Apple announced on Tuesday a recognition badge educators can earn through the Apple Teacher Learning Center called Apple Teacher Portfolio. The “Everyone Can Create” curriculum, as well as the Schoolwork and Classroom apps, have also received updates.
Apple Teacher Portfolio
Apple Teacher Portfolio is a self-paced professional learning offering to help educators make the most of using Apple technology in their classrooms. When an educator creates a portfolio they are encouraged to integrate creativity into their lessons to help students.
According to research from Gallup, the majority of teachers report that students learn best when they’re encouraged to express what they know creatively. When teachers are free to be creative, students are more likely to embrace challenges that require creativity of their own.
Updates
The Everyone Can Create curriculum provides a collection of resources for teachers for using drawing, music, filmmaking or photography in lesson plans. It has been updated to use the latest features of iPads and apps like iMovie, Clips, and GarageBand.
The Drawing guide has been updated to include motion graphics and animation in Keynote, while Photos now covers the creation of animated GIFs using Keynote, and the Camera and Photos apps. The Video guide will explore creating short films using a green screen and other special effects, and Music adds new podcasting features using GarageBand.
New updates coming to the Schoolwork app will give teachers the option to share Schoolwork projects with colleagues, by exporting assignments created in the app. Projects can be imported back into Schoolwork or to other platforms. Additional enhancements to the sidebar improve navigation with quicker access to classes, assignments, and student accounts.
Classroom has always connected students in the same physical space with their teachers, and soon teachers will be able to invite remote students to join a Classroom session. While connected, the same Classroom features that teachers are familiar with will enable them to guide students to specific apps, view their screen, and see a summary of their engagement. It has also been rebuilt using Mac Catalyst.
Google wipes Apple out of education. Apple offers teachers loyalty badge. Don’t know if that tells me more about teachers or Apple, but if I were a teacher, I’d be pretty offended.