APPLE

Keeping aware of the most up-to-date educational technology, and challenging your pupils to use these resources, can become a big task. However by collaborating with other professionals and using their skills as well it becomes much less daunting.

Bolton School deputy headteacher Nic Ford is a blogger, Apple distinguished educator and marathon runner. He has previously been a Geography teacher, a head of department and an assistant headteacher.

I recently came across the above quote on Twitter. Needless to say, it doesn’t apply to me, and if the prospect of glitter on your classroom carpet brings you out in hives, you probably shouldn’t read this!

Obviously not exhaustive, but here are a few ‘creative’ ideas for using Apple’s brilliant free piece of software, iBook Author, rather than the traditional ways you might use it.

1 – An obvious use is to write your own iBook about your teaching practice, so that you can share your ideas with the wider education community. The end result is very professional, and with time spent, the skills needed to use it are not too hard to learn. If you want to extend your book further too, there are lots of widgets you can add in such as the ones in iAd Producer and other third party widgets from other developers.

2 – It would be a really effective way of collecting and presenting the work of an action research group, so that you can publish your findings if appropriate. The flexibility of the software means that you can present all types of data, as well as embed videos and so on.

This past January, Apple came out with a slick new free app for OSX as part of their initiative to permanently establish themselves into the world of academia. With the popularity of the iPad selling at a ridiculous rate, Apple followed through with Steve Jobs' vision of digital interactive textbooks. The iPad is the device to do it too.

Apple ushers in iBooks Author - an app for MacBooks and iMacs that allows anyone to create a textbook formatted for the iPad. As an educator, you might be asking, "What does this have to do with me?" Good question. Here is the video that Apple put together to show off their product:

The computer company, Apple, whom you may have heard of from such products as the iPhone, iPad and iPod, made an announcement in the Big Apple on the 19th of January 2012 that has started to create waves in the education system in the States – waves that will likely ripple across the pond to us in the UK.

What was the announcement?

Well, there were two main parts:

1. a new online bookstore selling interactive electronic-textbooks
2. iBooks Author, a tool that allows anyone to create their own electronic-books (e-books) for sale in this new bookstore.

Best known for its sleek and easy to use consumer technology, Apple has made significant inroads into the field of educational ICT over the last two years.

Boasting an online store with hundreds of educational apps and Apple Regional Training Centres ready to deliver workshops on creative ways technology in the classroom, Apple has become a firm favourite with schools around the UK.

Although Macs, iPads and other Apple devices can be fantastic resources for pupils, their aesthetic design and high specification can also make them particularly attractive to thieves. Apple products have a high resale value on the open market and can easily be removed from buildings if the correct security measures are not in place over the school holidays.

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