A pple has introduced several new technologies and services for the education market today at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). First and foremost, Apple has released a major upgrade to its flagship software tool for parents, teachers, and students, PowerSchool. The new version includes new features, improved support for Mac OS X clients, and other improvements.
Apple has also introduced the Apple Digital Campus Curriculum (ADCC), a tool designed to help teachers plan curricula, and the Apple Learning Interchange, an online resource for educators. From Apple:
Apple® today demonstrated its continued commitment to education at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) with the announcement of the latest version of its industry leading web-based student information system, PowerSchool® SIS version 3.0, and powerful new resources for teachers and students including the Apple Digital Campus Curriculum and the Apple Learning Interchange.
"Apple continues to lead the industry with innovative products that uniquely address the needs of education," said John Couch, Appleis vice president of Education. "While other companies are happy to just sell technology to schools, Apple designs products like the eMac and iBook specifically for education."
At NECC, Apple is highlighting many of its industry-leading educational technologies for students, teachers and administrators including:
- PowerSchool SIS V3.0, the latest version of Appleis industry leading web-based student information system gives teachers, administrators and districts the ability to easily and cost-effectively manage student records and make data-driven decisions to improve the performance of their schools. Additions to the latest version of PowerSchool SIS include a new Integrated Master Schedule Builder with several automated schedule building features, an enhanced user interface with increased ease of use, support for Mac® OS X clients and updates to the PowerGrade gradebook that allows teachers to easily drag and drop student photos into online seating charts;
- Apple Digital Campus Curriculum (ADCC), which modernizes traditional courses of study by providing educators with rich, project-based curricula and relevant assignments that solve real-world education needs. The first two courses are Web Communication and Design and Video Journalism. ADCC courses include a combination of 10 days of hands-on in person training along with a year of online mentoring, training and support;
- The Apple Learning Interchange (ALI), a new online resource for teaching, learning, research and collaboration, leverages the storytelling power of video to showcase successful education practices. These best practices include digital videos of presentations, online lesson plans, assessment tools, research resources and more. Access to content in the Apple Learning Interchange is available free to educators;
- eMac™, Appleis recently announced desktop line designed specifically for education, which features a stunning 17-inch flat CRT and a powerful 700 MHz PowerPC G4 processor in a remarkably compact design that is the ideal size for both classrooms and computer labs. The most affordable PowerPC G4 system ever, the new eMac starts at just $999 (US). Designed for todayis digital classroom, the new eMac incorporates a 17-inch flat CRT, yet is actually 8 mm less deep than the original iMac®. All eMacs include Appleis award-winning suite of digital lifestyle software, including iPhoto™ for managing and sharing digital photographs, iMovie™ 2 for creating digital movies and iTunes ™2; and
- Xserve™, a powerful 1U rack-mount server, designed with Appleis legendary ease-of-use for groundbreakingly simple set up and remote management. Harnessing the power of Appleis UNIX-based Mac OS X Server software, which provides unlimited user licenses along with the ability to support Windows clients, Xserve is ideal for education customers
You can find more information on PowerSchool SIS 3.0 at Appleis PowerSchool Web page. You can find more information on the ADCC and the ALI at their respective pages as well.