iPods in Education

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iPod Project: Sign in & out Update

After about 2 weeks of use, and not continuous due to my schedule, we are down to about 5 minutes to sign the iPods out and another 5 minutes to sign them back in. This time has decrease dramatically with us getting used to the system. I hand them out in a linear fashion, I just run down the list of students from 1 to 25, calling out their names, the iPod number, and the students double check the number as they initial the sign out form.

To sign them back in, if I get a bit distracted, imagine that, the students remind me that we are under 10 minutes remaining in class. I have them start logging off, and as they are ready they come back to my desk and turn them in. I again call out their name and iPod number as they turn in the equipment. They again initial by their iPod number to state that they turned in the correct iPod.

If I did not have hall duty, we could start the process sooner, but I stand right outside of my door and get started as soon as the bell rings. Still, using 10 minutes out of a 40 minute class for administrative stuff is a lot of time, but until we convert to block scheduling, it is what I have to work with.

I hope to start having the students take quizzes using the iPods shortly, but that is another post.

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iPod Rollout: All In.

After several days of limited roll out with the iPods, we went all in. I have 24 to 25 students in each class. I allotted about 10 to 15 minutes for signing the iPods out and another 10 to 15 minutes for signing the iPods back in. I was hoping it would take less time. The first day, we averaged about 10 minutes with each process, a little longer turning them back in. This is an issue with 40 minute periods, but time for logging in and out should decrease as we get used to the system.

The students were able to jump right in with Google Docs using Documents 2. They began using Documents 2 to type definitions for class and take notes. Some students chose to use Evernote, which is also a free app to take notes. I left the choice up to the students.

If a student needed to use the hall pass, their iPod was turned over to me until they returned.

All of the resources we are using to gain information are Internet based, so students can jump around on the Internet with Safari to view sites and record notes on the program of their choosing. In the beginning their was a bit of awkwardness with the system.

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iPod Rollout, Day Three: The last of the small groups

On the third day of our PSSA retakes, my classes were once again around ten to twelve students per class. I had about a fifty-fifty mix of experienced users to new users. Granted my experienced users had one or two days of using the iPods in class, but it was enough for this type of setting.

The students were able to review the sign out and sign in procedures, and explain why they had to give the iPods back to me if they were using the hall pass during class. Basic review is good, we need to make these procedures second nature, normal class sizes are around twenty-five students per class.

The rest of the period we had the new users set up Google Apps if their iPod was not already set up. Students who had used the iPods previously served as mentors for the new users. They worked with Google Apps, Documents 2, and Evernote. They also jumped on Safari and worked on accessing the class Diigo account and my Netvibes class page. The students practiced expanding or making the screen larger by using their fingers on the screen. The typical practice is to place two fingers close together on the screen and move them away from each other to expand the text. The opposite action makes the text smaller so you can see more of a web page at one time.

To me it looks like the old “Kids in the Hall” skit where they “crush each others’ heads.” They would look at each other through their thumb and forefinger so the other person’s head was located in the space. They would close their fingers together and say, “I am crushing your head!” There was a way to block this, if a person noticed what was going on…but I digress.

This was the last day of small group work and I had seen most of my students on one of the days. My students were ready to mentor each other as needed. I gave out five participation points for each day of class for their promise to do this. The students seemed at ease with the iPods in this short time. So far, so good…

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iPod Rollout and Delay

I had a plan to roll out the iPod Touches tomorrow, Thursday, September 10, 2009, to my classes. The plan was to begin the roll out by introducing the iPods to the students with 1 iPod per group of 3 to 5 students. The two classes I will be mainly working with have almost 25 students per class. I feel that 25 iPods on day one is too much to successfully work with. With about 5 iPods out on day one, the project will be more manageable. This will allow me to float about, keep tabs on the equipment, and let the students ease into the overall situation. After a few tries with group work, I will gradually increase the number of iPods out until we build up to a 1 to 1 situation.

The reason for the delay is technology and sensory overload. Over the last two days I rolled out Google Apps for my classes, Evernote, and Diigo, along with all of my students signing up for the class wiki. I did this in the computer lab next to my room, because many of my students have not used this amount of technology in a school setting in awhile.  I believe that it is better to introduce the new programs on a familiar piece of equipment, such as a conventional desktop. This lets the students experiment with the new programs while not having to worry about the unfamiliar uses of the iPods too.

Oh, we also started a project about the upcoming G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh. The project requires the students to work cooperatively with the new tools to create a presentation about each participating country. Each group has a member country that they are responsible for. The format is open to any type of presentation, except a paper. They may create videos, audio files, PowerPoints, screencasts, Glogs, wikipages, or any other format or combination of formats for their projects.  The projects are an open format so the students can work in a format that they are comfortable with and claim ownership over. It is an aggressive project, but my students are running with it.

The students are also working well with the new programs and helping us deal with any of the issues we are encountering. Overall, we are moving full speed ahead on all fronts and I do not want to lose momentum. Another day in the lab will clear up any lingering issues with the new programs, and we can then introduce the iPods to the students while still continuing with the projects. This slight delay will allow us to move forward with a new technology platform, the iPods, while using a newer group of programs that the students are grasping and using more effectively every day. I feel this will give us the best chance for success on all fronts.

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iPod ID and Sync

I synced the iPod touches over the first two days of class, and I learned a lot in the process. First and foremost, I reinforced the fact that I hate reading directions, and that not reading directions adds time to tasks if you are unsure what you are doing.

To ID and sync the iPods, the computer walks you through the basic steps on the iTunes interface, so I was supremely confident that I did not need the manual. I was so confident that I timed myself during the set up and hit a consistent 6 minutes per iTouch to ID the units. I even “Tweeted” the fact that it was so easy. I completed the ID of about 15 iTouches on Thursday afternoon and finished the process Friday morning.

After all 25 were ID’d I plugged in the cart to sync the first 20. The cart holds 20 in a drawer with each drawer having its own USB cord to connect to the computer. This is the step where I realized that I should have read the manual. When I plugged in the USB and turned on the cart, every single application in my iTunes account began loading into the iTouches. This was an issue, because I have my daughter’s apps on my Macbook too. My high school students did not need letter tracing and beginner puzzles on the iPods. I had to go back in and reset the application tab to “Sync only selected apps.” This allowed me to pick and choose which applications I wanted on the school iTouches. It was not a major problem, but I should have done this when I named each iPod.

At this stage, I also made adjustments for podcasts,which I will be using often in class. I set the iPods up for selected podcasts. At a later date I will push podcasts over to the iPods for the students to use. I repeated the process for the remain 5 iPods in the bottom drawer.

I now know to read directions, but more importantly, I realized that I can use the iPods to differentiate instruction for my students. I can adjust the content on each individual iPod depending on the student, then I can push information through, or sync up to 20 at a time. It is a pretty cool set up.

So overall, if you set up the iPods properly from the beginning, it should take about 10 minutes to ID an iPod and set the upload criteria for all apps, photos, and podcasts. It is still a small amount of time for a major benefit. I lost a bit of time doing things my way, but in the end, I learned a fairly good bit of knowledge about the iPods.

Leave a comment Posted on by Dominic Salvucci iPods in Education, Lessons and Teacher Things

iPods in Education Project Overview

I am going to take a step back and outline the project I will be blogging about over the upcoming school year. This year we are piloting a project that will utilize iPod Touches as a computer in the classroom. I believe we can use them in place of a laptop, for the most part.

I have been researching mobile technology for learning for the last cpuple of years in graduate school. I believe it is the next step in integrating technology in the classroom. Many colleges and universities already use them for educational purposes, as do several school districts in Pennsylvania. There a number of my colleagues throughout the country who are also working on such initiatives, so I have a strong network for support. Our representative from Apple is also a huge help with this project. If I get permission to use her name, I will name her later.

Our set-up consists of twenty-five iPod Touches, 8 Gig, and one cart to synch them all together. The iPods are engraved with an ID number for tracking. I have researched many apps for student use, there are many and they are all free, you can pay for an upgraded version, but for now we are working with the free levels.The nice thing is that we control all of the material that goes onto the iPods, they will be synced to my account. This will prevent the students from downloading content to them without permission.

We are going to purchase over the ear headphones for the iPods, they are relatively inexpensive, but students will be encouraged to use their own earbuds. I will purchase about ten microphones so we can record onto the iPods. The way the iPods will be set up will allow students to surf the Internet, create documents, create audio files, upload and save content to the district’s Google Domain. They will also be able to access content that I place on the iPods at their own pace. If a student needs to review a video or audio file, a picture, or some other multi-media they will be able to do so on the iPod Touch. Students will also be able to take notes in class, using Evernote, and synch all information to any computer they use.

This is the basic plan, more details will follow throughout the year.

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iPod Set-up Day 1

Today I went in to work on setting up the iPod Touches and cart for my classes. I did not get them synched, but I did get the cart ready for class. All iPod touches are engraved on the back, I added a printed label for an easier read. I also labeled the slots in the cart for the iPods. This will enable me to hand the iTouches out to the students and replace them quickly. I am betting I will lose at least ten minutes of class time to sign them in and out per period at first. I am hoping that this time decreases as we go through the year. I am also hoping for our school converting to block scheduling eventually…someday…it would make the time loss of setting up the technology minimal.

The district’s Technology Director and I finalized the sign out policy, I will have the students initial a sheet, printed out from my grade book, when they pick up and return their iPod. This will help keep tabs on who gets each iPod, a simple check mark could easily lead to sloppiness. The initialling will keep everyone, focused on tracking the iPods during the period.

I also looked over the cart and the procedure for syncing the iPods, it looks easy enough, just a bit time consuming. The manual approximated 20 minutes for 1 Gig of info for 20 iPods. The next step will be the most tedious, it is also the first step. I have to give each iPod a name and set it up with my Macbook. Once this is done, I will be able to sync 20 at a time. Over the next several days I will get this done and begin synching all of them with my computer.

For now I will be using all free applications for the iPods, I want to see how far we can go before we have to start spending money for them. A list of the applications I will be using can be found at the following link, https://nbasdcff.wikispaces.com/iPod+Apps+for+Sal%27s+Class. This page will be kept updated with which apps we are using and which we have dropped and why.

I plan on keeping a running journal on the project stating the good, the bad, the ugly, and the how did we adjust over the course of the year. More will follow later this week once I try to name and synch the iPods.