Sunday, September 18, 2016

Apple Teacher Professional Learning for PDH Credit

At the beginning of September 2016, Apple announced Apple Teacher, a new program created to support and celebrate educators. The program provides self-paced learning experiences with tips, inspiration, news, and learning materials to help teachers use the iPad, Mac, and built-in apps in the classroom. Teachers can earn badges and an official “Apple Teacher” recognition to share the achievement with the world.

Joe Robinson, our Director of Instructional Technology, and I have completed the Apple Teacher program and both of us highly recommend it! We believe that this program is an excellent starting point for any teacher—and it reaffirms the skills of teachers with more technology integration experience with recognition. At the same time, the process for earning badges is set up to suggest classroom activities for even advanced Apple technology users. Teachers can choose to pursue either iPad or Mac training paths—or complete them both.

Technology Integration Foundations for iPad and Mac

We like this program so much that we have worked with Dr. April Jordan, Barrington 220’s Director of Extended Programs and Staff Development, to create a blended learning professional development course for teachers to earn official Professional Development Hours (PDHs), formerly known as CPDUs. In Barrington 220, we call the course Technology Integration Foundations for iPad and Mac. The online learning part of the course is the Apple Teacher program. The Apple Teacher program is comprised of online training sessions that can be completed over a period of time. The face-to-face part of the course is a meeting with a Barrington 220 facilitator and other teachers who have completed the training. During a one-hour final meeting, teachers share activities completed with students using the content learned in the online training modules.

iPad Online Activities
Each activity is credited 30 minutes:
  • iPad
  • Pages for iPad
  • Keynote for iPad
  • Numbers for iPad
  • iMovie for iPad
  • GarageBand for iPad
  • Productivity with iPad
  • Creativity with iPad
Mac Online Activities
Each activity is credited 30 minutes:
  • Mac
  • Pages for Mac
  • Keynote for Mac
  • Numbers for Mac
  • iMovie for Mac
  • GarageBand for Mac
  • Productivity with Mac
  • Creativity with Mac


Several Options

Any teacher can sign up for and complete all or part of the Apple Teacher program and receive Apple’s badges and/or Apple’s Apple Teacher recognition.


Barrington 220 teachers can sign up for the Technology Integration Foundations for iPad and Mac course, which includes completing the Apple Teacher program, logging online hours, and attending a one-hour meeting. Teachers who successfully complete the Technology Integration Foundations for iPad and Mac may earn up to 10 Professional Development Hours (PDHs):
  • Complete 8 Apple Teacher iPad online sessions (30 minutes each) and attend a one-hour meeting = 5 PDHs. 
  • Complete 8 Apple Teacher Mac online sessions (30 minutes each) and attend a one-hour meeting = 5 PDHs.
  • If you complete both the iPad and Mac online sessions and attend one one-hour meeting, you will earn 9 PDHs. 
  • Participants who complete the iPad online sessions and attend a one-hour meeting, and later decide to complete the Mac online sessions and attend another one-hour meeting, can earn up to 10 PDHs.
Online Learning

Each online learning session delivered through the Apple Teacher program includes a multi-touch digital book that is downloaded from the iBooks Store. These books are written specifically for teachers and include ideas for using Apple apps and devices in the classroom.


Teachers demonstrate mastery by completing a summative evaluation at the end of each activity. Each successfully completed module results in the teacher earning a digital "badge." The successful completion of all eight digital badges in the iOS category also allows the teacher to earn an "Apple Teacher 2016" recognition.


The summative quizzes at the end of each online session incude several types of questions, including multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and drag-to-reorder questions. A few of the questions, especially in the productivity and creativity activities, suggest interesting ways of using apps in real-world situations.

This question presents potential uses for several iPad apps.

How to Earn PDHs in Barrington 220

Step 1: Sign up for the Apple Teacher program
Use your personal or Barrington 220 Apple ID to sign up for the Apple Teacher program.

Step 2: Log each of your Apple Teacher learning experiences
Sign in to log each module as you complete each digital badge.
(Educators outside of Barrington 220 may view the non-interactive sign-in page here.)

Step 3: Sign up for one monthly face-to-face meeting
Using the log, sign up for one of the monthly face-to-face meetings with a Barrington 220 instructor and a group of your peers. Schedules meetings for 2016–17:
  • Monday, September 26, 2016, 3:00–4:00 PM, James Street Engleking Room
  • Thursday, October 27, 2016, 7:30–8:30 AM, James Street Engleking Room
  • Tuesday, November 29, 2016, 3:00–4:00 PM, James Street Main Conference Room
  • Thursday, January 26, 2017, 7:30–8:30 AM, James Street Engleking Room
  • Thursday, February 23, 2017, 3:00–4:00 PM, James Street Main Conference Room
  • Thursday, March 23, 2017, 7:30–8:30 AM, James Street Engleking Room
  • Tuesday, April 25, 2017, 3:00–4:00 PM, James Street Main Conference Room
  • Thursday, May 25, 2017, 7:30–8:30 AM, James Street Main Conference Room
Step 4: Attend the face-to-face meeting
You may attend any face-to-face meeting after you have completed your online training to complete the course requirements to receive PDH credit.

Schoology Course

You may also sign up for the Barrington 220 Schoology course:
  1. Log in to Schoology.
  2. Select the Courses dropdown menu at the top.
  3. Click on the Join link in the Courses dropdown.
  4. Enter access code X8ZJK-JMXNS
  5. Click the Join button.
Future Opportunities

Hopefully, this blended learning structure will be replicable for future PDH opportunities in Barrington 220. Whether you plan to only participate in the Apple Teacher program or also pursue PDH credit through the blended learning course, best of luck! We hope to see the Apple Teacher 2016 recognition in many Barrington 220 email signatures and elsewhere.

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