iPod Touch in the classroom
I am very excited about my school's impending transition from all-PC to all-Mac, including replacing our computer labs with carts of Macbooks, as well as a classroom set of iPod Touch. My headmaster has already provided me with my own Touch so that I could familiarize myself with it, explore the educational apps available from the App Store, and generally figure out how exactly we're going to make use of it!
The Touch itself and the App Store are still so new that there is not a wealth of information available for them online as yet. The two most helpful resources I have found so far are the Apple Learning Interchange site, and the "Learning in Hand" site, by Tony Vincent, who dedicates a portion of his site on handhelds to the iPod Touch specifically.
But what I would MOST like to do, that I have not been able to yet, is connect with other teachers in elementary or middle schools who are already using the Touch in the classroom, or who have experience using handhelds in the classroom, and ideas of how you would use the Touch. I am attending NECC for the first time this June, and am hopeful that there will be some sessions relevant to this.
Any experience you can share, or resources to which you can point me? Thanks!
The Touch itself and the App Store are still so new that there is not a wealth of information available for them online as yet. The two most helpful resources I have found so far are the Apple Learning Interchange site, and the "Learning in Hand" site, by Tony Vincent, who dedicates a portion of his site on handhelds to the iPod Touch specifically.
But what I would MOST like to do, that I have not been able to yet, is connect with other teachers in elementary or middle schools who are already using the Touch in the classroom, or who have experience using handhelds in the classroom, and ideas of how you would use the Touch. I am attending NECC for the first time this June, and am hopeful that there will be some sessions relevant to this.
Any experience you can share, or resources to which you can point me? Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Raman Job on -
Hi, Julie. I can't help you with what you'd most like to do because I'm at a teachers' union not in a classroom. But I do have a Touch and I'm continually amazed at what it lets me do.
So, here's a tip you may not know about. Sometime last fall, the folks at Ning made it possible to cleanly view the basic features of any Ning on an iPhone or iPod touch by:
1) Opening the Safari browser on the unit
2) Entering the URL of the Ning followed by "/m" (for mobile I suppose)
What you get, then, is a wonderfully formatted view of your Ning with four essential features and not much else. You'll find buttons for:
- Activity
- My Page
- Members, and
- Forum
Still, you can view your photos and friends, it's good for keeping tabs on what's happening in the latest discussions, and it looks great. Of course, you can always use the Safari browser to get to the Ning without the "/m" suffix. Then you'll have access to all the features.
Cheers!
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Permalink Reply by teachhrfrd on -
I have an Itouch and I use it in the classroom. One of my favorite apps is spanish tutor. It is free and really awesome. i also like to have the kids make short videos on anything that is happening in the community or school and we can store it and share it with the itouch. Google calendars can be accessed, and the Remembr the Milk app is handy if you want them to learn to keep track of anything.
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Permalink Reply by Joyce Paisley on -
I visited Grey Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill, NC and was extremely impressed with their iTouch program. I had a chance to talk with teachers, students, and their technology person. Everyone said the iTouch allowed instant access, fostered collaboration among students and teachers, and was simply "cool".
They openly say the iTouch doesn't eliminate the need for laptops but "it puts a 100 tools in my pocket".
Check out their latest update information on their school website. http://www2.chccs.k12.nc.us/education/school/school.php?sectionid=4
My school system is sending a visiting team next week to see how well we think this will fit our needs.
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Permalink Reply by Jenny Ashby on -
Hi Julie,
I am using the touch this year in a prep/1 class. Checkout my site
http://web.me.com/jenashby/iPodTouch_Project/Blog/Blog.html
Last year we used them in the 5/6 class so it's a big change. Handwriting is so much fun on the touch.
Hope to catch up with touch users at NECC09.
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