Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow

Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) is a research and development collaboration among public schools, universities, research agencies, and Apple Computer, Inc. Initiated in 1985, ACOT began its work in seven classrooms that represented a cross section of America's elementary and secondary schools. Its goal was to study how the routine use of technology by teachers and students might change teaching and learning. Over the 10 years, ACOT has studied learning, assessment, teaching, teacher development, school design, the social aspects of education, and the use of new technologies in more than 100 elementary and secondary classrooms throughout the country. After a solid decade of research, the ACOT project is one of the longest continuing educational studies of its kind. Now, in its second decade, ACOT is collaborating with schools internationally to explore constructivism mediated by technology, emphasizing collaboration over the Internet.

In ACOT classrooms, students and teachers have immediate access to a wide range of technologies, including computers, videodisc players, videocameras, scanners, CD-ROM drives, modems, and on-line communications services. In addition, students can use an assortment of software programs and tools, including word processors, databases, spreadsheets, and graphics packages. In ACOT classrooms, technology is viewed as a tool for learning and a medium for thinking, collaborating, and communicating.

ACOT's research has demonstrated that the introduction of technology to classrooms can significantly increase the potential for learning, especially when it is used to support collaboration, information access, and the expression and representation of students' thoughts and ideas.

Realizing this opportunity for all students, however, requires a broadly conceived approach to educational change that integrates new technologies and curricula with new ideas about learning and teaching, as well as with authentic forms of assessment.

ACOT's mission is to advance the understanding of teaching and learning in global, connected communities of educators and learners. This includes investigating how teaching and learning change when people have immediate access to technology as well as helping people better understand how technology can be an effective learning tool and a catalyst for change.

Reports

• Teacher Beliefs and Practices Part I: Patterns of Change - Discusses the findings from the first through fourth year at ACOT sites with classrooms of students with high access to technology. Report #8, 1990.

See Also

• Apple Higher Education
• Apple Library of Tomorrow