Steve Jobs on Education

“All books, learning materials, and assessments should be digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time.” ~Steve Jobs

I just finished reading (or rather listening to the audiobook) Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  As an early computer user my second personal computer was a Macintosh 512Ke. Over the years in addition to Windows PC computers we have had Mac PowerBook 150, iPods and now an iPad 2.  While I have always been interested in Jobs I have also always been an admirer of Jobs original Apple partner Steve “Woz” Wozniak who was the creator of the Apple I and the Apple II.  I enjoyed reliving much of my “geeky” upbringing with computers.

Recently Apple announced a major move towards distribution of digital textbooks.  Apple hopes to change how students and teachers purchase and view textbooks.  They hope to back as big of an impact on textbooks as they did with music.  I was also most interested in Jobs interest in America’s Educational System and Schools.

In chapter forty-one Isaacson shares Steve Jobs observation of the educational system. “Jobs also criticized America’s Education System, saying that it was hopelessly antiquated… It was absurd, he added, that American classrooms were still based on teachers standing at a board and using textbooks. All books, learning materials, and assessments should be digital and interactive, tailored to each student and providing feedback in real time.”

Steve Jobs major competitor and colleague was Bill Gates.  Gates also has been working to make changes in education through the use of his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During Gates last meeting prior to Jobs death, Jobs and Gates spoke about the educational system together.  “They agreed that computers had, so far, made surprisingly little impact on schools—far less than on other realms of society such as media and medicine and law. For that to change, Gates said, computers and mobile devices would have to focus on delivering more personalized lessons and providing motivational feedback.” 

In his book, Isaacson shared how Steve Jobs was asked by President Barack Obama what it would take to move manufacturing of Apple Products from China to the United States. Jobs explained that it cannot be done.  His answer again speaks to the importance our educational system plays in the development of jobs in our country. “Jobs went on to urge that a way be found to train more American Engineers. Apple had 700,000 factory workers employed in China, he said, and that was because it needed 30,000 engineers on-site to support those workers. You can’t find that many ‘Factory Engineers’ in America to hire,” he added. These Factory Engineers in China did not have to be PhDs or geniuses; they simply needed to have basic engineering skills for manufacturing. Tech schools, community colleges, or trade schools could train them. “If you could educate these engineers,” Jobs said, “then we could move more manufacturing plants here.”

For those of us in education, Jobs opinions and observations are not new, but they are important for us to be reminded of.  We might not all agree with all of Steve Jobs or Bill Gates philosophies on the American Education System but these are two men that clearly have a perspective we cannot ignore.  To give you an idea of the perspective Steve Jobs and Apple have, Apple, Inc. has cash on hand today $76 billion.  The United States Treasury has $74 billion or $2 billion less than Apple has of cash on hand.

What excites me is that Citrus County Schools has been planning and moving in much of the direction that Jobs and Gates are suggesting.  Our district last year went to a computer leasing program which updated nearly every computer system in the district and schools and will update them again every three years all at a cost near or less than what it cost to purchase computers.  This means that students now have access to the latest industry software and hardware. Now what I am most excited about it our district is getting ready to initiate a pilot “One to One” mobile technology for students which will put a mobile device in the hands of every student in the pilot program.  This means students will use these devices as their textbook readers and mobile learning centers.  It will allow for both individual remediation and/or individual advancement for students.

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