iPod Touch Schoolwide Implementation
There are a number of posts from individuals interested in using iPod Touches for teaching and Learning. At Culbreth Middle in Chapel Hill, NC we began a pilot this past August to place the iPod Touch in the hands of staff and students.
Our staff development for faculty to roll out the new technology centered on teacher coaches leading their groups in exploration through professional learning communities.
Our AVID students use the iPod Touch in the AVID classroom and in all other courses. They have piloted this program, using the iPod Touches daily for note taking, keeping individual agendas, translation for world languages, and accessing research through the Internet. In addition, our AVID students use many of the apps that teachers sync with these mobile devices. As student leaders, they’ve understood their responsibility to work and share this learning tool in collaborative groups.
This winter we were able to add iPod Touch labs for each of our seven interdisciplinary teams and two labs for our exploratory and resource teams. The interdisciplinary grade level iPod Touch labs are housed with each team and shared among the four content teachers (math, language arts, science, and social studies). These teachers plan together so that their students have access throughout each day. They access the internet as needed and use many apps as well.
Teacher current app favorites include: WordBook, Thesaurus, USA, Countries, Brain Tuner, Blanks, Whiteboard, CoinToss, Lose It!, Word Warp, FlipBook Lite. Of course they are using the included apps: Calendar, Calculator, Notes, Clock, YouTube throughout each day.
We held an iPod Touch Day last week with visitors from all over the state and from across the country. We even had a group from the UK come see our students and teachers in action with the iPod Touch. With almost 400 iPod Touches now in use at Culbreth, we’re happy to share what we’ve learned and what we’re learning.
Our staff development for faculty to roll out the new technology centered on teacher coaches leading their groups in exploration through professional learning communities.
Our AVID students use the iPod Touch in the AVID classroom and in all other courses. They have piloted this program, using the iPod Touches daily for note taking, keeping individual agendas, translation for world languages, and accessing research through the Internet. In addition, our AVID students use many of the apps that teachers sync with these mobile devices. As student leaders, they’ve understood their responsibility to work and share this learning tool in collaborative groups.
This winter we were able to add iPod Touch labs for each of our seven interdisciplinary teams and two labs for our exploratory and resource teams. The interdisciplinary grade level iPod Touch labs are housed with each team and shared among the four content teachers (math, language arts, science, and social studies). These teachers plan together so that their students have access throughout each day. They access the internet as needed and use many apps as well.
Teacher current app favorites include: WordBook, Thesaurus, USA, Countries, Brain Tuner, Blanks, Whiteboard, CoinToss, Lose It!, Word Warp, FlipBook Lite. Of course they are using the included apps: Calendar, Calculator, Notes, Clock, YouTube throughout each day.
We held an iPod Touch Day last week with visitors from all over the state and from across the country. We even had a group from the UK come see our students and teachers in action with the iPod Touch. With almost 400 iPod Touches now in use at Culbreth, we’re happy to share what we’ve learned and what we’re learning.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Deon Scanlon on
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Thanks, Megan.
I have just updated a few things, including links to the three known 'cart' solutions, and responses to a few comments.
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Permalink Reply by Megan Iemma on
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For Australia????? As in the options we have here...coming up with 10 activities I can do over 10 days..the students that I have to design the project around are mainly adults or 17-18 year olds who have very little english skills think from africa or asia..(as in very new to the country)...trying to run it in simulation form with teachers reporting back their findings..
have you used wirenode?
It reminds me very much of mogopop...(which I used to be quite an expert at)
Thanks
Megna
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Permalink Reply by Susan Wells on
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Deon,
Your blog is wonderful, full of iPod touch in schools info. I've attached our iPod touch Use Contract. The earlier sharing along with laptop 1to1 use agreements worked well as models. We deploy for full 1to1 on January 4th. We'll share lessons learned... I'm sure we'll continue to learn as we go.
Thanks,
Susan - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by Roland O'Daniel on
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As always, great stuff Deon. I look forward to reading more of your blog.
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Permalink Reply by Katherine Burdick on
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Susan, can you email me direct? I am looking for educators such as yourself - and anyone else reading this forum - who might want to serve on an advisory board for educational apps on the iPod Touch. kburdick32@comcast.net
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Permalink Reply by Mark Marshall on
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We are going to be doing a pilot program in a class in 3rd grade next year and the question arose, should we send them home with the kids? I mean the benefits are clear but the downfall is that if they get lost or damaged, then what do you do?
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We haven't had any issues at all with home use - except for the one where a student's sister threw his out the window...
Susan will be better able to comment on this, as her students take home school-owned machines. Our students own their own.
If they are going to take them home, ensure you have decent protective cases - I would probably suggest one that flips open, so it has protection on the back and, particularly, over the glass.
Louise Duncan also has students who take home school-owned iPod Touches. You can look her up in this Ning.
Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress!
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Permalink Reply by Louise Duncan on
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Our iPod touch Gen 1 have been in the hands of 14 year olds for 1.5 years now. These breakages have occurred:
Year 1: 1 heat damage (oil slick type mark on screen)
1 accidentally dropped on concrete, shattered screen
1 flown across the room and into wall / floor due to accelerometer bowling game, shattered screen
1 deliberate damage due to student not wanting to return device, shattered screen
The costs were recovered from two of these four families despite user agreements.
Year 2: 1 crushed in a heavy football tackle while in the pocket of 14 year old boy, large greyed out areas on screen
1 with headphone jack broken off inside device
1 smashed on the floor in tussle with younger brother
No devices have been lost.
Students in year 2 paid an insurance amount to cover the replacement of one device (amount calculated based on losses in the previous year), this has worked well.
This is the cold, hard truth of allowing students to take devices home. In my opinion, the majority of students will do the right thing, and should not be disallowed from taking the iPods home. Perhaps after a device is damaged they should not be allowed to take the replacement device home.
We have some expensive protective covers, with a leather flap over the front,but these are not always deemed cool...
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Permalink Reply by Beat Döbeli Honegger on
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Thanks for these numbers. One follow-up questions: How many devices are you using in your project (so I can calculate percentages of loss ;-) )
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25, I plan to loose 5 of these per year...20%, so far I haven't reached this as you can see.
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Of our 90:
1 died (mysterious natural, techno-death);
2 drowned (1 dropped in sink, 1 in washing machine);
approx 6 broken screens - 1 thrown out window, 1 fell off bench, 1 in pocket and meant against desk, 1 fell out of pocket in playground, 2 unknown.
4 with cracked screens are still being used, others have been replaced: 2 under warranty (I don't want to know what was said to get washing machine one replaced...), others under house and contents insurance.
Oh, and 1 has been abducted by aliens, and is awaiting student to raise half the cost of a new one.
Not too bad, really. Most have been during the last three months, as well.
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Louise,
As we send 600 out of the door here at Culbreth Middle at the beginning of January your info is invaluable. The cold hard truth seems pretty doable given the cold hard advantages we've found of the information at hand all the time. We're hoping to need no more than 10% replacement... We'll keep you posted!
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