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An update on our Apple Education Solution Partnership

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Here at eStorm, we have been working closely with Apple to provide the best solutions for our education partners. Recently, Apple refined the criteria to become an Apple Education Solution Specialist. We are excited to announce that we have continued to qualify as specialists in this field.

Why do we partner with Apple?

For over 40 years, Apple has been assisting educators to unlock student’s creative potential. Not only does Apple achieve this through powerful technology, but tools and curriculum that inspires and engages students. There is something unique about taking a device out of a box, plugging it in and being able to start using it straight away.

The Apple Education Solution Specialist criteria requires us to demonstrate an ability to assist schools from the inception of their Apple device initiative, all the way through to roll out. This also includes supporting IT departments and teachers, as well as school management along the way.

As an Apple Education Partner, we have been recognised for our work with educational institutions to provide tailored solutions for students and schools across Australia.

Specialised For You

Our team undertakes continual training to ensure our macOS and iOS technology knowledge is up-to-date. Under the Device Enrolment Program, we have access to tools to assist your school in implementing automate device enrolment through Apple School Manager. Such tools allow us to:
Assist Schools to automate device enrolment with Apple School Enrolment,
Manage student and staff devices with Mobile Device Management, and
Deploy devices to staff and students complete with Apple education tools such as Classroom and Classwork.

Understanding Your Needs

After working closely with schools in the past, we now understand that the needs of the schools are beyond just the device. We know the key to developing great programs is liaising closely with the leadership team, teachers and the community. To create a positive impact on teaching and learning, the eStorm team provides professional learning opportunities to incorporate content into the classroom. These include Apple Teacher, Everyone Can Code and Everyone Can Create.

Apple Authorised Service Provider Bonus

As an Authorised Service Provider, we can connect your school with the right devices that best enables your students to achieve their academic goals. By partnering with eStorm, we can offer education discounts for:

  • Faculty or staff members of public and private higher education institutions in Australia
  • Employees of public or private K–12 institutions in Australia
  • School board members who are currently serving as elected or appointed members in Australia
  • Parents and citizens/friends (P&C/P&F) executives currently serving as elected or appointed members in Australia
  • Qualifying homeschools in Australia
  • Employees of a public or private, profit or non-profit preschool in Australia.

Find out more about how partnering with eStorm as Apple Solution Experts can benefit your school today.

 

The newest technologies to introduce into your classroom

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New and advancing technologies are shaping almost every aspect of our lives. It is no surprise then that the typical classrooms are starting to shift to incorporate new educational opportunities. As access to technology increases, so does the technical literacy and savviness of our students. Teachers are now leveraging all kinds of technology to engage students and provide immersive learning experiences.

Creating personalised learning experiences

Introducing technology into the classroom isn’t about replacing teachers; it is about supporting the delivery of a lesson while also providing a personalised experience for the students. In the past, there has been a stronger push for the education system to shift standardised testing and start making allowances for each child’s unique learning style.

These new technologies introduce students to the concept of blended learning, where they become their own directors of when, where, and how fast they move through an activity. Additionally, many new technologies are built-in with the ability to analyse student behaviours and can adapt the lesson in real-time depending on the student’s strengths and weaknesses.

Let’s take a look at how these new forms of technology are being used today.

Augmented, virtual and mixed reality

These forms of transformative technologies are supporting the instructions given by teachers as well as creating immersive lessons to be fun and engaging for students of all levels.

These adapted lesson plans can include a way for students to experience:

  • A virtual reality roller coaster during a physics lesson,
  • Going on a virtual field trip to ancient Greece during a history class,
  • Providing a way for students to deep-dive into molecular structures, or
  • Compare the real size of dinosaurs to nearby trees or buildings in the schoolyard.

The lesson plan ideas are endless with the introduction of augmented, virtual and mixed reality technologies in the classroom. Start transforming your classroom today by using these three augmented reality apps.

Devices

We have already seen the huge impact one-to-one devices have made on the education industry. However, there is still a clear divide and disadvantage for students of lower socio-economic background whose parents cannot afford a device for each of their children. The effects of this were further seen during the remote-learning period at the start of this year due to COVID-19.

Students who leave school unfamiliar with technology or with the risks and responsibilities associated with it will lag behind their peers when it comes to further education, jobs and general life skills.

Artificial intelligence

Having access to virtual assistants in the classroom can assist students who may be struggling to comprehend tricky concepts. This allows teachers to spend their spare time on students who may have higher needs. The use of AI in the classroom can also create a personalised learning experience tailored to their strengths, weaknesses and needs.

Gamification

Children have always learned through play, with lessons revolving around hands-on experiences and creativity. The shift in our educational system has seen an increase in classrooms being more ‘sit still, listen and learn the facts.’ We are potentially reaching an enlightened age in education, whereby play is re-introduced to the classroom, and students are experiencing a more immersive and engaging learning experience.

3D Printing

3D printing has slowly been introduced into Australian classrooms for some time now and is being used to assist students coming to grips with complex concepts. Furthermore, students are now able to bring their designs to life or assist in providing visual representations of what they can interact with.

We are seeing an increase in 3D printing being used in subjects such as Chemistry where students can print molecules in 3D. History students are also able to print out models of historical artefacts.

Robots and Coding

Robots have made an incredible impact on today’s classrooms by assisting in the teaching of coding. Robots are not just reserved for older students; small and simple bots can help very young students to understand sequencing, estimation and problem-solving concepts.

It is often said that coding will be the next universal language as well as an essential skill for many new jobs. Using robots to teach this topic in a fun and engaging way will hopefully support students who wish to explore new and advancing industries when they finish school. Students get instant feedback since the robot either behaves according to their intentions or doesn’t, exposing a bug in the code that students must then fix themselves.

Drones

A key element of today’s education pedagogy is encouraging students to view information from a variety of perspectives. Drones can assist in doing that in a literal way, by leveraging their interest and love of technology to show them different ways of looking at the world or viewing a physical problem.

Drones can be used in several ways, such as:

  • Using footage to stimulate writing exercises,
  • Mapping the path of the drone to learn about distance and time,
  • Flying a drone to help improve hand and eye coordination, and
  • Encouraging physical activity and education by filming their movements and discussing them later.

Not sure where to start?

The potential for technology to influence the way we teach or engage students isn’t just limited to the ones mentioned. Rather, as new and emerging technologies change the way we work and live, they will inevitably find their way into classrooms, preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s challenges.

To help you start transforming your classroom to take advantage of these new opportunities:

  • Microsoft has released a free challenge to students in year 7 to 12 to learn about AI, known as the AI for Good Challenge.
  • SpheroEdu also has a new platform for teachers and students to start learning and testing their coding skills to move robots.

To learn about more opportunities to integrate technology into the classroom, or if you are wanting to upskill your teachers to effectively use these new tools in lesson plans, contact the friendly eStorm team at any time on 1300 378 676 or [email protected].

Minecraft: Education Edition and Coding

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The latest new feature in Minecraft: Education Edition makes it possible for students to learn how to code while playing the game.

Known as Code Builder, the feature is ]available now in beta for Minecraft: Education Edition. Code Builder is a tool that shows up in the game as a robot. Users can interact with the game through the robot using the learn-to-code platforms such as Tynker, Scratch and MakeCode.

The feature isn’t limited to those introductory platforms — Becker added that “you can go as far as you want with the tools that we provide in Code Builder.” For instance, people who know JavaScript can code directly in that language without the in-game robot.

Minecraft: Education Edition is open to students, teachers and staff at K-12 schools, colleges, universities, libraries, museums and other qualifying institutions. It is available on Windows 10 and Mac OS

Now FREE – iWork, iMovie and GarageBand

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Apple quietly rolled out updated versions of its iWork, iMovie and GarageBand apps on Mac and iOS today, making them free for all customers on both platforms.
Many customers already had free copies of these apps, as they came free with new Mac or iOS devices. The pricing change removes the requirement to have bought new Apple hardware to get the apps for free. This expands the apps’ reach to anyone using Apple devices, even if they didn’t but new new or are using older devices.

iWork is actually a suite of productivity apps — Numbers, Keynote and Pages to rival Microsoft Office and Google Docs. GarageBand and iMovie are more directed to consumer and education, for music and video editing.

Prior to the price change, the Mac versions of the iWork apps were $19.99 and the iOS versions were $9.99 each. iMovie and GarageBand for Mac were $14.99 and $4.99, respectively, and their iOS counterparts were $4.99 on the App Store.
Since late 2013, Apple had been bundling these apps with new devices or making them free to download.

Below is a list of the now free apps, along with the software version requirements needed to run the latest versions:

iWork Mac: macOS 10.12 or later
iWork iOS: iOS 10.0 or later
iMovie Mac: macOS 10.11.2 or later
iMovie iOS: iOS 9.3 or later
GarageBand Mac: macOS 10.10 or later
GarageBand iOS: iOS 10.2 or later

Skype Translation Services breaking down language barriers

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Microsoft, through Skype and its other translation services, is making it even easier for people to share information across the globe.  Skype Translator can help you communicate in 8 languages for voice calls, and in more than 50 languages while instant messaging.

With the advent of the internet, there are fewer barriers to communication than ever before. Distance is no longer a barrier to  talking to each other. Now, with more advancements in technology and software, language will soon not be an impediment either.

These innovations are not just useful for social or business purposes. More medical practitioners, scientists, teachers and leaders are collaborating  across the globe. Increased functionality from these services will allow such collaboration to be even more widely, and readily available with language no longer being the hurdle.

 

Microsoft Azure Services

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Microsoft Azure provides different technologies which enable you to build robust application, data and process integration solutions.

One of the core offerings for Azure integration is Logic Apps. These technologies together provide a very rich and fully-managed Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS). It is a very robust and powerful platform to put together and automate integration workflows. Logic Apps also provides the concept of server-less computing, in which you just focus on what you want to achieve, without worrying at all about servers, patching and scaling.

Logic Apps workflows, which can be easily arranged and executed graphically (via the Azure Portal or Visual Studio), are based on the Workflow Definition Language. These workflows provide abundent ways to process and manipulate data that can be obtained or pushed via different connectors.

The advantages of using Logic Apps include the following:

  • Saving time by designing complex processes using easy to understand design tools
  • Implementing patterns and workflows seamlessly, that would otherwise be difficult to implement in code
  • Getting started quickly from templates
  • Customizing your logic app with your own custom APIs, code, and actions
  • Connect and synchronise disparate systems across on-premises and the cloud
  • Build off of BizTalk server, API Management, Azure Functions, and Azure Service Bus with first-class integration support

 

The breadth and capability of many different Azure technologies and how they complement each other is what differentiates Azure against other iPaaS vendors.  Speak to out team about eStorm supporting your business with Microsoft Azure.

NEW iPad Range Announced

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Well finally we have some answers to the “What’s going on with iPad’s?” question.

Apple with very little pomp and ceremony announced the that the iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 2 and Mini 4 32GB are all now end of life and the lineup is pretty close to what we expected.

New iPad (5th Gen) in 32GB or 128GB (Space Grey, Silver, Gold) entry level device starting from $469 RRP

iPad mini 4 now only in 128GB capacity (Space Grey, Silver, Gold)

iPad Pro 9.7-inch or 12.9-inch.

Watch this space for availability and pricing from eStorm.

Microsoft Surface Pro 5???

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People are already very excited for the upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro 5. Reports have it that it will be out as early as  April along with Windows 10. This is not confirmed and is purely speculation with other rumours reporting October release dates. We here at eStorm are looking forward to Microsoft officially advising on it’s release (whenever it happens). Stay tuned for more news and updates.

To wet the appetite, here are the unconfirmed specs of the highly anticipated device. Microsoft Surface Pro 5 is expected to feature the Intel Kaby Lake Core i7 processor. The new chip will improve the device’s overall performance and save battery life as well. It will also be equipped with 16GB RAM and 512 GB internal storage. However, this is still unconfirmed as some sources claim that the device will have Qualcomm Snapdragon 365 processor.

Microsoft Surface Pro 5 will come with a rechargeable Surface Pen, new keyboard base and a lightweight aluminum body. Reports are rife that it will also have a 12.3-inch ultra HD/4K display, USB Type-C support and a robust battery life.

Professional Learning for Teachers and Students

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Today the effective use of technology, encompassing learning outcomes has become imperative for all schools. With so many financial demands on schools sometimes PD becomes the bottom of the list of to-do’s. What we see over and over is schools engaging in new technologies and software and going great guns for  a short period of time before the creative juices dry up. Keeping staff motivated and engaged is as much a struggle for teachers as it is for the students. eStorm can assist schools in planning a technology program that is not only customised for your school but will support your staff on this digital journey.

Our team comprises of professionals who have skills specific to their specialist area. We can support your school with coding using Sphero, Scratch and Swift. Robotics, Microsoft O365, Apple applications and device introductions.  We assist in technology support assisting teachers in achieving their goals. eStorm tailors workshops at our office in Stones Corner or we can organise half day and full day programs at your school.

Our programs are designed to increase competency with technology, to assist teachers in developing confident technology practices and work-flow solutions.

We can work with groups inside or outside the classroom, whole school auditorium style learning through to 1-1 mentoring.

If you are interested in attending our workshops or having a consultation please email me directly; [email protected]

 

 

Apple Teacher Program

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Apple just announced Apple Teacher, a new program created to support and celebrate teachers. The program provides a self-paced learning experience with tips, inspiration, news and learning materials to help unlock the magic of iPad, Mac and built-in apps in the classroom. Earn badges and an official Apple Teacher logo so you can share your achievement with the world. Sign up today!

To learn more and to sign up, visit the Apple Teacher website.