Kia ora,

Here’s the latest Cyclone Apple Education Newsletter including some thoughts on how we could be proactive with the new Apple Intelligence features being released soon, some information about our Apple Education Webinar coming up and more resources and links to share with your teams (including some pro methods for snapping your Mac windows with Sequoia!)

?? APPLE INTELLIGENCE

Our Apple Specialist, Mark Herring is attending the CPPA Hauora Retreat in sunny Hanmer Springs this week and he has had some great conversations with the principals there. One of the common themes from the two days is the complexity of the challenges facing schools. To help you navigate one of these challenges, the growing list of AI and Apple Intelligence tools available to schools today and here are some ‘things to consider’ for you.

?

If your school has Macs with M1 chips (or above) or the latest iPad Airs and Pros with M2 chips. In these cases, you’ll have access to new learning tools: from AI-assisted writing support and image creation with GenMoji, to sketch-to-image capabilities and integrated ChatGPT access.

?

These tools offer exciting new ways to support student learning and classroom creativity. But to make the most of them, here are a few key areas to think about:

?

1. Privacy and Safety: Make sure any AI tool protects student data and aligns with privacy laws. Apple Intelligence is quite unique in that it’s designed to protect user privacy every step of the way. We think is this going to be a very popular reason for schools to be leaning towards Apple Technology.
2. Purpose and Impact: Focus on tools that genuinely support learning goals. A good idea is to try things out on a small scale first to see the real benefits. We encourage developing an ‘Apple Lead Team’ of teachers and even students to trial new features as they appear to explore their educational benefits or otherwise.
3. Training and Support: Teachers need the right training and ongoing support to make the most of AI without added stress. Everyone is aware of the productivity dip that can occur when new tools are introduced. Allowing teachers time to explore and share what they are learning is the best way to help develop capacity across your school.
4. MDM Policies and Restrictions: Decide which Apple Intelligence features users can access. It’s very early days for our Apple Engineers at Cyclone. Still, they are already aware of a developing set of policies that schools can ‘open or close’ for individuals and groups. Talk with your remote management provider about which AI features you can allow or block for students and teachers.

?

With thoughtful planning, these new tools can support both learning and teaching in ways we haven’t seen before. If you’d like to explore this in more detail, join us at our live Apple Education Webinar on the 28th of November.

?? NEW MAC LINEUP FOR 2024

Have you seen the updates for the 2024 Mac lineup that have been released over the last week? Here’s a quick recap:

?

MacBook Pro (14-inch and 16-inch)

• Available with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips for optimised performance, especially in graphic-intensive tasks.
• Includes Thunderbolt 5 on M4 Pro and M4 Max models for faster data transfer.
• Features up to 24 hours of battery life, a 12MP Center Stage camera and a new nano-texture display option for reduced glare.

iMac (24-inch)

• Powered by the M4 chip, offering up to 1.7x faster general performance and 2.1x better graphics compared to the previous generation.
• Boasts a 4.5K Retina display with a nano-texture glass option, a 12MP Center Stage camera and four Thunderbolt 4 ports.
• Available in multiple colors (green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue and silver).

Mac mini

• Now even smaller, with M4 and M4 Pro chip options, delivering up to 1.8x CPU and 2.2x GPU improvements over the M1 model.
• Front and back ports, including Thunderbolt 5 on the M4 Pro model, enhance connectivity.
• The first carbon-neutral Mac, making it an affordable entry point for Apple’s desktop lineup.

These models are available for pre-order and release on November 8, 2024. See this link at Apple’s Newsroom for more information.

?? FOUR MODES OF LEARNING RESOURCE

If you’re looking to get more out of the Apple technology in your classroom you could try using this easy to grasp framework - Mark's ‘Four Modes of Learning’ model. It challenges teachers to move beyond ‘consuming and interacting’ with their tech and into ‘creating and collaborating.’

?

My post on the Apple Education Community Forum has a brief explanation and a downloadable Keynote template for teachers to adapt and use for planning their own rich learning experiences. It’s a small part of a ‘Better Together’ workshop I run with school leaders and teachers, based on using the MacBook and iPad together in the classroom.

?

If you’re interested in having me share this with your staff, let me know. I’m currently booking personal learning dates for January and February.

?? PODCASTING RESOURCE

Who wants an end-of-year project for their class, whether to summarise a unit of learning or just to galvanise and enrich your program? Here’s a great resource from the Everyone Can Create section of the Apple Education Community.

?

It’s got everything you need to get started, including step-by-step instructions that older students will be able to navigate easily on their own. Let us know if you’d like some guidance on getting this started in your school or some advice on affordable gear to take your podcasting to the next level!

?????? CYCLONE'S APPLE EDUCATION WEBINAR 28TH NOVEMBER 4PM

Our Apple Team at Cyclone is hosting a live webinar and you’re invited!

?

This event, called ‘Apple Technologies Top Trends in EDU for 2025,’ is presented by Mark Herring, the Apple Education Specialist, our Apple Professional Learning Specialist, Danny Bedingfield along with our Solutions Engineer, James Carr and Senior Support Engineer Max Hewett from Cyclone.

?

This session will explore how Apple Technologies can optimise learning outcomes for your school through Apple Intelligence, device management, Markup and Apple Pencil.

?

Click here to register!

?? APPLE TEACHER BOOTCAMP 12TH NOV - DUNEDIN

There is no better way to grow your confidence with Apple technology in the classroom than to have a strong skill set with the foundation skills for Mac and iPad. A great way to get these skills is to work towards becoming an Apple Teacher. This is Apple’s ‘microcredential’ program and it’s free for all teachers at education.apple.com

?

Our Apple Team is launching our very first ‘Apple Teacher Bootcamp’ in Dunedin on November 12th. It’s from 4 pm to 5 pm and will give you everything you need to get enrolled, orient yourself towards the resources and learning materials and even have a go at achieving your first badge. We’ll also have the latest Apple tech there for you to try. Here’s the link for registration and also here for a flyer to send to your staff and network of schools.

?

Let us know if you want to organise your professional learning for your school in January/February 2025. We’d love to talk about how we might facilitate one for your TODs, Kahui Ako and network of schools, wherever you are in the country!

?? LEARNING COACH APPLICATIONS 2025

One of the best ways to complement the professional learning support you can receive from an APLS (Apple Professional Learning Specialist) in your school is to develop members of your own team to grow that sustainable internal digital capacity. The Apple Learning Coach is designed to help train educators to get more with Apple technologies. They’ll also gain important coaching skills, create a coaching portfolio and design an action plan to help train other teachers.

?? MAC WINDOW SNAPPING

This tip is for ‘pro’ users on a Mac and helps you easily snap those windows into exactly where you want them, perfect for report writing! This explanation, by Snazzy Labs, shows the simple, slightly trickey and then super advanced ways to customise shortcuts to window setups that work for you - see how on his video here.

?

Have fun customising your windows and wow your colleagues with your wizardry!

ONE LAST THING!

As always, let us know if there’s anything we can do to support you and your school with everything to do with Apple Learning. Whether you have Apple tech, are thinking about switching or would like to talk about what’s possible, let us know by contacting Mark at [email protected].

TEST DRIVE KIT

BOOK WITH MARK

SUBSCRIBE HERE