The Isle of Man’s history can be traced back 10,000 years. The island even boasts the longest continuous parliament in the world. Yet its traditions also include innovation in teaching and learning, and development of modern skills for the wider world. And Apple technology plays a continuing role in maintaining that tradition.

Every primary school on the Isle of Man uses Apple technology to help the children learn more effectively and develop skills for life. According to John Thornley, the island’s Information and Communications Technology Advisor: “Right from the start Apple technology was exactly what we wanted. It gives even our youngest children the tools to make learning fun. Its creative solutions help to improve their understanding of a wide range of new concepts and ideas”.

Thornley and his team have witnessed remarkable progress in the use of digital technology in the island’s schools. The island’s first Mac was introduced in a single school in 1987. Now there are 4,000 Macs in all 35 primaries with “total saturation” wireless coverage.

In the mid 1990s the education department encouraged teachers to buy computers with interest free loans, so they could learn to use them effectively with children in the classroom. Now every teacher has been provided with a Mac or PC notebook, renewable every three years.

Apple supports education. The demand for creative software is uppermost in our requirements and there is no doubt that Apple is best for that. The argument that there isn’t enough software to cover the curriculum is a fallacy as far as we are concerned.

— John Thornley, ICT Advisor, Isle of Man

In 1998, a ‘computer bus’ was equipped with Macs to tour the island’s schools, providing teachers with new ideas and children with an unusual form of mobile classroom. Today, children in a number of the Island’s schools have access to technology even beyond the school gates. Seven to eleven year olds in an Apple ‘1 to 1 project’ each have a 12” iBook to help them in school, as well as for learning at home.

At Dhoon School, where 62 children use their iBooks in the classroom and at home, ICT Co-ordinator and class teacher Julie Wilsdon reports a “fantastic change” in the children after just three months. “This is a happy school anyway”, she explains, “but to see the motivation to learn and to see the skill levels shoot up in such a short time is way beyond what we were expecting”.

Julie believes one of the biggest benefits is the way that technology provides children with a level playing field for creating their work and for their teachers to assess it. “Handwriting quality and neatness sometimes create an artificial impression of ability”, she says. “It’s inspiring to see children you don’t expect to succeed using sophisticated combinations of software”.

She cites one recent example where the children’s confidence to select and combine software options turned an Ancient Greece project into a multimedia event. Studying the Battle of Marathon, the group used a Keynote slideshow, with text and images from the Internet, combined with their own voices recorded in Sound Studio. They then added extra flavour by recording and interspersing battle sounds.