Tag: resources

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Macintosh Disability Resources letter, packet, and disk (1992)

As a company, Apple has historically focused upon making hardware and software that is accessible to all people. As of this writing in January 2023, Apple’s Accessibility features are available in categories of Vision, Hearing, Mobility, and Cognitive.

Apple’s Developer site provides a comprehensive set of tools for developers to use their Accessibility guidelines to create software, stating, “Apple operating systems provide extraordinary opportunities to deliver high-quality experiences to everyone, including people with disabilities.”

This letter, packet, and disk—now over 30 years old—attests to Apple’s long-time commitment to accessibility. Back in 1992, Apple called this division “Worldwide Disability Solutions.” This mailing was sent to education customers with a welcome letter, an information packet, and a 3.5-inch disk with a database of “Macintosh Disability Resources.” The disk contains “up-to-date information on the entire range of assistive hardware products for Macintosh computers.”

The aspirational welcome letter reads:

At Apple Computer, we have always believed that with a good idea and a lot of determination, anyone can do just about anything.
That’s the inspiration behind our company.
It’s the inspiration behind the computers we make.
And it’s the inspiration behind the people at Apple who are working to change the way the world understands disability. And what it means to be disabled.
Apple’s Worldwide Disability Solutions Group was formed in 1985. Our principal focus then, as now, was the individual. Young and old. His needs. Her wants. His dreams. Her imagination.
Technology, of course, was important to us, too. But our computers have always been secondary. People have always mattered most. Especially people who live with a label.
These are the people who, every day, tell us how Macintosh computers are helping them to express themselves. In words. In letters. In music. In pictures. In numbers. In whatever ways that matter to them.
These are the people who are now living their lives out loud. Or quietly. It’s their choice.
And that, in the end, is the point. Our technology. Their choices. Just as it should be.

Sources: Apple (Accessibility, Developer)

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iLife. For the classroom. books (2003)

Two books with the same cover photo (three girls filming themsleves with a DV camera) are headed with “iLife. For the classroom.” and titled, Engage and motivate students with Apple’s new suite of integrated digital media software. The books are spiral bound, have a clear plastic cover, and five tabbed sections. One book is divided into the sections Language Arts/Literacy, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Other. The second version of the book replaces the “Other” tab with a “Step by Step” tab.

The first section of the book is printed in color and describes the iLife suite as “Tools that power today’s classroom.” Each tabbed section’s pages is printed in black and includes projects created by educators including a Project Description, Outcomes, Technology Skills, Tools and Resources, Assessment Suggestions, Tech Tips, and more.

Many of these activities were written by my friends who are teachers and Apple Distinguished Educators.

The pages measure 8.5 x 11 inches, are spiral bound, and the tabs add an extra 0.5 inch—making the full book 9 x 11 inches. Each section of these books is paginated separately. The March 2003 edition has approximately 68 pages and the June 2003 edition has approximately 82 pages.

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Apple Education 1 to 1 planning resources collection (2006, 2007)

From the mid-1980s to early 2000s, many schools had computer labs where students took computer classes or completed class projects. In general, students used computers at scheduled times during the school day. In the early 2000s, laptop carts became common so instead of going to the computer lab, the computer lab could go to your class.

In the early- to mid-2000s some schools had taken the leap to provide a laptop to every student throughout the school day. At first, these “1 to 1” (or 1:1) programs—one computer per one student—were rare and schools that implemented the programs only allowed students to use laptops while in school. Slowly, 1:1 programs allowed students to take home laptops some or all the time.

Around 2005, Apple Education began creating materials to help schools and school districts create 1:1 computer programs. These two paperback books are examples of Apple Education’s planning materials for school leaders.

In the short, but well-referenced brochure, Implementing a Successful 1 to 1 Learning Program, Apple makes the case for a 1:1 implementation:

“Students today are markedly different than they were a decade ago. Today’s learners are digitally savvy, born at a time and cell phones, handheld gaming devices, iPod, and notebooks are commonplace in homes are filled with computers, TVs, digital video recorders, and game consoles. Today’s students are not engaged by traditional lecture-based modes of teaching, preferring to learn by creating and doing, not by ‘sitting and getting’ (Barth, 2001). They want an active learning experience to match their active lifestyles—preferably enabled by the technology that has become their second nature.”

This brochure measures 7 x 9 inches and 9 pages long.

Another resource for 1:1 planning was a folder-sized brochure with 8 color pages. The brochure is titled One student. One computer. One great way to learn. The first page is a series of quotes by education leaders across the United States, and the rest of the brochure includes information in three more categories: 21st century learning tools for 21st century kids. A complete environment for learning and achievement. Higher achievement, from Maine to Hawaii.

The back page of the folder included a flap to store a series of “Profiles in Success.” The profiles included in my version are: Henrico County Public Schools (Richmond, VA); Manatee County Schools (Bradenton, FL); Michael Petrides School (Staten Island, NY); and Maine Public Schools.

This folder is full color and measures 9 x 12 inches.