Depending on your view of technology; I've either been very lucky or very distracted over the past three weeks due to the fact that I have been given the opportunity to use Apple's IPod Touch. The goal is to find ways to use the interface with students in the classroom. Things such as voice recording software, interactive applications that help with math, spelling, grammar, even geography. There is even a kids version of the World Series of Poker!! Talk about learning your probabilities.
I was given an assignment this week to think about a couple students I currently work with and come up with some realistic ways that this IPod Touch could help them with their studies through differentiated learning. Believe it or not, I did the assignment! Now I just have to put it into words, But before I do that, I think we need a soundtrack. Click below to get in the blogging mood (it takes about 8 seconds to get going)
Applications!!! Also knows as "apps" to us young hipsters. Anyone can write code for an app and request it be placed on the sacred "App Store". Some apps are Free, some are a buck, some even go for $2. Either way, there is pretty much an app for everything now adays. So what about a student in 6th grade that is WAY behind on his or her math basics? "Kids Math Fun" is coming the the rescue. This simple application is nothing more than a colorful, creative way for students to practice repetitive math problems. It is quick and allows for multiple choice answers such as 4 + 9 or 8 *7. Pit two kids next to each other and make it a competition and you have yourself a fun and exciting way for students to "play" their way to understanding basic math. I tried this with a student in my class that is having difficulty with simple mistakes (adding and subtracting) and I watched as he tried to beat his time over and over again for about 20 minutes. When he finally got 25 correct in less than 2 minutes the smile was almost ear to ear!!
On the other side of the coin is the student who is excelling and needs a resource to gain further information. Ladies and gentleman, bring down "wikipanion". To all you nay-sayers about the wiki world and how the information is not vetted properly....."booo"!! It is an incredibly efficient way to find information that the student can verify through different sources. At the very least it gets the ball rolling. I introduced this app to one such student in our classroom and they: 1) Loved having something to work on as they finished the assignment earlier than the rest of the class. and 2) fully understood how they could use this to gather information for both their science and social studies projects. Time well spent! A valuable lesson to teach to our up and coming American cultured children. Next? Greed is good!!
Finally for a student that was creative beyond his years, I showed him an app called "Storykit". It as an app run by http://www.childrenslibrary.org/ and puts books into kids hands without having to physically head to the library...and it is free!! On top of this, it allows you to interact with the book. You can create new pages, edit the pages that are already there. Draw pics. Rewrite stories. Its like the actor who has always wanted to direct getting the chance to do just that. I'll admit it takes LONG time to get used to the functionality and even when you gain experience it can still be cumbersome. But limitations there are not! Students can create entire projects using this app that can either be presented to the class, or the entire world via the internet!
Bottom line, I'm just scratching the surface with what this thing can do in the classroom. As the quarter moves along I'll get to play with more advanced stuff and maybe even make a movie on the darn thing!! "More than Words" on the little screen? Pretty......Pretty Good!
Cheerio
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