Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke with ABC's Good Morning America this morning about Apple's participation in the White House initiative, ConnectED, and what he thinks the future of technology in education will look like and what it will inspire.

This fall, 114 schools in 21 states will begin the school year up-to-date on tech thanks to Apple's contribution of $100 million to provide students with iPads, teachers with Macbooks, and classrooms with Apple TVs.

The funding was donated via a partnership with ConnectED. The ultimate goal of the partnership is to "link 99 percent of American students to high-speed Internet access by 2018. The Federal Communications Commission is working in tandem with a number of private corporations on the effort, [as well as] some other parties including Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon," said Apple Insider.

Cook spoke to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts in a brief interview in one Alabama elementary school that is a recipient of the company's contribution. There, he discussed the reason why he thinks technology integration is crucial to learning in the classroom.

Cook said part of the reason why Apple is determined to help public education is because he feels as if classrooms frequently represent an "analog world" for children where a generation born entirely in a digital world is simply not being engaged.

Engagement, he said, is important because more kids will move on to higher education when engaged because education has become something they desire. Indeed, Cook attributes a good public school education to his success today.

Cook believes the future of technology needs more diversity and more opportunities, and believes that more established role models in technology will help so that in 20 years the best companies will be the most diverse.

Robin Roberts ended the segment with a thought about how technology has changed the classroom; whereas just a decade or so ago memorizing the state capitals was important, now that information exists only a click away. Instead, she says, time needs to be spent learning to think critically and to think outside of the box.

Read more here and comment with your thoughts below. Is your school one of the 114 schools? We'd love to hear from you about your experiences throughout the year!

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

08/24/2015