Apple has announced a new professional learning recognition badge that aims to help educators and teachers add creativity to lessons—with the help of technology, of course. The badge can be earned via the Apple Teacher Learning Center, a “self-paced” professional learning platform that is free to use for educators, and will help educators use Apple tech during various lesson phases. According to Apple, this will help students “activate prior knowledge, explore a topic more deeply, and apply understanding”.
“The new Apple Teacher Portfolio helps build educators’ confidence in reimagining their lessons and recognizes them for the great work they do every day. After this unprecedented year, we want to continue to inspire every educator as much as they inspire us.”
Essentially, educators can complete a number of lessons which cover basic skills on iPad and Mac—before submitting a portfolio of lessons to earn the new Apple Teacher Portfolio recognition badge. Among the lessons that teachers will experience via the platform is using iPad and Mac apps to create page layouts, recordings, animations, videos, and more. There will also be templates that can be customised via iPad/Mac apps such as iMovie, Keynote, and others like GarageBand.
“For educators, Apple Teacher Portfolio becomes a compilation of their most creative and engaging lessons, a body of work ready to share with leadership and peers. Reflecting on what worked — and what didn’t — leads to transformation in the teaching practice, and the portfolio acts as a journal to capture those milestones.”
Besides that, the Cupertino-based company also announced a number of updates for its Schoolwork and Classroom apps, along with the Everyone Can Create curriculum. For the former, educators now have the option to export assignments—which can then be imported back into Schoolwork or other compatible platforms by other teachers, opening up more collaborative possibilities.
The Classroom app, meanwhile, has also been updated with remote learning functionality, with teachers able to invite remote students to join a session (or rather, Classroom). Once connected, teachers and students will see the same Classroom features as per usual, while teachers will also be able to track students’ engagement via the app. Plus, the app has also been rebuilt with Mac Catalyst, which means that you should have a “seamless” experience across iPad and Mac—and M1-powered Macs.
So, what do you think? If you’re an educator/teacher, do share your thoughts in the comments below. We’ve also confirmed that the tool is available to Malaysian educators, too. If you’re interested to find out more about the Apple Teacher Portfolio, click here.
