School Profiles

e Akau ki Papamoa Primary School transformed from a failing school to a nationally recognised model school for integrating technology into teaching and learning. They created a learning environment based on Māori values, supported by a one-to-one iPad program. There has been an acceleration literacy and numeracy of up to two times faster than expected year-level progress and 90 percent of students are now reading at or above the expected standard. Te Akau ki Papamoa engages every learner with no exceptions - 'He wake eke noa'.

Teachers at Philadelphia Performing Arts: A String Theory Charter School create custom learning materials with iPad, iTunes U, and iBooks Author. As the city’s largest tuition-free K–12 charter school, it offers a STEAM curriculum that emphasizes academic and artistic excellence equally. And with Apple technology at the core of teaching and learning, teachers design their own curriculum, and students create multimedia projects that reflect their individual creativity and knowledge.

In thinking about new ways to develop and deliver curriculum, Philadelphia Performing Arts decided to abandon traditional textbooks in upper-middle school and high school. Teachers are free to develop their own customized curriculum the way they want to teach and the way students will learn best. By allowing students to express their newfound knowledge however they choose, iPad helps them become more self-reliant. It's how Philadelphia Performing Arts is producing a generation of creative problem solvers.

A one-to-one iPad program at four Title I middle schools in Maryland helps to improve teaching and learning, and has raised student performance in both reading and math.

For special education teachers around the world, iPad opens up a world of possibilities. Meet educators at three schools and discover how they use iPad and apps to motivate learning, improve social interactions, and encourage independence in the classroom and beyond.

Interactive books and apps on iPad and Mac help students excel at this historic girls’ school.

A group of very engaged fourth-grade students at Central Elementary has translated their enthusiasm into a daily routine of writing, producing, recording, and editing the school’s morning announcements. They use an iPod touch to record students and teachers and an iMac and its built-in GarageBand software to edit the recordings, add effects, and create a daily podcast. The podcasts are then posted to a school server using Mac OS X Server.

The iPad one-to-one program uses technology that’s already a big part of students’ lives to make them more excited about learning.

RDFZ XISHAN in Beijing is the first school in China to participate in a Mac one-to-one program and has transformed learning into a collaborative and engaging experience — without sacrificing test scores.

In China, schools traditionally have not empowered students to be active participants in learning. So independent thinking and taking initiative are key values at RDFZ XISHAN. Math teacher Jin Zhengguo assigned his student Xinran an independent project on polygon. Xinran chose the problem herself and used Keynote, video clips from iMovie, and photos taken with Photo Booth to give an interactive presentation to her fellow classmates.