Apple is the only company that has created a complete ecosystem for learning. This includes the hardware — Mac, iPod, and iPhone — the software, and the Mac OS X operating system. All the components are designed by one company, and they’re all designed to work together seamlessly. That makes Apple technology easier to implement, easier to use, easier to maintain, and ultimately a better technology investment.
Everything Apple means everything works together.
With Apple, you don’t just get a collection of individual tools. You get a fully integrated and complete digital learning environment. Where one piece is designed to work with every other piece. Which means the photo application you’re using will be compatible with the operating system, and they’ll both use the same key commands. A truly integrated system also makes it easier to move content from one application to the next. For example, educators and students can create a movie with iMovie and then easily incorporate that movie into a Keynote presentation. It’s just as easy to collaborate and share ideas, whether it’s from opposite sides of the classroom or opposite sides of the world. Integration even presents fewer technical challenges for IT. So rather than spending precious time (and money) getting things working and keeping them working, the IT department can spend its time providing new capabilities and resources for your institution.
It’s a simple idea, really. When technology just works and it’s always easy to use, everyone is free to focus on what really matters — creating, sharing, and learning.
Let them create.
iLife — Apple’s suite of digital media applications for creating podcasts, movies, music, photo projects, websites, and blogs — comes free on every new Mac. These applications are powerful and elegantly simple — the software that makes a Mac a Mac. They allow any educator or student to record a podcast in GarageBand with just a few clicks. Or use iMovie and a built-in iSight camera to shoot a video, edit it, and add titles and effects. iLife doesn’t just make it all possible, it makes it almost effortless. Because once you’ve learned one application, you’ve basically learned them all.
The iWork suite of productivity applications (sold separately) is similarly powerful and easy to use. So your students and teachers can craft sophisticated presentations, visually engaging spreadsheets, and complex documents. They can also incorporate all the digital content they create with iLife, just by dragging their movies or photos from one application into another.
Aperture, Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and the other Apple professional applications are powerful tools that allow you to manage extensive photo libraries, edit video, perform sound design, make color corrections, and more. In fact, they work together so well, they’re often part of a larger, extremely powerful workflow. Which is why they’ve become the standard applications for creative industries such as photography, filmmaking, and music production. Learn more about creating digital projects in the classroom
More stability. More security. More flexibility. More collaboration.
Mac OS X is the most reliable, most secure operating system on the planet. With a rock-solid UNIX foundation, it’s incredibly stable — so it’s far less likely to crash than most PCs. It’s also virtually immune to PC viruses and malware attacks. And it’s packed with features that simplify network integration and management. So you and everyone at your institution can spend less time fixing the products and more time using them.
Mac OS X is also the most compatible operating system on the planet. Every new Mac can run Windows and Microsoft Office and share files with PCs. The walls that used to exist between different software platforms are gone. So it’s easier than ever for people to exchange information and work on projects together, no matter what computer they’re using.
But most important, the Mac OS is loaded with tools for collaboration. And because those tools are so easy to use, educators and students can immediately start sharing information via audio and video chats or use Mac OS X Server to create websites, wikis, and blogs — all with minimal support from IT. The Mac even comes with built-in parental controls that let K-12 students safely use these tools and learn important skills.
The ultimate platform for mobile learning.
Students already use technology to stay informed and in touch while they’re on the go. Portable computers, digital music players, and smartphones are part of how they live and interact in the world. So it’s no surprise that many institutions are tapping into these technologies in order to educate their students.
The MacBook, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, and iPhone let teaching and learning happen anytime, anywhere, giving educators and students access to collaborative tools and the real Internet 24/7.
These devices are also the best way to take advantage of iTunes U, one of the largest and fastest-growing source of free educational content. There are already more than 200,000 pieces of content on iTunes U — from documentaries to video and audio lectures — and more are added every day. It’s quickly become an important engine for mobile learning because iTunes U makes it easy for professors to publish audio and video content, and easy for students to find, download, organize, and play back that content whenever they want. It’s also a place where K-12 teachers can find material for their classes from colleges, universities, PBS stations, museums, and other cultural institutions.
Last but not least, education-specific mobile applications have made iPod touch and iPhone even more powerful. Students and faculty can take volumes of reference information and research tools and literally put them in their pocket. Dictionaries, graphing calculators, anatomy flash cards — you name it, there’s probably a mobile application for it. (And if there isn’t, your IT staff or student developers can easily create one just for your school.) Learn more about mobile learning
Exactly the kind of support and training you need.
With Apple, you make just one call for support. You don’t have to turn to one company for hardware questions, another for software questions, and a third for help with the operating system. AppleCare provides award-winning technical support for all our products and offers specialized support for IT professionals.
Apple also hosts in-depth professional development workshops for educators, providing them with a great way to explore what technology can do for their schools while discovering the best practices for putting it to work. We can partner with your IT staff. And we can help train your team to certify students in Apple pro applications, which can give them a great head start in creative careers.
It simplifies things. It’s a solid investment. It gets results.
Think ahead to a time when faculty and students are focused on their work, not technical issues. Your IT staff is not mired in troubleshooting, answering help desk calls, and beating back viruses. Engagement — and achievement — are up.
The fully integrated Apple ecosystem can get you there, making it an incredibly worthwhile investment.
When you consider that most Mac computers come equipped for digital learning right out of the box — with content creation tools, wireless connectivity, and a video camera and microphone all built in — it just makes financial sense. The Mac also has accessibility features no other system comes close to matching.
With the Mac, you won’t be buying add-ons and software packages, one after another, to create a patchwork computer that will probably never work the way you want it to and may never be ready for digital teaching and learning. The Mac is ready to go from the moment you turn it on.
Of course, it’s also the cornerstone of mobile learning, leveraging other Apple innovations like iPod, iPhone, and iTunes U.
But the most important part of the story is that the Apple ecosystem goes hand in hand with achievement. Educators have everything they need to engage students with digital content and expand learning beyond the classroom. And students have everything they need to get inspired, collaborate, create work they’re excited about, and ramp up for a technology-oriented job market. There simply couldn’t be a better fit for education.
