Apple eNews for Education: April 2007


	When the Cambridge Public School District decided to implement a 1 to 1 learning program, several PC manufacturers came in to bid on the project. Cambridge was, after all, an all-PC district. But when Apple made their presentation, community leaders and school administrators — who had been pressuring the district to continue using PCs — voted unanimously to buy Intel-based MacBook computers. Now, teachers and students are reaping the rewards of wireless, anytime, anywhere learning. And the Cambridge district has an ever-increasing number of dedicated PC to Mac “switchers.”


	Lori Roe, an Apple Distinguished Educator from Cape Henlopen School District, Delaware, has come up with a unique way to teach students about their own heritage. On a high-tech treasure hunt, students listen to clues on an iPod and search for hidden geocaches using global positioning devices. Along the way, they investigate the history of their own hometown. After finding the treasure, the students then document their success with a digital camera and a voice recorder.


	To help your kids develop the skills necessary to become true global citizens, sign up to receive our newly published white paper, “Global Awareness and Education: America’s Test for the 21st Century.” This document explores the challenges, opportunities, and rewards of exploring our ever-shrinking world.
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This month’s featured product in the Apple Digital Learning Series is Destination Reading Course IV: Middle School by Riverdeep, Inc. This engaging, media-rich reading courseware is packed with individualized, age-appropriate, diverse content for middle school students. Destination Reading meets state and national curriculum standards and is flexible enough to work with the whole class at once, with smaller groups, or can provide special lessons for individual students.

Bring scorpions into your classroom without the “ick” factor. Check out Ecogeeks: Science Video Podcast. Created by the biologists at The Wild Classroom, Ecogeeks finds fun and informative ways to bring science and natural history alive. Whether visiting the rain forests of Hawaii or exploring the habitat of the alligator snapping turtle, with these geeks your students will enjoy themselves so much, they won’t even realize they’re learning.

Schoolhouse provides you and your students with a way to organize assignments, notes, and projects quickly and easily. This free software includes “smart notebooks” that store lecture notes, allow for web publishing, and even calculate and graph grades. It lets you focus on getting the work done, not on wondering what to do next.

Apple eNews for Education
April 2007
Volume 6, Issue 4

We hope you enjoyed reading this month’s issue of Apple eNews for Education. We’ll be back next month with more exciting news about Apple and the valuable role it’s playing in education.

Apple eNews for Education is a free, monthly email publication.

Event dates are subject to change. Some products, programs, or promotions are not available outside the U.S. Visit your local Apple site or call your local authorized Apple reseller for more information. Prices are estimated retail prices and are listed in U.S. dollars. Product specifications are subject to change.

This month we have special news for students, educators, and administrators. But hurry: some are for a limited time only.

First there’s the Apple Scholars program, which rewards students who use technology in a creative and intuitive way. All college-bound high-school students are invited to apply by answering two essay questions, and 30 finalists will be selected to submit a multimedia piece upon the theme of “if you had an audience of millions, what would you say?” Submissions can be in the form of words, music, video, animation, photos, or a podcast — it’s all about who they are and what they think. Ten lucky winners will receive $2,000 toward college tuition, a MacBook, and an iPod.

Educators are invited to join the Educator Advantage Team, a program for K-12 educators who use Apple technology. Team members get insider tips on Mac OS X, iLife, and iPods in the classroom, with a focus on using these tools to get students excited about learning. You can also find out about great offers and educational discounts at the Apple online and retail stores, and participate in the Apple Learning Interchange, an online community where you can collaborate with teachers from around the world.

And for those of you who want the best for your students but are also concerned about the bottom line, there’s this can’t miss offer. When you purchase an Apple Mobile Learning Lab by June 26, you’ll receive a free Digital Media Creation Kit, valued at $999. The tools in this kit, combined with the iLife software included with every new Mac, give your students the power to create exciting, media-rich digital projects that make any subject come to life.

Turn your classroom (lecture room, common area, or dorm) into a collaborative learning environment with Apple TV. You can share and showcase podcasts, video and photo projects, all sorts of educational content, easily and wirelessly on a compatible HD projector or widescreen TV.

You can sync material from a single iTunes library or stream content from up to five computers to the entire classroom — no more gathering around one monitor to view the work being demonstrated. Now everyone has a clear view.

Apple TV is a great way to supplement your existing curriculum. Add a photo essay of rural England to enhance your class on Shakespeare or show video clips of famous politicians to your history class. It’s entirely up to you and your imagination.

“Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.”

In order to live up to Sir Francis Bacon’s immortal words, it is necessary to be excited about reading and writing. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to light that spark of interest in your students. That’s where the Middle School Language Arts solution from the Apple Digital Learning Series can help.

Featuring educator-recommended tools designed to stimulate and challenge students, this solution provides assistance for those who need extra help, while delivering advanced activities for learners who are ahead of the curve.

The award-winning products in this solution include “Get a Clue,” an interactive vocabulary-building game; “WriteBrain,” which provides guidance on the writing process, from brainstorming through to final edits; “WriteToLearn,” an online tool for building reading and writing skills; and “Destination Reading Course IV: Middle School” which focuses on vocabulary and comprehension strategies.

In 2004 the Westside Community School District in Omaha, Nebraska, handed out Apple notebooks to more than 2000 students in grades 9 through 12. Now an independent team of researchers at the University of Nebraska has found that the first 1 to 1 learning program in the state has had a dramatic, transformative effect on both students and teachers.

How transformative? According to Dr. John Crook, principal at Westside High School, “62% of our kids said they’re writing more essays, 61% said they’re completing their assignments more easily, and 63% believe they’ve increased their overall learning with the notebooks.”

As for teachers, Crook continues, “A full 73% told the interviewers that it’s easier to do enrichment activities, and 44% said it was much easier to accommodate kids with special needs. Those are very compelling statistics.” Technology director Kent Kingston thinks he knows why it’s been such a success: “Apple has the people, content, and the resources. But they’re also smart enough to say, “Let’s look at the culture at your school and figure out how we can work in partnership to get your teachers moving forward.’”