Teaching with the iPhone and iPod Touch
At the recent TCSS annual conference here in Dallas, I was intrigued by the number of educators whose schools were rolling out iPod Touch programs, either campus-wide or on a trial basis beginning with specific classes (or in the library). From what I gather, the goal is to facilitate “active” learning–to avoid the paradigm of students sitting passively by while a teacher lectures to them. This may include asking students to take notes with the device, or to interact with their fellow students and their teachers by using specific apps for the device. I did some online searching to see how widespread this movement is. While I didn’t find any research data on that front, I did find lots of sites where educators were discussing this concept. (See, for example, this and this.) I was also interested to see that the upcoming K12 Online Conference has at least 2 sessions devoted to the topic of iPod use in the classroom.
Of course, since we happen to have several new apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch aimed at history teachers and students, I’m intrigued primarily as a publisher (”How can we persuade educators to give our apps a try in their classrooms?”). But I’m also interested in the topic because I’m a big believer in the need for educators to find new and creative ways to motivate students and facilitate learning. Technology, obviously, is one of the best ways to do this, as I recently blogged about.
I will continue to research the topic of iPod adoption in schools and will report back here as I learn more.