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La Grange, IL —
With all the country seemingly talking about the death of Steve Jobs today, it is hard to dispute the Apple co-founders' impact on modern life.
Even luddites would have a hard time claiming Apple Inc. — or any one of the company's innovations over 30 years — hasn't affected them.
A statement from President Obama might have captured it best: “There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”
But beyond just the iPod, the iPhone and other cultural touchstones, Apple and its iconic co-founder have influenced generations due in large part to its work in schools, educators say.
Students have been working with Apple for decades, from early desktop computers through laptops and now with mobile devices. The company’s products have “changed both knowledge sharing and knowledge consumption for students and adults alike,” an Education Week article reported today.
In the western suburbs, schools and libraries are where they are today thanks in large part to Apple, said David McCartney, head of the library and media services department at Wheaton Warrenville South High School.
He recalls first getting Apple computers in the classroom in the ’80s. At that time, Apple was offering its desktops — the Apple I, Apple II or Macintosh — at discounted rates or even for free to schools.
“That gave districts the ability to use that form of technology sooner than the way districts would have been buying computers or PCs,” McCartney said. “Districts had a quicker start on getting computers into the buildings.”
He recalled in 1992, when just several Apple desktops that made up the computer lab for the entire student body at Wheaton Central High School, the forerunner to Wheaton Warrenville South. At first, the computers were used mainly for word processing, then Internet usage.
Today, schools are focused on wireless technology. In Wheaton Warrenville South, as well as across District 200, schools are emphasizing building-wide wireless Internet access — which allows many students to interact with iPads and iPhones in the classroom.
“Many of our courses are no longer using textbooks, where the textbooks are online” McCartney said.
Apple is largely responsible for that progession, he said — even where schools have used IBM computers.
Like many high schools, Lyons Township High School uses PCs in its computer labs. But the technology owes a debt to Apple’s innovation, said Nancy Richter, division chair for learning at the La Grange school.
The LTHS library is starting to invest in computer tablets — a field dominated by Apple’s iPad — and they are developing an smart phone application that lets students access the library database from off campus.
“A lot of that goes back to innovations that Jobs would have originally been on the forefront of,” Richter said.
With all the country seemingly talking about the death of Steve Jobs today, it is hard to dispute the Apple co-founders' impact on modern life.
Even luddites would have a hard time claiming Apple Inc. — or any one of the company's innovations over 30 years — hasn't affected them.
A statement from President Obama might have captured it best: “There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”
But beyond just the iPod, the iPhone and other cultural touchstones, Apple and its iconic co-founder have influenced generations due in large part to its work in schools, educators say.
Students have been working with Apple for decades, from early desktop computers through laptops and now with mobile devices. The company’s products have “changed both knowledge sharing and knowledge consumption for students and adults alike,” an Education Week article reported today.
In the western suburbs, schools and libraries are where they are today thanks in large part to Apple, said David McCartney, head of the library and media services department at Wheaton Warrenville South High School.
He recalls first getting Apple computers in the classroom in the ’80s. At that time, Apple was offering its desktops — the Apple I, Apple II or Macintosh — at discounted rates or even for free to schools.
“That gave districts the ability to use that form of technology sooner than the way districts would have been buying computers or PCs,” McCartney said. “Districts had a quicker start on getting computers into the buildings.”
He recalled in 1992, when just several Apple desktops that made up the computer lab for the entire student body at Wheaton Central High School, the forerunner to Wheaton Warrenville South. At first, the computers were used mainly for word processing, then Internet usage.
Today, schools are focused on wireless technology. In Wheaton Warrenville South, as well as across District 200, schools are emphasizing building-wide wireless Internet access — which allows many students to interact with iPads and iPhones in the classroom.
“Many of our courses are no longer using textbooks, where the textbooks are online” McCartney said.
Apple is largely responsible for that progession, he said — even where schools have used IBM computers.
Like many high schools, Lyons Township High School uses PCs in its computer labs. But the technology owes a debt to Apple’s innovation, said Nancy Richter, division chair for learning at the La Grange school.
The LTHS library is starting to invest in computer tablets — a field dominated by Apple’s iPad — and they are developing an smart phone application that lets students access the library database from off campus.
“A lot of that goes back to innovations that Jobs would have originally been on the forefront of,” Richter said.
