Let's Find Ways to Use Those iPods in Education

As I plan for an upcoming trip to Rome, Italy, I am busy looking for any efriendlylearning solution that can put me in "touch" with the country before I arrive. One of my favorite tools, ofcourse, is Mapquest. This tool has been valuable for making sense of all the hotel possibilities. Of course I have to stay in just the right location where I can avoid public transporation for the most part, and get my exercise walking to all of the sites I want to see. Mapquest helps me find all of those hotels, restaurants and tourist sites so that I can pick just the "right" hotel!

Another wonderful tool that helps me get a "feel" for Rome and how far tourist sites are from each other is Google Earth. As I read about places to visit I can find the location on the satellite map and place a placemark for reference. I even found some placemarks for Rome at www.bookings.net that were created with hotels and tourist sites already mapped out. You can share any placemarks you create with others by saving them as a .kmz file and emailing them to friends or putting them on the Google Earth Community

I am also looking to optimize my iPod for the trip and have come up with some great solutions for getting the data I need on my iPod. (Of course my music collection is there--it will be a long flight!) As a non-Italian speaker I thought it would be essential to acquire some of the language. I turn to iLingo Euro Pack to help me practice those travel and conversational words that I will need when traveling on trains, eating those wonderful Italian entrees and checking in and out of hotels.

Well, anyway, on an educational front...as I started to look for iPod "stuff" for my trip, I began to think more about how I could use the iPods in my classroom. There is an awful lot of information about podcasting, but here are some other ideas for using the ipod in education. I especially like iWriter which allows users to take full advantage of the iPod Notes feature. iWriter helps you design and construct simple or elaborate interactive text documents that effortlessly allow people to access endless varieties of information. Students could make informational text to share with others!

Teachers looking for authentic tasks for students might consider using the iPod to create and present PodGuides! PodGuides are pdf or jpg files with specific labels or dots locating and area of the picture. Audio tracks that correspond to each location are created using a voice recorder or computer. A PodGuide Generator allows you to associate the labels on the picture with the audio tracks you recorded. For an easy read to create the PodGuides visit the tutorial here.
The only thing you need is an iPod and recording capability with a computer or an iPod recording solution.

Keep checking Apple's education site for iPods or the UK's site for inpiring new things happening in schools!

Add your comments to tell everyone about software solutions for using iPods for learning!

Ciao!

Cell Phones in Education--Say Yes!

Imagine this...students using their cell phones in the classroom...as a part of a learning task! No you are not hallucinating...read this article from Innovate, the Online Journal of Education. Author Marc Prensky provides some great ideas for thinking about this technology in learning design. (login to read the whole article)

While I know that this idea of cell phone learning is a real stretch for many educators...Marc is really right on and his message is very similar to why teachers and students are using handhelds for learning. It becomes an anytime, anywhere, learning device! The difference...advocates are trying to get handhelds in the hands of students, and Mr Prensky is looking at the tools that are in the hands of students right now!

Those following the trends in mobile technologies--phones, PDAs, gaming gadgets, etc., all know that in the future these tools begin to blend their features together. The excitement for learning comes when the software features help educators and learners connect to the learning targets!

Programmers, device manufacturers and cell phone companies...bring on the cell phone capabilities! Educators, rethink learning targets for the 21st century! Students, keep helping us evolve "education"!