(#Bloggermore2015 8/26)

I have always loved a good title; I’m a Haiku Deck Guru, an iAnnotate Power User and I’ve even been labelled an iPad Ed Evangelist. I hope that one day I will even be considered part of the Twitterati but, the one title I know I will never claim is that of ADE; an Apple Distinguished Educator. Earlier this year I invested many hours in my application to be part of this year’s ADE intake. I know it is a highly competitive program but I thought I had a genuine chance of success. After all, I’m an atypical applicant; in my fifties and living in regional Australia, I believed I could make a real impact in my new Barossa Valley location.

Of course, I can’t know how the selection process works. But I bet (like everything Apple does) it is highly secretive. I had a quite unique, even disturbing, experience in 2014 when an Apple employee threatened to evict me from their secret Brisbane office if I revealed its location in a tweet. Yep, that secretive!

After a wait of nearly two months, I received the expected reply, that I had been “unsuccessful” in my application. The emailed rejection was as cold and soulless as every other form letter.

“Thank you for your interest … blah, blah … a record number of applicants … blah, blah … unable to provide individual feedback … BLAH, BLAH …”

My major objection to Apple’s rejection; the fact that a mega-company, which has profited so vastly from education, fails to see the critical importance of feedback in enabling growth and future success. But, they did still “… applaud (my) efforts …” and suggested that I visit ” … one of … over 450 Apple Stores worldwide.” Yes; I could drive 90 kilometres to my nearest Apple Store; maybe one of the 19 year old geniuses could tell me why my application failed.

Wait; is that the disembodied, mechanised voice of Darth Google I hear, inviting me to the dark side. No, no I say, I love my iPad and my Macbook Pro. But then again I could become a Google Certified Teacher, or a Google Trainer or own Google!