As a nerdy father with three school-going kids, tech in education is something I’m really keen on. Not just because I have to spend copious amounts of money purchasing gear for my kids, but more importantly I’m curious to see how the advances in tech are helping my kids learn better, smarter and faster.
Well, at a recent event held at the swanky Work-It spaces in Sydney, Apple Australia gave me and a bunch of other journalists a look behind the magician’s curtain. We got to see some of the multitude of ways Educators and students are using Apple products in and out of the classroom to make learning more accessible.
The event started with an inspiring panel that consisted of Dr. Joan Orland a digital well-being expert, Lisa Plenty Director of Digital Learning and Innovation at Radford College and Hannah Pengilly, a TikTok Creator, artist and teaching student. The panel discussed all the various challenges students face with learning and how technologies like iPads, text-to-speech and more are making learning more accessible to students with learning challenges.
Dr. Joan in particular who is one of the world’s leading social commentators and analysts on our digital behaviour and lifestyle, spoke about the need for quality screen time over dismissing all screen time use as bad. Essentially, it’s what kids do with the tech rather than how long they spend on it that parents like me should be more concerned about.
Lisa on the other hand shared the struggles of integrating technology into the very slow-to-change Education system we have in Australia. She cited the fears of AI tools like ChatGPT being misconstrued and advocated for teaching kids how to use the technology and not tend towards mental laziness.
Most fascinating for me though, was the testimony of Hannah. She shared how growing up, she always had learning challenges with the traditional modes of learning but quickly learned to use tools like dictation for writing essays, and text-to-speech for listening to textbooks. As a visual learner, she found using her iPad to take notes made her comprehension that much easier.
Like me, Hannah is an artist and creative who loves drawing, and painting and the iPad running Procreate allows her flexibility and versatility I could only dream of when I was in high-school art class. The app gives her a wealth of tools and in combination with the Apple Pencil, she can switch from oil paints to spray painting at the tap of a button which is hella cool.
Not content to conquer the world of TikTok, Hannah was inspired to pursue a degree in teaching so she could give back to other kids like herself and empower them to reach their full potential using the skills she has learned over the years.
After the panel concluded, we were treated to some hands-on examples of how iPads and MacBooks are being used in and out of classrooms to aid in learning. Very impressive is the iPad’s multiple ways to make learning more accessible and interactive, allowing kids to interact with sciences using Augmented reality and interactive models. Some very Tony Stark-type stuff that I desperately wished I had a kid in the ’90s.
I was particularly impressed with JigSpace, an augmented reality app for the iPad that lets you interact with complex 3D models of almost anything kids would be studying about. You can do this in real-time, peeling away layers to get a better understanding of how things like Solar panels are built and work.
Learners of from primary school to high school and all the way to University have a wealth of Apple tools and apps to help them get the most out of their learning. From the powerful iPad to the longer-than-all-day-lasting MacBook Air, there’s something for every need and budget. The new M3 MacBook Pro’s provide insane levels of performance for kids doing coding, animation and media studies.
Kids also have access to Apple’s Swift Playground coding tools that let them learn to code and build their own iOS apps all the way to the App Store. Year 10 student, Jesaiah Creek who is a self-taught Swift coder is another example of how accessible the technology is and what can be done. Jesaiah, a Saxophone player, developed PocketsSax, an app that lets you play a digital saxophone on your iPhone.
This innovative app earned him the win of the Apple Swift Student Challenge and a chat with Mr. Tim Cook himself. Apple has a ton of resources at its dedicated Apple Education page on the global website where you can see all the amazing things students and educators can do with Apple products.
As for me, I’m so jealous of what my kids are able to explore, learn and create with the incredible and accessible tech that they have at their disposal; if they can look beyond the doom scroll of short-form. Not to worry though, Apple has doubled down on robust parental and screen time controls for iOS devices so you can block those suckers from draining your child’s brain cells.
Apple Australia kindly provided flights and transport to PowerUp for the purpose of covering this event
