Why the iPod Touch?
Lori Long, school technology integration specialist, became interested in acquiring iPod Touches for the school after attending a workshop that focused on hand-held or mobile devices in the classroom.
“It was about how they can be beneficial tools—not the toys you think of that kids use outside of school,” she explained. “They can enhance learning.”
For example using the iPod Touch, students can search online, create multi-media presentations and flash cards for study guides.
“They’re easier to hold and more affordable than laptop computers,” Long said.
Long downloaded free software—Google Earth—into the school’s 25 new devices that accesses aerial imagery and other geographic data about the earth through the Internet in three-dimensions.
Price was also appealing in ordering the devices, Long said.
Laptops for mobile carts cost upwards of $1,000, she said, while the price tag for an iPod Touch is about $230 with warranty.
More about iPods and other technology can be viewed at www.apple.com/education/teachers-professors/mobile-learning.html
Additional podcast information is at www.learninginhand.com.