Today’s post features a number of Australian schools using iPods and iPod Touches in the classroom.
Tania Hunt, ICT Coordinator at Baden Powell College, Derrimut Heath (Victoria), describes how her school has been using iPod Touches with literacy and numeracy groups and for problem solving. Prep-6 classes have used them on a weekly roster. The tub of 8 iPod touches on loan to the class for the week comes with Power Docks and a number of recommended activity sheets.
An article in the Sydney Morning Herald at the beginning of this year featured a class of year 8 students at Shepparton High School in central Victoria using iPod touches in the classroom for a global “mobile learning” project. The article said that the project resulted in increased attendance and increased enthusiasm for homework.
There is also an example of teachers learning how to integrate iPod Touches into their normal classroom practice by developing a programme for their class (with the help of a consultant) using the video and application functions of the iPod Touch. The teacher can also learn how to make instructional podcasts to download to the iPod Touches so students can have a resource of ‘how to’ lessons at their fingertips! The website gives an example of students collaborating with the teacher to create a movie from powerpoint projects.
Kathleen McGeady has been using an iPod Touch in her classroom for over twelve months. This blog post gives examples of the activities she has carried out with her Grade Two students, ranging from listening to stories through a headphone splitter that allows one iPod to be used simultaneously by a group of five students, to applications that allow them to practise spelling, language, maths and logic skills. Students have also created videos and podcasts, and Kathleen says it is a great way to reinforce concepts and encourage independent as well as co-operative group learning.
Jenny Ashby, Leading Teacher, ICT Specialist and Administrator, and ICT Peer Coach at Epsom Primary School in Victoria gave a presentation at the QSITE conference just recently on using iPods across the school. The presentation can be found on Jenny’s blog - look for the pdf link on the page. If you’d like to follow Jenny on Twitter she is jjash. Jenny says she is forever learning and she recently wrote ” I love seeing teachers getting hooked on using ICT in their classrooms. When I feel left out and ICT is happening I know I have success.”
I am hoping to have Jenny as a guest on this blog soon.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria, Australia has published a report on a project that examined the use of the iPod Touch in school settings, with emphasis on the impact on student learning, on teacher pedagogy, curriculum and assessment, and on external technical issues involved in implementing emerging technologies. Students provided their perceptions of mobile technologies for learning and provided a snapshot of what they expect from their schooling.
http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/ipodtouchresearch2009.doc
If you would like to showcase what is happening with ICT in your school, then check what From the Coal Face is all about and email me with a short article and perhaps a photo or two.
5 Comments
Hi Kerrie,
Thanks for your pingback to my blog. iPods are something I’m really enjoying using with my students. I’m enjoying looking through your blog and hope you don’t mind if I add you to my blogroll. What an enviable position you have to combine your work and hobbies!
Kathleen McGeady
Thanks for dropping in Kathleen. Hopefully we can all learn from each other.
I’m excited by what’s going on and we’re looking at integrating Touches soon, but I’m curious if anyone has come across issues with kids developing muscle soreness from using the ipods?
Great resources! We are currently using iPod Touches in one of our district middle schools. The students are responding extremely well. We are specifically looking at some game-based learning activities for students. Our first project is using SIMS 3 as a starting point for language arts students to explore elements of fiction and creative writing. So far, it’s going really well. We’ll also be looking at history using Civilization Revolution and perhaps some science using Spore. Of course, we’ll be sharing our experiences, lessons, and student work on the project wiki. Visit: http://ipodgamesforlearning.pbworks.com.
-Lucas Gillispie, Instructional Technology Coordinator, Pender County Schools, NC
I’m wondering about the expense of a class set of these fabulous products. Does the cost involved (including inevitable losses/shrinkage of something so portable) outweigh the educational value - or do you believe it to be so negligible that it is not really worth considering?
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[…] You are Never Alone » From the Coal Face: iPod Touch in the Classroom Posted on October 23, 2009 by johnp Today’s post features a number of Australian schools using iPods and iPod Touches in the classroom. via blogs.educationau.edu.au […]
[…] You are Never Alone » From the Coal Face: iPod Touch in the Classroom Posted on October 23, 2009 by johnp From the Coal Face: iPod Touch in the Classroom Today’s post features a number of Australian schools using iPods and iPod Touches in the classroom. This post from Kerrie Smith of educationau is one of series this time highlighting some really great work of Australian teachers with iPods and iPod Touch’s. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)iPod Roundup 2iPods in the classroomNeat slideshow on some of the educational uses of iPodThe Daily Engadget: New iPods Nano and Touch? […]
[…] Last week I wrote about iPods in education in Australia with a number of examples of how teachers are using them. […]
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