Experiment Spring 2010: iPod Touches Day 2

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Day 2 of the iPod Touch Experiment: I get a call from the teacher piloting the iPod Touches in her classroom just after noon.  I somewhat dread picking up the phone as I wonder what has gone wrong.  I purposely was not in that building the second day to make sure I didn't develop a possible dependency to my being there whenever the iPod Touches were used. 

As I answer the phone, I get this bubbly, "Can we keep these for the rest of the year?  I don't think my students will give them up."  We chat about how well it is going (remarkably well, I'm told).  We discuss the log I gave her to to fill out as a documentation for me in how they are being used (what subject?, whole class or small group?, how long?, etc).  Then I ask the question that I had been holding off on, as I was worried about the answer: "So, how have you used them in your room?"

My fear is that these will become a reward for advanced students, or a threat to hold over the head of students that perhaps do not behave as they should.  Or, the absolute worse, a time filler to play games on.  I am not naive about the use of technology in many classrooms and know this could very easily happen.  Surprisingly she launches into how they used them during math time, and reading time.  While there was some use of sandbox time, she seemed very focused on finding ways to integrate it in ways to meet learning needs.

So far, this is very exciting for me.  It is going better than I hoped for.

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