Funny thing. The first thing I learned today at the Apple Academy was simple, yet POWERFUL.
On your iPhone, iTouch, iPad…
Force quitting an app is really easy,
Funny. Simple. HUGE.
I saw a two-year old kid (in diapers, in a stroller), using an iPod Touch today. Not just looking at it, but browsing menus and interacting. This is a revolution, guys.
It is a revolution. What itouchs are doing for education, PRE K – 12 is staggering. I’d love to have you watch my 4 1/2 year old playing (learning) on her itouch. Podcasts by Sesame Street (and 30 other great creators), Games about letters, colors, words, counting for a buck. The vocabulary is amazing when amazing is what you put in front of them.
The same extraordinary learning happens with high school kids. If you can, get your student an itouch, load it up with apps – the educational kind – along with a couple “fun apps.” If you don’t have a student in your house, buy it for the kid you mentor.
This is a game changer.
So, I am part of the MTV Generation. I was raised on Sesame Street, then watched Video killed the Radio Star launch the music revolution. My childhood started with 4 channels, had my teenage years impacted by what cable brought to our house, CNN changed the way news was experienced, and used a phone to connect to the main frame (that printed on paper, no screen) to play Oregon Trail.
My kids play Oregon Trail on their iTouch, they time shift everything, and watch Sesame Street Podcasts when ever, where ever. Where I was the Sesame Street / MTV generation, they are the iTouch generation. The learning that goes on in their hand, is what Sesame Street promised for the TV. This is personalized, individualized, mobile education, it is what Sesame Street promised for the masses drilled down for when ever, where ever learning.
The apps combined with the podcasts make for great learning. Gaming for letters, colors, sequencing, sight words etc. Everything a preK teacher would boast about in the classroom, minus the social / physical interaction. Those can’t and shouldn’t be replaced with technology. (a whole other blog post)…
Encourage learning using the iTouch, I can’t wait to see what the kids write about in 30 years.
So, the other night, a neighbor (with brand new iPhone) came over to sit on the patio and learn a little about her new phone. We started downloading apps, and before too long her kids had the iPhone. The app that actually kept the 6 year olds attention the longest was Teach Me Kindergarten. I’ve used Teach Me Toddler with my 4 year olds, and in a preschool setting at work, so I was interested to see if the next level was as engaging to kids.
At work, we’ve measured some powerful growth using Teach Me Toddler with students. In the backyard it kept a young learner engaged while the other kids were running around, jumping on the trampoline and swinging. He’s an active kid, so I was surprised to see him so engaged.
It speaks volumes to the educational benefit of having the tool in their hands, sized small, go anywhere (even camping). I’m not advocating any replacement of the outside run around, play with friends, learn from physical interactions. Just adding the iTouch as a tool to practice skills, during the downtime kids naturally need. If you fill your device with educational “games” and PBS podcasts, that is what they watch/play. If you fill the device with mindless games…it becomes another game boy – mind sucking device.
So, purchase wisely, this is the Sesame Street of their childhood.
Pete shared this me a while ago…Text to Audio Track using Automator…guess I wasn’t ready for the classroom application…yet.
Here is a really great tutorial that shows you how to copy text and use Automate to process it into an MP3 file. WOW, it is fast. The voice is really pretty good, Alex (the automated man) even breathes.
Right now we are using it to create audio files of things that students read in class (without the expensive software), putting the files on an iTouch for the student to use, and soon we should have some measurement metrics of success. Our first target set of students are those transitioning out of the ELL program and into regular coursework. Thinking social studies, science and English…areas with lots of reading and academic English for the students to learn will be job(s) one. I suspect the hardest part is going to be scaling it to match the needs of the whole building.
Take a look at the Automator, really great idea!
Seriously.
I don’t write about games, I don’t even play games often enough to acknowledge that I do it.
Until now. Angry Birds is a blast. Part physics, part geometry, part geeky fun. Different birds are better at destroying different material (glass, wood, concrete) that protect the pigs who have stolen eggs from the Angry Birds’ nests. The angle of elevation determines where your bird is going to land. So really, I am earning 2 credits.
A great study in reward learning. Go play it if you know you have self restraint (*note that you have been warned and I am therefore, in no uncertain terms, responsible for any addiction formed to this game*). Otherwise, go read the discussion boards dispensing advice regarding level advancement. All this for a buck. Nice programming!
Individuals as the content generators.
We don’t have to wait for the textbook companies figure it out, instead we can use the content that people generate and share.
I like what has been created on Khan’s web site, really appreciate the time and energy that has been put into publishing these helpful tools – for both students & teachers.
The WHAT. Teachers use an interactive whiteboard (Smart), microphone (generic) and screen capture software (JING) to record themselves teaching a concept (like, graphing a parabola, completing the square, factoring polynomials). Students can access these videos via our podcast server, or in class on an iTouch.
NOT rocket science. YET the results are out of this world.
Another teacher, another group of students. This time a little better statistical measure of the data. Students increased test scores by AT LEAST one standard deviation IF they watched instructional videos during the chapter of study.
Our biology teachers are recording labs with flip cams, sewing teacher recording steps of a project with the flip, math teachers do screen captures and flip (constructions), language teachers recording verb stuff on the screen, sign language with the flip.
It is amazing. It is simple, and I wish more students would use it. (AND more teachers would create material) The academic difference it makes is nothing short of remarkable.
The other day I spoke to a group of early childhood & parent educators about what it is like to be a 21st century parent. I think the biggest response I got was my statement about how I use the camera on my phone. Whenever I take my kids to a busy public are…the state fair, a large mall, the zoo…I take a moment at the car to snap a picture of the kids, each individually. This serves the purpose of celebrating the moment, and giving me a quick image of what they are wearing at that moment.
Comes in really handy should I lose one of them along the way. It reminds me to take a moment, talk to the kids about what to do if we get separated and have them practice their full name (and as they get older, other details that will help them in the event we get separated). They have their picture taken so often, they have no idea what I’m doing, and yet it takes me just a moment to prepare for something I hope I never have to deal with – losing my kid in a sea of people.
Lots of people have cameras on their phone, not everyone uses it to send pictures, and in this instance, I’d only be sending the picture in a moment of crisis. Doesn’t cost me anything, yet helps out tons. I was always told, prepare for crisis – then you’ll never have to be in crisis. So, here’s to preparing.
Not exactly two things I’d put together right away.
Yet, they have the same technology need right now. Imagine how hard it is to get 35 kids around a sewing machine, and show them how to tread a bobbin. Imagine doing biology lab demonstration with small pieces to a group of 35 students.
Enter the Flip video camera. Both teachers are using the Flip to record the demonstration they would normally give in class, submit it to our podcast server and then show it during class, on a big screen (or smartboard). They are able to stop, rewind, point out (on a large screen for all to see) discuss, answer questions without being tied to a little bobbin….that 27 kids can’t see anyways.
We take it a step further. Publish to the podcast server.
The enriched biology students watch the video at home, discuss things before the lab, and then get to work. The sewing students have a set of iTouches in class, when they get stuck with a step, grab an iTouch, watch the process – listen to the directions – correct their process and move forward. Stopping to ask the teacher questions that can’t be answered via video. Allowing the teacher to help kids who are really behind & struggling. Everyone is calmer and happier, because everyone is learning! (without having to wait)…
Try it sometime, video the demonstration, share it online if you have that ability. Or, use ours, they are out there for everyone!
What I’m Surfing
