...

What a vapid and purely spiteful article. Clearly exposing children to the latest technological resources and experts to train them is sinister and must be ridiculed by armchair bloggers.

BnVested said...

Neither vapid nor spiteful dear Anon... The program is 1 hour. MOST apple stores have nowhere near capacity to put all these kids on computer. This is about boosting sales. Which as a shareholder I am generally for. It's just that your pulling kids out of school to do it.

It's just dumb. You did not like my alternative?

And speaking of spiteful. What do you have against armchairs?

Anonymous said...

Yet, the questions arise: Have you been there and seen one of these field trips? Are you aware of the financial strain so many school districts are under and even then how many more students lose any interest in technology at all and are thereby poorly prepared for their academic future because the technology they have is too old?

Or are you just shooting from the hip?

Mind you these do not exclude teacher participation. That these can be part of curriculum and lesson plans are developed around them. In fact Apple works with universities, states, districts, and schools to create curriculum around products like iLife and iWork. Thus increasing the value of Apple products being used in the schools.

As a shareholder, and I can only assume you are a user too, you can appreciate the whole of what Apple does. They aren't just in the business of selling stuff.

BnVested said...

Buddah. You make a good point. Several actually but my point was not to report on this but to make one simple opinion clear.

Field trips are great. Been on many. Loved em. Bread factory the candy factory. Museum of science. They don't always have to be stricly speaking curriculum based experiences.

My attempt was just to highlight that marketing to children is a dangerous area and Apple should be wary. Thanks for the input!

Anonymous said...

My school has hosted a couple of these events, both after school hours. Parents and students are invited to come and share in the experience. Students get a chance to showcase their work. They get a public recognition for all of their hard work. Every student that participates gets a free T-shirt. Every student that I have ever talked to about our events has had nothing but positive words. If you have never been to one, you are merely basing your article on your own bias.

BnVested said...

Anon.. I based the post on Apples description on their website that I provided a link for. I am thrilled that you had a great outcome at your not-a-field-trip event not at all like the one hour in store workshop as described on the website. My opinion of the value/risk of the events as described by Apple is the point of the post.

Read a couple of posts. I am a shareholder and fan of apple that does not mean I can no longer think critically.

Anonymous said...

"I can't be the only one that thinks this is a bad idea."

Apparently you CAN be the only one. ;o)

Your alternative—a corporate program to bring people and gear to the schools instead of the other way around—is simply unworkable. Schools just don't have the space, even if there were no other considerations. Haven't you ever driven by an elementary school and seen all those "portable" classrooms?

There's nothing "amoral" about this. It's a great opportunity for kids to get hands-on experience using current technology with trained adult supervision.

It's clear that you don't know much about current education, or about this program, or about Apple stores. And I see that you haven't treated the other commenters here very well, so I expect you'll treat me the same. But seriously, as a parent of a Kindergartener and a 3rd grader, I think a parent would be (as you put it) F-ing NUTS! to think this wouldn't be a great opportunity for their kids.

Most K-12 schools limp along with ancient computers, if they have them at all -- even in my slightly upscale neighborhood outside of San Francisco. For kids to get a chance to use the very latest stuff for free (even if only for an hour) is fantastic.

And my kids don't carry credit cards, so I'm not worried that Apple will waste any time "marketing" to them. It'll be another 10 years before one is old enough to have a credit card of his own.

(Shaking head...) I really can't believe someone could honestly think what you wrote in this article. And obviously, none of the other people who commented can, either.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I can't believe this article! I teach educationally and behaviorally challenged students and what a great motivator this will be. I've already signed up for a "field trip". This will be 1. a great carrot before the horse when it gets to improving the students' behavior and 2. a way to get all of them exposed to the latest technology.

I've got old b&w G3s right now in class with a couple of eMacs in tow to take their places (all bought out of pocket since the district is all PC) I look forward to all of them being able to use the iLIfe programs and being able to create their own DVDs using pics and videos taken of them working in the classroom.

I usually put pictures into a slideshow, put them to music and burn them to DVD and then have the student take them home to share with parents.

The parents LOVE them.