Empowering Educators: Apple Education Resources for Teachers
Introduction
Education is the cornerstone of progress, and Apple has long been committed to providing educators with the resources they need to create engaging and effective learning experiences. From online professional learning hubs to coding curricula and creative project guides, Apple's education resources are designed to empower teachers and students alike. This article explores the diverse range of tools and programs Apple offers to support educators in fostering innovation, creativity, and equitable access to learning.
The Apple Education Community: A Hub for Professional Growth
The Apple Education Community is an online professional learning center designed for educators who use Apple technology to create engaging learning experiences for their students. Membership is free and provides unlimited access to an ever-growing collection of resources.
Learning Center
The Learning Center provides skill-building tutorials, lesson ideas, and inspiration from Apple. With resources available in 17 languages, educators can build strong foundational skills for using iPad and Mac, and deepen student learning with Pages, Keynote, Numbers, GarageBand, and iMovie.
Forum
The Forum provides educators with the opportunity to connect peer-to-peer and receive coaching and mentoring from Apple experts. Educators can ask questions, discuss relevant topics, and share stories and resources that impact learning and more. Community members with Forum profiles can follow other members to stay connected and inspired. Content approved for public viewing in the Forum is available as read-only for all users.
Apple Teacher Program
When you become a member, you gain access to the Apple Teacher professional learning program and all of its benefits. You can use your personal Apple Account (recommended) to sign up for the Apple Education Community, or you can use a Managed Apple Account assigned by your school if your role is an instructor, manager, or administrator.
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Initiatives for Equity and Access
Apple recognizes that education is essential to creating a more equitable world. The company works with partners to reach learners in over 100 countries and regions, support educators, build out-of-school learning opportunities, and advance racial equity and justice.
Global Impact Stories
Miami Dade College: Miami Dade College is dedicated to helping its diverse population, many of whom are immigrants, join the local and global workforce with the skills they need to thrive. Peer-to-peer learning is a cornerstone of the two-week NC3 program. With little to no coding experience, each educator obtains the certification to train others to teach what they learn. Salcedo, now a Master Instructor with NC3, facilitates in-person trainings for faculty at other community colleges and nonprofits.
Jordyn Zimmerman: Diagnosed as autistic at a young age, Jordyn Zimmerman struggled to communicate until she gained access to iPad and communication apps. Now, she advocates for accessibility and inclusion in education, ensuring that everyone can use and learn from educational experiences and products. As part of the Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE) community, Zimmerman shares resources on the Apple Education Community, including curricula that integrate inclusive design principles.
Onramp Program in Idaho: In Idaho, the Onramp program aims to build the state's workforce by developing Idaho educators and expanding opportunities for students. CWI’s English language learner (ELL) and English as a second language program offers free English and digital skills classes to speakers of other languages. With support from Apple’s Community Education Initiative team, this program incorporates the Everyone Can Create curriculum, an introduction to Develop in Swift, and devices to aid digital skills acquisition.
Ed Farm in Birmingham, Alabama: Ed Farm intends to grow digital skills and talent across the tech field for generations to come. The Teacher Fellows program, with the support of Apple Professional Learning Specialists, develops educators who are passionate about innovations in learning and helps them integrate Apple’s Everyone Can Code curriculum into their lesson plans. The Student Fellows program cultivates skills in middle and high schoolers through Challenge Based Learning, an approach to leveraging technology to solve real-world problems. And the Pathways to Tech program offers a free course on Apple’s Swift programming language that also promotes the attainment of postsecondary credentials.
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Terence MacSwiney Community College in Ireland: Apple volunteers work alongside teachers at the school to help implement the Everyone Can Code and Everyone Can Create curricula, aimed at increasing student engagement through coding and creativity. The students at Terence MacSwiney Community College were now being exposed to the latest in technology and creativity.
(G)eneration Code at Rutgers University-Newark: Students learn to code using Apple-developed curriculum and build a fully functional app in seven weeks using the Swift coding language on Mac and iPad. Apple supports the program with Mac and iPad devices and connects students with Apple employees across departments, demonstrating that there are opportunities for them in an advancing tech world.
Keeping It 100 with Code: Students participating in Keeping It 100 with Code have no prior development experience, and many come from underresourced communities. In five months, they move from beginning to advanced levels of coding curriculum based on Apple’s Everyone Can Code program. Apple supports the program by providing devices, programming content, and mentors from across teams within the company.
Apple Professional Learning
Apple Professional Learning (APL) resources are designed to support and enhance instructional practice. Support your teachers with professional development resources so they can make the most of iPad, Mac, and a wide variety of apps and materials.
Apple Education Community
Apple Education Community is a hub for Apple professional learning resources and a collaborative space where educators can connect and share ideas.
Read also: Savings on Apple Products
Apple Teacher Learning Center
Apple Teacher Learning Center is a free professional learning program that helps build the foundational skills teachers need to bring iPad, Mac, and apps into the classroom in meaningful ways. Apple Teacher offers self-paced learning resources, step-by-step instructions, and lesson ideas to help teachers use Apple products effectively for learning. By completing interactive quizzes, teachers can earn badges and become recognized as an Apple Teacher.
Apple Teacher Forum
Apple Teacher Forum is where educators meet to connect and collaborate about teaching and learning with Apple. It’s your space to grow professionally alongside other educators and Apple experts, expanding your network of peers as you learn. The Forum Beta is available in English in the following countries and regions: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Everyone Can Create
With the Everyone Can Create project guides, teachers can find resources that help integrate creativity-with drawing, music, photos and video-into lessons across any subject.
Everyone Can Code
With the teaching and learning materials from the Everyone Can Code curriculum, everyone has the power to learn, write, and teach code.
Apple Professional Learning Specialists
Apple Professional Learning Specialists are educators who can coach, mentor, and support teachers in advancing their technology skills with an emphasis on innovation-to engage students in deeper learning.
Coding Resources for All Levels
Apple provides a comprehensive suite of coding curricula and resources designed to help students of all ages and skill levels learn to code.
Develop in Swift
Develop in Swift is geared toward high school and higher education students, and teaches both Swift, a powerful and intuitive open-source programming language designed by Apple, and Xcode on Mac to new and experienced coders. The new Develop in Swift curriculum helps students develop the technical and soft skills employers are looking for. The new series includes four books: “Develop in Swift Explorations,” “Develop in Swift AP CS Principles,” and “Develop in Swift Fundamentals,” which are all live today, and “Develop in Swift Data Collections,” which will be available this fall.
Everyone Can Code
In 2016, Apple launched Everyone Can Code, a comprehensive program and curriculum to help students of all abilities, from kindergarten to college, learn coding to solve problems and prepare them for the workforce. “Everyone Can Code Adventures” is designed for students who have already completed “Everyone Can Code Puzzles” and offers more advanced opportunities to build with Swift code.
Professional Learning Course for Develop in Swift
Apple offers a new, free online professional learning course for educators. Taught by Apple experts, the course will help instructors with all levels of ability acquire the skills they need to teach Swift and Xcode, making this an ideal introductory course for teaching the Develop in Swift curriculum.
A Quick Start to Code
To support parents with kids learning to code at home, Apple is adding a new guide to its set of remote learning resources. “A Quick Start to Code” is now available and features 10 coding challenges designed for learners ages 10 and up, on iPad or Mac.
Celebrating Creativity in Education
Apple recognizes the importance of creativity in education and provides resources to help educators integrate creative activities into their lessons.
Creative Activities
Creative Activities are a collection of quick, interactive, and fun lesson ideas that empower educators to sprinkle imagination and originality into their learning plans. Creative Activities for Early Learners (ages 4 to 8) and Creative Activities for Students (ages 8 and up) enable teachers to engage their students without increasing their workload. The new Creative Activities are now available in the Apple Education Community, a professional learning hub with more than 1 million members where educators can find inspiration, share resources, and connect with peers.
Apple Learning Coach
Apple continues to expand Apple Learning Coach, a free professional learning program that helps educators coach teachers on how to get the most out of Apple products.
Additional Resources and Support
Apple offers a variety of additional resources and support options for educators.
App Store
The Great Tools for Teachers collection in the App Store highlights classroom and lesson-planning essentials that educators can use to support their work.
Apple Music, Books, and Podcasts
On Apple Music, users can listen to a collection of learning-based albums and playlists highlighted throughout the Kids and Family categories; on Apple Books, readers can explore a collection of nonfiction and kids’ books about inspiring educators; and in Podcasts, listeners can find featured shows focusing on conversations by and for educators alongside narratives about education.
Today at Apple
Across the world, teachers can use Group Reservations to book a Today at Apple session for their students at their local Apple Store, selecting from more than 20 topics great for educators and their students to learn how to code, create, and get the most out of Apple products.
Taking Ownership of Professional Development
Self-paced learning activities provide a way for teachers to work through a certification or badging program at a tempo that works with their schedule and interests. Badging programs aren’t new. Professional development sites like SimpleK12 let teachers earn badges for watching a certain number of webinars or engaging in their communities. Both Google and Nearpod have certified teacher programs. The Nearpod certification asks teachers to demonstrate how they’ve used interactive tools in their classroom by submitting lessons they’ve created. Programs like these help educators understand not just the nuts and bolts of a particular tool, but how to use it to reach their instructional goals and meet the needs of students. They provide an opportunity for teachers to develop and demonstrate a proficiency in using a tool that can energize teaching and learning in their classrooms.
Apple Enters the Badging Game
In addition to these programs, Apple Education introduced the Apple Teacher program. It gives teachers a way to explore iOS and Mac tools and integrate them into their instruction to create deeper learning experiences. The program uses badges to help teachers monitor which tools they’ve mastered-they can do that within a short time frame or decide to focus on just a few tools during the school year and revisit the program over the summer. The Apple Teacher program is a terrific tool for educators looking to strengthen their understanding of educational technology. It has a lot of resources that teachers can explore at their own pace. Videos and animations show the tools in action, which makes it easy for teachers to understand how to use them on their own devices. The program is perfect for teachers setting their own professional development goals or simply looking to dive deeper into favorite tools. The resources Apple has created also let teachers learn how to use each tool even if it isn’t covered in their school’s traditional professional development workshops.
How it Works
The Apple Teacher program has a learning community and online portal you can access with your Apple ID (iTunes account). Once you’re signed in, you can pick a track to focus on-iPad or Mac. In order to become an Apple Teacher, you must earn badges in eight categories, such as Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, GarageBand, Fostering Creativity, and Enhancing Productivity. Users take a short quiz in each category to earn their badges. Once you’ve earned all of the eight badges for either iPad or Mac, you become an Apple Teacher.
Reasons to Check Out the Apple Teacher Program
Find starter guides: The team at Apple put together an iBook for each category in the Apple Teacher program. These starter guides provide an overview of each individual tool with plenty of interactive content. They are perfect resources for teachers who are either brand new to a tool or just need a quick refresher.
Proceed at your own pace: Badging programs like Apple Teacher let users take each quiz when they’re ready. You might set a goal for yourself of earning one new badge a month or start off taking quizzes for the tools you use most frequently.
Gather ideas for your classroom: Spending time in the starter guides and exploring each of these tools is a great way to gather ideas for your classroom. The #AppleTeacher hashtag is a popular way for educators to share their experiences with the program.
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