An Apple event in Chicago? It's unusual, but that's what's going down on March 27 at 10am CDT/8am PDT/11am EDT. The event is education-focused, and both hardware and software announcements are possible from the company. Apple is looking to gain ground on the dominant platform for students K-12: Google's Chromebook.

Apple has said this event will not be livestreamed—though a video will be made available after the fact—but Ars Technica Managing Editor Eric Bangeman will be in attendance, liveblogging the announcements for Ars readers.

We're not yet certain what Apple plans to announce, but reports suggest a new, cheaper iPad is coming—possibly with Apple Pencil support, a feature previously reserved for the iPad Pro line. Apple will likely announce software updates for iOS updates, possibly including ClassKit, a rumored developer framework for educational apps.

The event will take place at Lane Tech College Prep High School, which has previously participated in Apple's Everyone Can Code education initiative. We expect to hear more about that or other similar programs. There could be some wild card announcements, too: a revised iBooks store, an updated entry-level MacBook, and (unlikely) a successor to the iPhone SE.

For the full rundown of what to expect, read our primer, and for full details as they happen, check out our liveblog when the event starts.