WEP 106: Rewiring Education, An Interview with John Couch

How Technology Can Unlock Every Student's Potential. 

In this episode of the Wired Educator Podcast, Kelly interviews John D. Couch, the 54th person hired at Apple, the first VP of Education at Apple, friend of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and the author of a hot new book titled: Rewiring Education: How Technology Can Unlock Every Student’s Potential.

You can order your copy of John’s book here: Rewiring Education by John Couch.

Apple’s iconic co-founder Steve Jobs had a powerful vision for education, employing technology to make an enormous positive effect on the lives of millions of students. The man Jobs tapped to realize this vision was John D. Couch, a trusted engineer and executive who had a passion for education. Couch believed learning needed to be personal and collaborative. He argued the real purpose of education was to help children discover their uniqueness and empower them to reach beyond their perceived potential. However, changing a system that has notoriously resisted change for the past century proved to be no small task, even for an Apple vice president.

Now, though, technology is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, rewiring our homes, our jobs, and even our brains. Most important, a rewiring of education is finally beginning to unlock the potential of our schools, children, and society.

In Rewiring Education, Couch shares the professional lessons he’s learned during his 50-plus years in education and technology. He takes us behind Apple’s major research study, Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT), and its follow-up (ACOT 2), highlighting the powerful effects of the Challenge-Based Learning framework. Going beyond Apple’s walls, he also introduces us to some of the most extraordinary parents, educators, and entrepreneurs from around the world who have ignored the failed promises of memorization and, instead, utilize new science-backed methods and technologies that benefit all children, from those who struggle to honor students.

Rewiring Education examines the future, looking at the most promising of the emerging technologies, and how we, as parents, teachers, and voters, can ensure our children are provided with opportunities and access to the relevant, creative, collaborative, and challenging learning environments they need to succeed both today and tomorrow.

Mentioned in this podcast:

John’s new book: Rewiring Education: How Technology Can Unlock Every Student’s Potential.

John’s Non-Profit is: BeyondSchool.com

Win a a copy of John Couch’s book, Rewiring Education by clicking here & subscribing to the Wired Educator Newsletter. One winner will be announced. Or Tweet why you follow @WiredEducator on Twitter or other social media for a chance to win.

www.RewiringEducation.com

Steve Wozniak’s Woz University: https://woz-u.com/curriculum/

Challenge Based Learning

 

Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email.

Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe.
Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 106 episodes of interviews and professional development.
Visit the Wired Educator blog at www.WiredEducator.com
Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com
Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. 
Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.   •   Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.   •   Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

Rewiring Education: How Technology Can Unlock Every Student’s Potential by John D. Couch

I was excited to receive an early copy of Rewiring Education: How Technology Can Unlock Every Student’s Potential by John D. Couch today in the mail. You can grab your copy here!

John Couch was friend of Steve Job’s and the first Vice President of Apple Education. I had the good fortune of meeting John in 2011 and hearing him speak. He is brilliant. He has always been an advocate for personalized learning, which is quite a buzz-word in education today.

John’s new book, Rewiring Education: How Technology Can Unlock Every Student’s Potential, has a foreword written by Apple’s Co-Founder, Steve Wozniak, who I also had the pleasure of meeting and hearing him speak in 2017. Steve is also an advocate for personalized learning.

I am excited to read this book. If fact, I started it today, and I can’t put it down. Two of my favorite interests combined, education and Apple, all in one book. I have always admired Apple’s dedication and investment in education. This seems even more renewed with their recent, March 2018, Apple Education Event in Chicago. Clearly Education is indeed in Apple’s DNA.

John’s new book is driven by a powerful question: What if we could unlock the potential in every child?

Isn’t that question in the heart of every educator and educational leader? John believes we can, and he believes technology plays a key role. John’s book, like Apple itself, has a grand vision, and this vision is focused on ‘rewiring education.’

John has agreed to be an upcoming guest on my Wired Educator Podcast. I look forward to sharing that interview with you soon.

Until then, order out John’s new book: Rewiring Education: How Technology Can Unlock Every Student’s Potential.

Here’s more about this new book:

Apple’s iconic cofounder Steve Jobs had a powerful vision for education: employing technology to make an enormous impact on the lives of millions of students. To realize this vision, Jobs tapped John D. Couch, a trusted engineer and executive with a passion for education. Couch believed the real purpose of education was to help children discover their unique potential and empower them to reach beyond their perceived limitations.

Today, technology is increasingly integrated into every aspect of our lives, rewiring our homes, our jobs, and even our brains. Most important, it presents an opportunity to rewire education to enrich and strengthen our schools, children, and society

In Rewiring Education, Couch shares the professional lessons he’s learned during his 50-plus years in education and technology. He takes us behind Apple’s major research study, Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT), and its follow-up (ACOT 2), highlighting the powerful effects of the Challenge-Based Learning framework. Going beyond Apple’s walls, he also introduces us to some of the most extraordinary parents, educators, and entrepreneurs from around the world who have ignored the failed promises of memorization and, instead, utilize new science-backed methods and technologies that benefit all children, from those who struggle to honor students.

Rewiring Education presents a bold vision for the future of education, looking at promising emerging technologies and how we—as parents, teachers, and voters—can ensure children are provided with opportunities and access to the relevant, creative, collaborative, and challenging learning environments they need to succeed.

Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email: 

Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe.
Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 104 episodes of interviews and professional development.
Visit the Wired Educator blog at www.WiredEducator.com
Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com
Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library.