Ipod Touch in Education

I have a class of 30 Year 8 students (12 years old) and a set of eight iPod Touch that we will be using when we start our school year in two weeks time. I am interested in hearing about feedback on peoples experiences, ideas and/or suggestions in relation to using the iPod Touch in education. Thank you.

Tags: Touch, iPod

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Permalink Reply by Edwin Everett on September 10, 2009 at 5:47am

Yep, they're pentium II's and they use updated applications, including Java and Internet Explorer. Our tech support have no problem working on them--which they rarely have to do--in fact, it's the new comps they complain about, with motherboards going out due to crazy fast drives and overheating processors. All the Pathos Learning programs work just as well on these old machines as they do on new ones. I use them instead of textbooks, for instance. A lab such as mine can had for $1000 or even less if you know where to look. Add inexpensive wireless cards and you're set! We can agree to disagree about handhelds vs. stations. I use stations daily and they're key to nearly everything I do in my classroom.

Cheers,

Ed

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Permalink Reply by Deon Scanlon on March 7, 2010 at 3:19am

I didn't actually disagree with you - just stated a couple of benefits of iPod Touches over desktop computers.

I also pointed out that the two devices are not in competition with each other.

I guess i am speaking from my own experience, having used desktop computers when I first started teaching, moving on to laptops, and now a combination of laptops and iPod Touches.

If budgetary requirements are the most important for you, then your solution is perfect. Also, a great deal of the things we traditionally required software for can now be done using a web-browser. This makes older computers all-the-more useful! Probably more useful than they were three or four years ago!

If equity of access outside of school hours, mobility and ubiquitous use are key, handheld devices will win hands-down. You can't record an interview whilst on a field trip with a desktop computer. Nor can you use it to watch a video on the bus or to create a digital slideshow in your bedroom! The key factor is pedagogical, not technological or logistical.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Thompson on December 8, 2009 at 12:14pm

I have a question for all of you using the Ipod Touch, how do you go about syncing all the applications and settings on these, especially after students change things daily since they have access to the settings.

Do you sync them one at a time? Everyday?..... I know I can use the Iphone configuration tool for some settings, but not to sync the applications....

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Permalink Reply by Glen Lawson on December 19, 2009 at 7:38pm

I sync my ipods on a mac book. It allows me to sync them ( I have 15) all at once. I set up one ipod then "restored" them as copies of the first one. That way they sync the same.

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Permalink Reply by Deon Scanlon on March 7, 2010 at 2:42pm

But this does not solve the App situation.

And the problem with restoring iPods to make them the same is that you can only restore one at a time, as installing OS software engages iTunes completely. But you really only need to do this the very first time you set it up (set up on iPod as you would like it, then restore all the rest from the backup) so you can get the same settings without manually entering them. I would say that it is worth doing - but you can do this with the iPhone config utility, too.

Set up each to automatically sync apps, so when you plug in you don't have to do anything for it to sync. This way you can plug all your devices in (if you have available USB ports - via hubs or docks) and let them sync at once, without having to tell iTunes to do anything.

If students aren't permitted to put music/videos on them, set them up to sync with smart playlists - these can automatically include music and movies with certain parameters. Set up subject-based smart playlists, and every time you put a new file into your library, either add the subject name to the name of the track, or you could make the smart playlists look at genres, and you could make the genre of each track the same as the subject you want it used for.

The result will be a set of iPods with playlists named after each subject, that manage themselves, provided that you following some kind of naming procedure. This saves manually updating playlists each time you add tracks.

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Permalink Reply by Janice Friesen on September 26, 2010 at 1:57pm

Forgive me if this question has been answered.

I have just finished upgrading our set of 20 iTouches to OS 4.1. This allows you to organize your apps in folders. That seemed like a good idea, except that it would take me WAY too much time to do all 20, one at a time. I am hoping that there is a way to organize them in iTunes so that when they are synced they all have the same organization. Is that possible? In a week I will be taking the cart around to different classes K-5 and introducing them. Above 3rd grade the kids are fine, but especially in K I would like to be able to point them to a folder and then an app. If I have to do it one at a time it is not worth doing. Any ideas????

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Braumberger on January 5, 2010 at 11:57am

You could try Google Docs, Google Earth to collaborate with documents, presentations etc. This could be a good way to use the iTouch as a tool.

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Wylie on March 7, 2010 at 8:28am

I wrote an article recently on the advantages of using an iPod touch in education. In my opinion, the argument should be less about netbook vs iPod touch and more about which fits better to your teaching style and the students' learning styles.

I also wrote a list of free apps for different subjects that you may like.

Top 10 Language Arts Apps
Top 10 Math Apps
Top 10 Science and Social Studies Apps

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Permalink Reply by Katy Scott on March 7, 2010 at 4:34pm

Since iPod Touches have wi-fi, you can use a lot of the same resources used with cell phones in education. Here's a blog post with some ideas that might be helpful: http://digitaldollar.edublogs.org/2010/02/22/use-what-their-mamas-g...

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Thompson on March 8, 2010 at 9:13am

I have found a solution to students having access to the settings, deleting applications, downloading apps, and messing up anything else. I actually jailbroke the 30 Ipod Touches we have, which is 100% legal, then I installed the following apps:
Cydia
Iprotect
Poof

Iprotect lets you password protect any application, including settings, it also wont allow the deletion or installation of apps if you choose so

Poof lets you hide any application icons you don't want students to see (settings), this way they don't see the app even though it is installed - you can do this if you don't want them watching videos or listening to music, etc. If they don't see it, they wont even try to break the password (Iprotect)

These are a life saver!!! These are used in a junior high setting... enough said. The only thing was you cant use the backup and restore option to install these three apps, you actually have to install them each using wifi. Took a few hours to do.... but oh my gosh - it has saved tons of frustration and work to fix them when students mess them up..

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Permalink Reply by Deon Scanlon on March 22, 2010 at 5:34am

One drawback with jailbreakng: voids your warranty.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Benson on March 24, 2010 at 5:09pm

Every keep an eye out for Mobile Moodle : )

http://iphone.moodle.com.au/

http://www.moodlemonthly.com/ also has up to date posts on the latest news for mobile Moodle - android, ipod touch, iphone. This is huge... in my opinion...