Opinion
School & District Management Opinion

Steve Jobs’ Vision for Teachers

By Patrick Ledesma & Laura Reasoner Jones — October 18, 2011 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

When we think of Steve Jobs’ contribution to education, many of us will highlight the potential of the iPod and the iPad in the classroom. Many could also highlight how Apple’s software applications like Garageband and iMovie naturally encourage creativity, providing students with powerful tools for self-expression.

In honoring Steve Jobs, the two of us remember something much more important than technology: how Apple empowered educators in their professional development, leadership, and teaching of students.

From 2001 to 2003, we were fortunate to be part of Digital Edge, a collaborative project sponsored by Apple, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the International Society for Technology in Education, or ISTE, and the AT&T Foundation. Digital Edge featured teacher-created videos of classroom teaching and included resources for lesson duplication.

National-board-certified teachers who participated in Digital Edge received video-editing training at Apple Inc.’s California headquarters, along with an Apple laptop, a video camera, extensive support, and the equipment necessary to produce videos of best-practice technology integration in the classroom. The videos targeted the continuum of integration so teachers who were “beginners” and “experts” in technology could utilize the full bandwidth of Digital Edge. Teachers created videos demonstrating their teaching and wrote lesson plans to describe their work and the teaching process. Digital Edge enabled classroom teachers to duplicate their technology-integrated lessons for any colleague with a connection to the Internet.

See Also

Read more Commentaries about Steve Jobs’ influence on education:
“Paying Forward the Legacy of Steve Jobs.”
“Thank You, Steve Jobs.”

Digital Edge showed board-certified educators at work in their classrooms, and it offered a detailed and transparent look at their practice. It provided educators in search of professional development with authentic teacher voices that could offer insight and expertise in the practice of teaching. And it promoted technology integration for schools with few computers and schools with many; it was useful for all.

Apple’s Digital Edge was ahead of its time in both advancing technology and teacher leadership. We learned a great deal from that experience: from the technical challenges of teacher-created videos to developing instructional modules that could be used in professional development. Archived videos from Digital Edge are still used today to help novice teachers learn what good teaching really looks like.

As with most Apple projects, Digital Edge was cutting edge because it demonstrated the extent to which technology can empower people and improve lives. In 2001, teacher-created videos on the Internet were almost nonexistent. A decade ago, teachers needed special resources to create and publish videos on the Internet.

Today, any teacher can create an educational video with a camera phone and post it to the Internet almost immediately. Today, teachers have the tools to be the innovators and leaders of their profession.

Although Apple’s Learning Interchange, and Digital Edge, closed in 2010, opportunities for educational exchange continue through iTunes University. Teacher-created videos and resources are everywhere on the Internet and available on iTunes, YouTube, and TeacherTube, as well as many other education websites.

By recognizing the potential of teacher expertise and the power of teachers to share their knowledge, Steve Jobs and Apple had a vision for how technology could promote that teacher knowledge to reach the most important audience—educators and, ultimately, their students. Every teacher-created video and podcast on the Internet today that helps people learn demonstrates how that vision became reality.

A version of this article appeared in the October 19, 2011 edition of Education Week as A Vision for Teacher Learning

Events

English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion 'I Used to Think School Systems Were Broken': Educators Reflect
Changing your mind or evolving your thinking is not easy. Hear how these education leaders did just that.
1 min read
Used to Think
Hear how these Harvard education graduate students evolved their thinking around both their practice and work as systems leaders.
School & District Management Opinion I Teach Educators How to Change Their Minds. Here’s How
Four important lessons for how educators—school and district leaders, especially—can create opportunities for growth.
Jennifer Perry Cheatham, Erica Lim & Carmen Williams
5 min read
Video stills
The students from the Leaders of Learning class taught by Jennifer Perry Cheatham at the Harvard Graduate School of Education last year.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week
School & District Management Opinion The 4 Gifts Principals Should Give Teachers This Year (Hint: Not Another School Mug)
Instead of a staff pizza party or a school-branded mug, give them meaningful gifts that really nourish their craft.
4 min read
A Large yellow bow across the foreground of a  photo illustration group of teachers line up happily closely together along a wall
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management After Teachers, America's Schools Spend More on Security Guards Than Any Other Role
New estimates from the Urban Institute indicate school resource officers cost more than $2 billion every year.
4 min read
Illustration of Police silhouettes and a subtle dollar sign to show SRO funding
Wildpixel/iStock