I have been using the ipod touches in class for several weeks and I wanted to post some of my observations, concerns, and ideas.

Observation #1 - Apps are Important - The ipod touch can do a lot without apps but good apps do make a difference. The challenge is to locate the good apps and use them in creative ways. We actually took a test on my moodle website using the ipod touch and a student said, "You know, the only thing those ipods are good for is the pharce project." The student was emphasizing the point that the ipod is more difficult to use than a computer if you are using it in a traditional way (websurfing, searching for info, typing). This student was actually one of the more proficient students in the use of the ipod by like water kids want to take the path of least resistance. So far I have used cram, world facts, google earth, tapatalk, pharce, and geomaster on a regular basis.

Observation #2 - It will take time for students to become proficient - Based on the level of experience using handheld devices some students were searching for information and creating things in a matter of minutes. Other students needed much more help. All students can still use more experience employing good search techniques. My role in all of this is to EMPHASIZE digital literacy and responsibility. The other day a student asked me a question and I replied, "You have the internet in front of you and a dictionary, good look for the answer."

Observation #3 - Cram is useful to help students review material but I still need to use it with good strategies. I had students prepare for sols by taking many quizzes. This helped but I think in the future I want to use a combination of teacher generated and student generated quizzes. Students should identify the ideas they are not familiar with and make questions based on those ideas then make a quiz. This will help students learn the ideas they are weak on rather than just rote memorization.

Observation #4 - No matter what we are doing students need to be accountable for their work. This means that students should have to make something and turn it in or post it to a blog. Even if that means they are generating one question or clarify ideas, they NEED TO BE ENGAGED. The moment I lose sight of this idea the students will use the ipods to surf the internet and do the wrong thing. I have already encountered this on a limited scale.

Observation #5 - All classes should use the ipod in some way but there should be defined times when to use the ipod and when to put it up for teacher led discussion.

More to come.

Recently we studied the Berlin Wall in world history. The students had to look up one person who tried to escape from East Germany to West Germany and was killed in the process. When the students came to class they had to crawl through a super secret tunnel underneath the Berlin Wall to enter the classroom. When they entered the classroom they received a soda as a reward for entering West Berlin.

I downloaded the cram app for my ipod touch and it is very handy. You can create quizzes directly on the ipod touch. However, it was much easier for me to buy the mac version of cram for $30. With the mac version you can create quizzes and then upload them via a test portal. Students with ipods can buy the cram app and then access the cram test portal. They have access to anyone who has uploaded a quiz and all quizlet files. One problem with the mac version of cram is that you cannot upload pictures to the test portal, but besides that it is working great. It will be interesting to see how the students like the app.

See some photos of cram below:

About a year ago I discovered that you can make cool digital maps of the world using google charts. However, to do so, you had to type information into the url including color codes and country codes. The entire process was too complicated for use in my high school class so I decided to program a map tool with flash. Below is the end result. It provides a relatively fast and painless way of interacting with google charts.

Here is a picture of what I made:

Here is a picture of ASEAN that I did with the map tool.

To use the map tool go to http://www.mrdgeography.com/map_tool.html

I just bought the iblogger app and added my blog so I can post messages from an iPod. The user interface is relatively easy to use and I am testing it to see how easy it would be for students to use for a portfolio assignment.

Recently, two of my classes have been selected to participate in an ipod touch pilot project at Menchville High School. I feel very lucky because Mr. Doering, the media specialist at Menchville, wrote a grant to buy two carts of ipod touches and the school system agreed to the idea. Each cart has a new macbook and drawers for up to forty ipods. We have two carts with 32 ipods per cart (the 32gb ipod). The purpose of this blog is to keep track of the application of the ipods in class. This is a relatively new concept so we are learning as we go. I hope this blog will be useful for school systems interested in the application of mobile devices in the classroom. Our first step has been to identify apps and ways in which the ipods will be useful in class. My philosophy is that technology is an important tool but it is only as good as the lesson plan and teacher it is used with. Here are some apps we are looking at:

Cram (create multiple choice quizzes that the students can do on the ipod touch)
Tapatalk (tool to create an easy to use interface for forums such as my phpbb3 forum)
iblogger (interface app for blogs such as this one)
Georific
Geomaster (map quiz tool)
Cia world factbook
Docs to go
Cool Iris
Pharce (Create talking pictures and upload them to youtube)
Twitter app
U.S. History Documents (tons of primary source documents at your fingertips)
Dictionary app
Some sort of atlas app
Greek gods app

I will add more to the list as we identify more apps and their application in the class. We should start using the ipods after spring break so I am excited to see what happens.

Here is an example of an interesting assignment we did in my class during the unit on economic geography. The purpose of the assignment was to better understand where items are made and why certain industries tend to concentrate in different parts of the world. Textile manufacturing is clustered in Latin America and Asia while agribusiness and large scale food production is still centered in the United States. Students had to collect ten "made in" tags and make a post on my forum analyzing the types of tags and countries they came from. In class the studentes worked in groups of five to construct a large cartogram with the tags. The group then analyzed the cartogram and made theories about where the items came from and why.

Here is a view of the United States.