Profiles in Success: Empire High School
Baker feels the Apple notebooks also played a key role in the success of the initiative. “The thing that swayed our purchasing decision was the stability of the Macintosh notebooks, and their protection from viruses,” he notes. “To this day, I’ve never had a single parent call me — and they certainly would — to say that his or her child couldn’t get on the network, or that student’s notebook wasn’t working.”
Digital Tools Enhance Teaching and Learning
Lee says that students and teachers quickly became accustomed to 24/7 technology access, and to the use of such tools as Studywiz and the iLife suite. Given that textbooks would not be used, Lee was concerned about how information would be transferred to students. She says Studywiz made the process seamless and effortless.
“I’d looked at a number of educational content management tools, and they all seemed like they would require a ton of staff-time to support them,” Lee says. “But Studywiz was easy to set up; it’s easy to use, and it’s become essential to everything we do. Teachers store their lesson plans and worksheets there; students download assignments and upload their projects there; they have access to RSS feeds — everyone knows how to use Studywiz, and it just works.”
Studywiz was easy to set up; it’s easy to use, and it’s become essential to everything we do.
— Cynthia Lee, Principal, Empire High School
The students’ use of the digital media applications in iLife is fun and exciting, Lee adds. Plus, acquiring such skills is helping tomorrow’s workforce prepare for their careers. “When I walk into a room and see a student standing in front of the class, giving a presentation, the content he or she has created is often better than what most adults could produce,” Lee says. “Our students are doing the things I do on my job, every day. That’s the biggest benefit of our Apple notebook program: Our students are learning the research, communication, collaboration, and technical skills they’ll need to be proficient in the job setting.”
Powerful Apple Servers Support New Teaching Model
Unencumbered by textbooks that quickly become outdated, Empire’s teachers are free to explore and use timely digital content to teach Arizona’s state standards. With the help of Apple Instructional Management Solution (AIMS), teachers can create multimedia-learning resources, perform assessments, manage exams, and more. And with the power of Max OS X Server, Xserves, and Xserve RAID storage, Baker says Empire’s back-end infrastructure is more than up to the task of supporting the school’s dynamic learning environment.
“With a strong infrastructure,” he observes, “we’ve been able to switch from textbook-driven to online, standards-based instruction: Instead of teachers flipping back and forth in a book to find where the standard is being taught, teachers go out to the Internet and find materials they need to teach that standard. Also, they do benchmark testing every quarter, and formative assessments in between. So although our instructional program does not follow a textbook, it’s still very structured and standards-based.”
The students regard their Apple notebooks as a very necessary tool. There’s such good education going on and it’s much easier than we ever thought it would be.
— Cynthia Lee
Given that Arizona’s Department of Education has already identified Empire as a “high-performing” school, it looks like the decision to implement a 1 to 1 learning program is a sound one. But from Lee’s (and the students’) perspective, it’s really no big deal. “If you walked into any classroom, you wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, there aren’t any textbooks here,’ because teaching and learning are happening in a big way,” Lee concludes. “Now, instead of technology being something that’s layered onto the curriculum, the kids regard their notebooks as a very necessary tool. There’s such good education going on and it’s much easier than we ever thought it would be.”
Advice from Empire High School to Other Schools
- Rethink your technology direction. Focus every decision on student outcomes.
- Try to anticipate all possible challenges, and develop fallback strategies.
- The most critical hiring criterion for teachers must be a willingness to explore and take ownership of a digital curriculum.
Recent Profiles
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In 2007 Vanderbilt University developed the technology necessary to bridge its CMS with Apple’s iTunes U, enabling faculty and students to create, publish, and access digital multimedia content.
University of Southern California
When the University of Southern California (USC) won the 2008 Rose Bowl, USC’s Athletics Department streamed game highlights on the web immediately after the game.
Cartersville City Schools
When administrators with Cartersville City Schools saw an iMac running both Mac and Windows applications, they changed their purchase plans.
ABC Unified School District
ABC Unified School District can manage all of the computers in their 29 schools, whether those computers are Mac- or Windows-based.
Bemidji State University
According to Brian Allen at Bemidji State University, “With the Intel Macs... [students] really have two computers for the price of one.”
