Apple Foundation Program at RMIT

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Karin: Apple came to us with a challenge. The challenge was that there are not enough skilled workers in the tech sector in Australia and they wanted to help fill that gap. So we started talking about the opportunity to offer a program that would encourage more people to consider a career in technology.

Steph: The added benefit is one, we've got an awesome location, so a bit more room for our students. We can allocate for bigger groups. So we've had a very high demand for the program.

Tuck: My vision for a program is actually to empower individuals to participate in the tech sector, and this is by delivering innovative design and technology education as well as instilling creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Karin: I see the program as really opening doors for people, providing them with the opportunity to learn something they've never perhaps experienced before and to see that it's fun and that they might be able to build a career around that.

Steph: Doesn't matter where and what field they're going in. Anything around research, project, designing something for a digital solution. They could transfer the skills they've learned during the Apple Foundation program.

Tuck: Some of the objectives that we carry out here to deliver that vision, it's through developing innovative and cutting-edge education material with Apple. The Apple Foundation Program is indeed part of the broader Apple education network. It is part of an Apple Academy which is in different countries and continents, as well as foundation programs around the world. 

Karin: RMIT is situated in Melbourne, which is an extremely diverse and cosmopolitan city, and we want this program to create opportunities for the people that are immediately around us.

Tuck: We also try and target people from underrepresented groups in our cohorts so that we ensure that there are more of them in the tech sector.

Steph: Having all our technology provided by Apple means that it's not really a standard classroom where you've got a front of the classroom, you're surrounded by the technology which enables collaboration. But it's a great way where everything integrates within our ecosystem and the device the students use, it's very easy for us to just display what they're working on sharing with others. So it's, it's got a massive impact on how we teach within the Apple Foundation program and we're very lucky and thankful to have such an awesome space. 

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Swan: Well, what I'm most excited about is like, you know, creating a real-life-impacting app and making new networks, connection and you know, probably changing to a new career.

Daniel: I saw an ad on TikTok about the Apple RMIT program and I thought, why not, Apple-RMIT partnered together, I might as well apply and see how it goes.

Zenna: Coming from an interior design background, I'm always looking for ways to become a better designer. So when I saw an opportunity to learn about the processes of UX design and app development, I jumped at the opportunity.

Swan: So the biggest challenge that we have to face is how to create a workable app in, you know, our available time frame.

Daniel: When we're on the way down, it can be a little bit challenging because you don't know where you're going. You know, you're so far into an idea and then it just doesn't work. So you have to take a few steps back, reevaluate, and we've gone through that a couple of times. So it's been tricky. But at the moment we've got something good going, so we're just going to ride that wave and see where it takes us.

Zenna: Steph and Beck and the Apple program have really laid out everything in advance. They give us a timetable, you know, our milestones for what we're supposed to achieve on each day. And so that's really given me like, you know, insight on how these things work.

Swan: Presenting our app idea to the people from Apple and RMIT, it's very exciting and also at the same time it's very scary.

Zenna: My advice for anyone that's looking to join the Apple Foundation program is you don't have to have any experience; I have none. If I can learn it in four weeks, you can too.

Daniel: Coming into this experience not knowing what I would learn and coming in with not much knowledge of Swift, it was a little bit nerve wracking, but I think it's been really fun and there's been heaps of learning. And working in a team has been really, really great.

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