Steve Jobs’ Legacy Benefits Teachers

Recently, countless news outlets have touted the accomplishments of the late Steve Jobs, yet few, if any, touched on one particular program he created that is designed to benefit educators.
The Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE) program was created to recognize K-12 and higher-education pioneers who are using a variety of Apple products to transform teaching and learning. Today it has grown into a worldwide community of visionary educators who are doing amazing things with technology in and out of the classroom. That includes working together (and with Apple) to help bring the freshest ideas to students everywhere.

Steve Jobs respected teachers and created a program to honor and help them.

ADEs work closely with Apple to lead innovation in education. They advocate using new technology to help engage students in new ways — and share their expertise with other educators and policymakers. They advise Apple on the realities of integrating technology into learning environments. They author and publish valuable insights, lessons and best practices. They also work together as ambassadors to develop and promote powerful ideas for improving teaching and learning worldwide.
There are now over 1,500 ADEs worldwide, and they all gather at the ADE online community (as well as in person) to collaborate on solutions to the global education challenges of today and tomorrow.
Examples of the strides ADEs are making are almost everywhere. Kathy Shirley, ADE Class of 2003, helped integrate the iPod touch into her students’ reading exercises. By recording and listening to themselves read, students got instant feedback and became much more engaged. In a short six months, they gained almost two full years of reading comprehension. José Garcia, ADE Class of 2009, helped his school district bring project-based learning to grades 6 through 12. Enhancing curriculum with engaging, interactive projects, students created movies, podcasts, wikis and blogs. In seven years, the percentage of graduating seniors going to college jumped from 26 to 90.