The Apple Way

I confess myself to be an Apple geek.  I own a Macbook Air that I am currently using to type this post, a fourth generation iPad, and an iPhone 5.  I love the countless number of applications that I can run, the enhanced productivity I have found using these products, and the products' durability.  

Yet, more than anything else, I love the seamless integration of hardware and software that has been the mantra of Apple ever since Steve Jobs co-founded the company.  This idea that people who love software should build their own hardware has allowed Apple to create products that "just work" while  avoiding the inherent bugs found in their competitors' products.

What allows this seamless integration?  What allows these products to "just work" to the point that Apple fans are willing to line up for hours to be one of the first to have the next great product? (Sadly, I have yet to join this ragtag group.)

One could argue that Apple is very intentional (see my first blog post for an exploration of this word).  Apple is very purposeful with every design decision it makes and is able to a fantastic explanation for any choice it makes with few exceptions.

Yet, there is a related concept that makes Apple so successful at its integration and it is an idea educators should take to heart.  The idea is called simplicity.  As a working definition, simplicity is the art of distilling something to its essence so that all that is left is only what is needed to make that something what it needs to be.  Simplicity is the sworn enemy of complexity and is opposed to frills, processes, and hierarchies.  By contrast, simplicity is the champion of intuitiveness and ease of use.

The hallmark of simplicity can be found when someone can easily take something and know exactly what it is and what to do with it with little prompting.  As an example, take the iPhone.  When one sees the orderly row of apps, one instinctively knows to touch them.  There is no need for a pop-up to tell you.  It just makes sense to touch them.

This idea can, and should, extend to education.  When you give directions to your students, do you remove unnecessary steps?  When you type an exam, do you remove padded questions that exist only so that the exam takes a certain amount of time?  When you set up your classroom, do you strike a balance between too much decoration and barren walls?

In short, to engage in simplicity in the classroom, one should merely ask: Is the purpose (the intentionality) of what I am doing defeated if I remove this aspect from its design?  If the answer is no, great job!  You have made the item or task more simple.  If the answer is no, you have reached the edge of simplicity, the edge of the integration between educational design (the software) and the task at hand (the hardware) that Apple has been using to change lives the way teachers so aspire.