The awards are considered to be one of the most prestigious and exciting educational events in South Africa. In its seventh year, this competition celebrates the youth, learning and teaching.
This year’s entries came from grades R to 12 from 42 private schools, 22 rural schools, and three township schools across nine provinces.
Michelle Lissoos, managing director of ThinkAhead, the organisers of the competition said: “The Apple in Education competition is an opportunity for our partner schools to showcase how Apple technology has been integrated into the classroom to redefine the way we teach and learn to meet the demands of the 21st century. It is about rewarding creativity, collaboration and innovation.”
Lissoos added that the awards have become a key event on the education calendar as schools compete for the status of winning. “Prizes are cool, of course, but more than that it is a testament to the possibilities and potential of how we should and can be teaching and learning in today’s world,“ she said.
The competition categories were: Shape of My World, Exploring the Sciences in Everyday Life, Bringing to Life Your Favourite Historical/Literary Figure, Expression Through the Arts, iTeacher 2015, iTunes U in the Classroom, iPhotography and iSchool Press Team.
Projects were created using powerful Apple apps and utilities such as iMovie, QuickTime, StopMotion, Book Creator and Explain Everything. Youngsters who created innovative school projects using iPads were rewarded for their efforts, as well as the creative pupils who took impressive photographs with their devices and the teachers who guided them in doing so.
Winners received prizes including iPod Nano, iPad mini, iPad Air 2, iPod Touch, Apple TV, Beats headphones, and Apple accessories.
The judges for the competition included leading local and international educators and Apple education specialists such as Paul Hamilton, the head of learning technologies at Matthew Flinders Anglican College Australia; Bernard Viljoen who is an architect; Christo Doherty, an associate professor of digital arts at the Wits School of Arts; and Ingrid Martens an award-winning filmmaker. Also part of the judging panel were Beth Holland, Tom Daccord and Sabba Quidwai who are United States EdTech teachers; and Daniel Edwards, the director of digital strategy at Stephen Perse Foundation schools in Cambridge, England.
Watch this video by St Stithian’s College pupil Gabriella Fedetto, one of the winners at the Apple in Education Awards 2015 for her project, Expression Through the Arts
