This set of two book covers were presumably created for the education market for students to use to cover their textbooks (of the heavy, printed variety).
The book covers measure 10.75 x 26.25 inches and feature the original Macintosh “Picasso” logo on the front side, and the 6-color Apple logo on the back with the tagline “The power to be your best.”
The center of these book covers that would fall along the spine of the textbook have an Apple logo printed sideways and labels for “Name” and “Class” (with lines on which to write). All text is printed in the Apple Garamond font, Apple’s corporate font used between 1984 and 1993.
Apple’s Personal Internet Solution Bundle is a 3-ring binder containing 3-hole-punched, 8.5 x 11-inch pages and is part of the Apple Education Series from 1995.
The design of the binder uses a beige-on-beige background accented with gold and teal graphics—all using a woodcut-style design. This design was used throughout the mid- to late-1990s for Apple Education products.
The binder is a professional learning resource for educators to teach them the basics of using tools on the World Wide Web. The four major sections include:
Getting Started—Step-by-step instructions for getting connected to the Internet
Internet Provider Connection—from Portal Information Network
Each printed section in the binder is separated by dark green tabs for easy navigation.
Some of the highlights of this resource include the title of the Netscape Navigator section, “a friendly handbook on the coolest way to explore the Internet,” and the 151-page manual about how to use email!
This Apple Education Series booklet, titled Out of the Box and Onto the ’Net: The Internet, Teaching, and Mac OS 8 was written to explain to educators how to use Internet in school with the Mac OS 8 operating system.
The Table of Contents included the following sections:
Welcome
The Internet in Education
The Internet: an introduction
How the Internet is transforming education
Uses of the Internet in education
Communication and collaboration
Conducting research
Publishing on the World Wide Web
Getting ready to go online
Preparing students to go online
Learning activities and teacher resources
Mac OS 8 Internet Features
Mac OS 8 overview
Setting up your computer to access the Internet
Registering with an ISP
Adding or changing LAN or ISP settings
Creating and importing settings information
Connecting to and disconnecting from the Internet
Disconnecting from the Internet
Using the Connect To command
Sending e-mail with Mac OS 8
Personal Web Sharing
Mac OS Runtime for Java
Using the PointCast Network
Using the Mac OS Info Center
The book measures 8.5 x 11 inches with a full-color cover. The interior is printed in black.
This collection of CD-ROMs is part of the Apple Education Series and is titled “Multimedia Learning Tools CD Library.” The CD booklet measures 7.5 x 9.25 inches and is made of clear vinyl. It has a side attachment that allows the book to be bound in a 3-ring binder. The booklet’s front and back cover design use a beige-on-beige woodcut pattern design with a bold rectangle woodcut image in the center depicting stylized characters and multimedia icon images.
The interior front and back flap have internal pockets for paperwork. Three inside pages contain pockets that can hold 4 CDs each (2 in front and 2 in back).
This Apple Resource Guide booklet focused upon K–12 Vocational Education. The book opens with Apple’s case for using “Technology to Change Vocational Education:”
“As the SCANS Report notes, the personal computer ‘has reconfigured the world of work as has perhaps no other invention since electricity or the assembly line.’ The nature of work is changing as is the ‘foundation needed to find and hold a good job.’ Technology holds a promise, not only of new kinds of work, but also of the means of attaining the skills and capabilities that will permit our work force to accomplish those tasks.”
Released in 1991, “The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) examined the demands of the workplace and whether young people were capable of meeting those demands. Specifically, SCANS determined the level of skills required to enter employment” (United States Department of Labor).
In the next section of Apple’s booklet, the section titled “Why use the Macintosh computer?” lays out a use case for Macintosh in Vocational Programs. Three reasons include: “The software is easy to learn,” “It’s idea for graphics,” and “It helps build the foundations—and more.”
The book is primarily comprised of six case studies about vocational education programs across the United States that use Macintosh. Schools that are profiled include:
Delta County School District—District Planning Provides Computers and Opportunitites at All Schools
Auburn High School—Industrial Technology Benefits from Computer Technology
Butler Middle School—Learning the Engineering Behind the Magic of Technology
Walter Biddle Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences—Computer Links Agriculture and Business in Philadelphia School
Tulsa County Area Vocational-Technical School District #18—Educational Enhancement Center Serves All Students with Technology
Burkburnett High School—Business Class Keeps Curriculum and Technology Current
The booklet concludes with a series of Resources for Using Technology in Vocational Education.
The booklet measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is printed in black.
This Apple Resource Guide booklet focused upon K–12 Business Education. The book opens with Apple’s case for using Macintosh in Business Education programs for “Meeting the Challenges with Technology.” It reads:
“In today’s competitive global economy, business education is more important than ever before. The need for trained, skilled workers is growing rapidly, but nearly half of all students who complete high school still do not continue on with their education. These students need—and want—preparation in the skills that will enable them to earn a living right out of high school.”
The next section, Why use the Macintosh computer?, lays out a use case for Macintosh in business education.
“A growing number of business education teachers have selected the Apple Macintosh as the standard microcomputer for their classrooms. For them, the choice was clear… The software is easy to learn… It’s powerful and easy to use.”
The book is primarily comprised of six case studies about business education programs across the United States that use Macintosh. Schools that are profiled include:
Abilene High School—New Technology Tools Transform a Business Department
Enterprise Village—The Enterprise Village Experience
Marcos De Niza High School—Student Entrepreneurs Develop Business Plans
Steel Valley Senior High School—Macintosh Moves Steel Valley High Into Office of the Future
Trinity High School—Making Connections in Business Law
Yarmouth High School—A Small Department Manages Big Innovations
The booklet concludes with a series of Resources for Using Technology in Business Education.
The booklet measures 8.5 x 11 inches and is printed in black.
These two folders are printed with a logotype for the Apple User Group Connection program. Both include stickers that indicate they are for the Community/Education Edition of the program.
The folders are made of heavy white card stock with a matte finish, measure 9 x 12 inches, and the unique design of the inside back pocket allowed the pocket to expand to about 3/8 inch.
The interior of the folders are filled with 8.5 x 11-inch printed materials, brochures, and a book. Both folders included letters from the Apple User Group Connection instructing groups leaders to participate in some aspect of the program.
The included paperback book is titled Just Add Water: Community/Education Edition. The book describes itself on the cover as “A guide for starting, sustaining, and enjoying an Apple User Group in your community, university, or K-12 school district.” The back cover includes, “Inside you will find insights and proven tips on developing and maintaining programs that successfully serve members’ needs. Just Add Water, Community/Education Edition draws on the experiences of many successful User Groups.”
The folders also include three different issues of Quick Connect: The Apple Newsletter for Apple User Groups. The issues contain articles on Apple products, Apple leadership, education, and enterprise. The three issues in this collection are from May/June 1993, January/February 1993, and March/April 1993.
In addition to the folders and their contents, this User Group Connection collection also includes nine letters addressed to user group leaders using various salutations (e.g., Dear Apple User Group Ambassador, Dear K–12 Apple User Group Ambassador, Dear Education SIG Leader, etc.) [SIG = Special Interest Group]. The letters describe new programs, features, products, and other information pertaining to the User Groups. This collection is dated between 1992–1993.
If you are an educational leader who wants to learn about managing technology—in 1995—this historic snapshot is for you!
This glossy white folder (measuring 9.25 x 11.75 inches) has a metallic red Apple logo in the lower-right corner and contains everything that was used in an Apple Education event on August 3, 1995, titled “Managing Technology in the 90’s.” This was one of three events held in Illinois (Drury Lane Theatre, Oak Brook Terrace) during August 1995.
The folder contains the following items:
Embossed invitation to the event
Agenda
2 brochures: Recommended Products At a Glance, Apple Education Series At a Glance
3 handouts: Finding the Promise of Educational Technology (David Dwyer, 1993); Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow Research: Teacher Beliefs and Practices; and a Bibliography of Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow sources
Packet of detailed information about Apple devices available at the time
Apple Facts (product booklet, April 1995)
Pad of paper for note taking
Apple Education’s aims at the time—ideas that are still viable today—were discussed in one of the brochures:
“Welcome to the Apple Education Series. We know that educators today are eager to integrate technology into the classroom. But that need requires more than just a computer—you need well-thought-out, education-specific products and programs that include hardware, software, technical support, and curriculum tools flexible enough to accommodate different teaching styles and individual student needs.”
The 3.5-inch floppy disk was used in the very first Macintosh computer in 1984 after its initial introduction by Sony in 1981. By 1992 the format had evolved several times and was used as a relatively inexpensive and reliable way to share digital files before the Internet. At the time, the CD-ROM was gaining popularity, but most users had access to 3.5-inch floppy drives.
This Macintosh Educational Software Guide from 1992 contains a compressed HyperCard Stack.
HyperCard was a software application and development kit for Apple computers that allowed users to create and/or read hypermedia documents, a format that was used before the World Wide Web. The system was developed and used extensively between 1987 and 1994, and retired in 2004.
According to its accompanying envelope—found digitally, but not a part of my collection:
The “MacEduGuide ’92” compressed HyperCard stack on this floppy disk includes information about more than 1,300 software programs for students, teachers, and administrators in K-12 schools. Each product listing includes the following information:
Product description
Publisher’s name, address, and phone number
Education pricing (when available)
Grade range
System requirements
Additional items included with the software
Product review citations in educational software journals
Publisher’s policies (copy protection, site licensing, 90-day free trial, and so on)
The special features of this stack allow you to search for information using any combination of elements: title, publisher, subject and topic, specific grade or grade range, and system requirements.
You can print any or all of the product lists and product information. The “mailer” button that appears with each product description allows you to print a letter to the publisher requesting additional information.
Further, the HyperCard Stack was compressed using the .sea compression method popular at the time for Macintosh computers. While Windows primarily used .zip for compression, Apple used .sea (Self Extracting Archive). The format was built into the Macintosh Operating System at the time and did not require a “helper app” to open and decompress the file.
