The Apple operating system in the classroom
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Choose iOS and MacOS for your classroom
Lots of your students and teachers will already have iPhones or iPads at home, so will be familiar with the iOS interface. This can help to avoid the difficulties that can occur when introducing unfamiliar tech that neither students, nor teachers are confident using.
Alongside the familiarity that macOS and iOS offer, you can also be confident that performance and usability will be consistent across different devices. This is because only Apple makes devices which run macOS and iOS. They’re made by the same manufacturer. This differs from other operating systems which are designed to run on devices made by many different manufacturers and therefore quality ranges from device to device. With Apple, you know what you’re getting and won’t get any nasty surprises.
What are the advantages of devices running on Apple OS?
iCloud can automatically back up your photos, videos, documents, apps, contacts, calendar events and more — keeping your most important content safe, while freeing up space on your iPhone or iPad. Everything stored in iCloud is easily accessible from any iOS device or Mac. With iCloud, iOS can automatically connect your Apple products to each other, making transitioning between devices easier:
- Share large files wirelessly between devices with AirDrop. It's faster and more convenient than email because you can send larger files which are too big for email servers
- Copy from your iPad and paste into your Mac, or vice versa with Universal Clipboard
- Wirelessly stream what’s on your iOS device to your TV via Apple TV with AirPlay. You can stream video, or mirror what’s on yours or your students' displays on a big screen
- Everything is synced, so when you update a document or photo on one device, the latest version appears on all your devices
- Handoff lets you start a task on your iPad and finish it on your Mac
iOS 17 comes with lots of new features for Education
The latest updates to iOS mean it’s packed with new features to help your students and teachers get the best out of their device. Being able to teach and learn anywhere has become ever more needed than ever, so now you can share your screen over Facetime. This makes teaching from wherever you are easier. Keeping you and your students connected is a big priority, so even if students don’t have an iOS device, they can still join Facetime securely. With additions like being able to scan hand-written work to text via camera, you’ll save on photocopying and scanning costs.
Find out more about iOS 17 here
Top quality apps for Education with iOS
The app store has an unrivalled number of apps designed specifically for education. And because many were initially designed for iOS, you get the best user experience. These apps will help you find better ways to teach, organise work and engage your students. All apps on the App Store are vetted by Apple. They approve the quality; verify that they’re from a legitimate source and ensure they don’t contain objectionable content. You can rest assured that no apps on the App Store will introduce malware or inappropriate content to your students. There are also a number of high-quality free apps included on your Apple devices such as Photos, Camera, iMovie, Garageband, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, FaceTime, Classroom, Maps and more.
GarageBand
Pages
Keynote
Learning with Apple
For most learning environments, we’d recommend a combination of both iPad and Mac, alongside Apple TV. Together, these Apple devices allow you to meet every learning need and create a more collaborative culture. Teachers and students can share what’s on their iPad or Mac with the whole class by file sharing, or even mirroring through AirDrop and Apple TV. Students can start their class assignments by conducting research on their iPad, then continue writing their content on a Mac; utilising the extra productivity features and additional power so they can work faster.
Mobility and learning with iOS and iPad
If mobility is an important consideration of your 1:1 device strategy, then iPad will perfectly suit your needs. iPad is the ideal mobile device for your students. It’s thin, light and durable, so is perfect to enable learning outside of the classroom - even outdoors. And with a wide range of ruggedised cases available, you can protect devices against knock and drops, wherever the learning happens.
iPad's long battery life keeps right up with the full school day, so students can carry their device from lesson to lesson and keep the learning flowing.
If you have students with accessibility needs, you can easily change the interface of their iPad to better support them, with a wide variety of settings and accessibility features. You also have more control over restriction of certain content and functions for all your students. Many apps are designed to work best on iOS; you can download lots of free Apple-designed apps onto your iPad such as Swift Playgrounds, plus 170,000 other education apps within the App Store.
iPad can also easily be used in an offline environment, so your students can create content, read textbooks and use learning apps anywhere and at any time, even without an internet connection.
Learning with MacOS. Ideal when more power is needed
If more power is needed to support students using data or graphics intense programs, then consider choosing a Mac. For lessons where lots of image, video, or audio editing is done, a Mac will most likely meet your needs best.
Macs come packaged with their own powerful editing programs, but also have the capabilities to handle programs like Photoshop with ease. Certain professions that revolve around video editing, photo editing and graphic design, not to mention coding and programming, tend to heavily involve the use of Macs. Providing your students with these skills now, could really set them apart from their peers in the future.
Mac enables educators to create deeply engaging and interactive materials for students to work from. Every Mac comes with powerful apps that'll help you create new ways to teach; Pages, Keynote, iMovie and Apple Books will allow you to make your content more compelling and capture the attention of your students. MacOS enables you and your students to be your most productive. Powerful built in tools for the classroom such as Split View, Mission Control and Spotlight let you take on multiple projects at once.
Get the conversation started
BT has a dedicated team of education specialists. We're here to support you with all aspects of your school, college or university's technology strategy across network, devices and apps. Just tell us how we can help and we'll have one of our education specialists call you back with free, no obligation advice.
