Monday, July 27, 2009

Head for iPod Educational Hills--A Beginning Collection of Places, People, and Ptools (sorry)

What I have done here is find a rich blog post, filled it out a little bit with some easier linkages, added a few links, and generally acted as an editor to summarize so that it is a little easier to follow. Sometimes bullet points are best.  What Ms. Weir has done in her original blog post is to model just how you might think out loud as you prepare for classes and prepare to use something new like iPod Touch in the classroom.  She is not afraid to do a little "woolgathering" because you will note in the comments section that this thinking out loud generated lots of good further suggestions.  (There is some discussion these days about the value of comments on weblogs, but I think this post is a good arguments for keeping them  In fact, I have added about half the post from the comment section and learned quite a bit about places to find new apps for the Touch.
So this blog post does three things:
Shows how one teacher noodles out loud about possibilities for her classes,
Shows lots of info about a particular topic--iPod Touch in the classroom,

Shows how to create a blog post from someone else's post.

Planning for the 09-10 School Year | Ms. Weir's Musings
  • have started reading a blog by Rob de Lorenzo (an Ontario educator) called “Mobile Learning” which discusses using cell phones and iPods in the classroom
  • look for apps that fit your particular units, novels, books, projects, and activities.  There are so many now.
  • the Driver’s Ed app (we do a couple short articles about driving and getting your license so this might be an engaging way to have them involved in the class work as well as prepare them for the possible issues they might encounter while driving),
  • I think the iTouches could very much have a place here in terms of allowing the students to find podcasts on these in iTunes, having them listen then synthesize what they have learned through the podcasts with what we have been discussing in class and finally have them apply it to a current event in the real world (which they could also find through using Safari on the iTouch).
  • There are so many educational applications for the iTouch. If they are 2nd Gen - with the 3.0 iPhone software ($9.95) they practically have an iPhone- so recording for the podcasts will be easy. I applaud you using these in the classroom. You might follow @iear on Twitter (or go to the website) his whole platform is using iTouch & iPhones in the classroom. I’m trying out the teacher app Educate for him. It’s a lesson planner, gradebook, attendance, moodle, and so much more! Good luck this year!!
  • The AP Mobile App is wonderful, free source of current events that you can tailor to your area or find world news.
  • The Digital Lifestyle website  and they review a lot of Apps and filter through the APP store and provide the best for several categories.
  • iTunesU is a fantastic source for content right now. I will be doing a workshop on this at the ABEL Summer Institute in August , as well you can visit ipodliteracy.com.
  • I’d use an app like ShoZu or Wordpress to type in a blog post on a class blog.
  • Check out youthvoices.net
  • I am also interested in bringing iPod Touches into my classroom and have been collecting resources at http://thefilecabinet.pbworks.com under the iPod link.
  • The Writer in Me - Writing, Teaching, Living.




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