Daniel Prince
Union's lab was the first to open in the state earlier this year
USC Union will operate three of the state’s seven Palmetto College iCarolina Learning Labs. At the beginning of the month, the University of South Carolina announced that the two newest learning labs will serve the Clinton and Laurens communities through the branches of the Laurens County Public Library System. The Union County Carnegie Library was the first in the state to open the Palmetto College iCarolina Learning Labs. Each lab features iMac stations, MacBooks, and iPads for use by students and the community. The Laurens County Public Library branch has a dedicated room for the lab. The current Clinton Public Library branch will house a kiosk that will hold MacBooks and iPads for people to use in and around the library, and once the library moves to its new location, it will have dedicated lab space for ten iMac stations in addition to the MacBooks and iPads.
Governor Henry McMaster began the program in March 2021 by awarding $6 million of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief funds to the University of South Carolina, who partnered with Benedict College to establish Apple computer labs to serve communities statewide. The existing labs are located at regional USC Palmetto College campuses and are all situated within 15 miles or less of a broadband desert, providing reliable technology and internet access to those communities.
The Learning Lab network will launch a free Swift coding certification course starting in the spring 2023 semester to teach Apple’s iOS language to students in the USC system and to community members across the state. Those enrolled in the courses will learn the skills needed to develop apps for iOS, MacOS, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.