iPod touch for students
We are considering a one-to-one iPod touch pilot project for a single classroom of students at the high school. I did some more experimenting last evening and came up with a few worthwhile discoveries.
I wanted to see if Discovery Eduation Streaming would work on the iPod touch if I chose the Quicktime and "embed in browser" option. A few of the items seemed to work while streaming, but, since the iPod touch does not have Flash capabilities and the iPod touch browser did not support some formats natively, most items did not. I found a great free video converter on the Web that worked just perfectly for taking either the downloaded WMV or MOV files and turning them quickly and easily into MP4, the movie format of the iPod. I was able to put the videos into iTunes and play them on the device.
I next took a slide presentation, saved it out as JPEGs, and put it in the photo section of the iPod. With the large screen, you can easily read the slides, and could share information with a small group. With the cable output to video coming soon, students could use the iPod touch as a presentation tool.
I have not yet found a "regular" online word processing option that works. Zoho has an option for the iPhone, but I cannot seem to get it to work on the iPod touch. However, Gmail, Google search, ning.com, and many other of the online Web 2.0 applications seem to work just fine on the device A student could do word processing directly within an email message, blog entry, or wiki page to have it accessible once he or she is out of the classroom. As long as there is a text entry box available, students can use it. (This seems like a workaround, but I am sure students would have no problem with it!)
I then started thinking about iPod management...how do we allow the students to sync at home and also offer content to them at school? Luckily, some great Apple Distinguished Educators have written a guide outlining these processes already! The bottom line is, to allow syncing of an iPod to multiple computers, the account at school has to be set to "manually manage content" and items can simply be dragged over to the attached iPod. I know there are hardware options available, too, for multi-syncing and charging, but these iPods will be going home and can be charged there.
Well, this is the latest installment of using the iPod touch to support teaching and learning. If only it did Flash....
Kathy
PS I heard, through the Twitter grapevine, that people were saying I had an "in" and was able to get the iPod touch before anyone else. Rest assured, I have no "in" with anyone, and I just ordered online it the second it came out! I was lucky enough to get it very early and get the model that did not have the initially reported video color problem.
Technorati tags:Kathy Schrock iPod touch
I wanted to see if Discovery Eduation Streaming would work on the iPod touch if I chose the Quicktime and "embed in browser" option. A few of the items seemed to work while streaming, but, since the iPod touch does not have Flash capabilities and the iPod touch browser did not support some formats natively, most items did not. I found a great free video converter on the Web that worked just perfectly for taking either the downloaded WMV or MOV files and turning them quickly and easily into MP4, the movie format of the iPod. I was able to put the videos into iTunes and play them on the device.
I next took a slide presentation, saved it out as JPEGs, and put it in the photo section of the iPod. With the large screen, you can easily read the slides, and could share information with a small group. With the cable output to video coming soon, students could use the iPod touch as a presentation tool.
I have not yet found a "regular" online word processing option that works. Zoho has an option for the iPhone, but I cannot seem to get it to work on the iPod touch. However, Gmail, Google search, ning.com, and many other of the online Web 2.0 applications seem to work just fine on the device A student could do word processing directly within an email message, blog entry, or wiki page to have it accessible once he or she is out of the classroom. As long as there is a text entry box available, students can use it. (This seems like a workaround, but I am sure students would have no problem with it!)
I then started thinking about iPod management...how do we allow the students to sync at home and also offer content to them at school? Luckily, some great Apple Distinguished Educators have written a guide outlining these processes already! The bottom line is, to allow syncing of an iPod to multiple computers, the account at school has to be set to "manually manage content" and items can simply be dragged over to the attached iPod. I know there are hardware options available, too, for multi-syncing and charging, but these iPods will be going home and can be charged there.
Well, this is the latest installment of using the iPod touch to support teaching and learning. If only it did Flash....
Kathy
PS I heard, through the Twitter grapevine, that people were saying I had an "in" and was able to get the iPod touch before anyone else. Rest assured, I have no "in" with anyone, and I just ordered online it the second it came out! I was lucky enough to get it very early and get the model that did not have the initially reported video color problem.
Technorati tags:Kathy Schrock iPod touch
Labels: iPod touch, Kathy Schrock
posted by Kathy Schrock at 4:26 AM
6 Comments:
Hi Kathy,
It sounds like you really have to do some major tweaks and conversions to make this device do what you want it to do for kids. What qualities other than "gee whiz" appeal does it have to make it worth going through all the machinations of the conversions?
And hey, can you use your pull with Apple to get me one too? ;-)
Doug
Doug,
They are not major tweaks at all. It truly takes 3 minutes to convert a 30 minute video to play on the device.
The speed, battery life, ability to easily zoom in and out, and all the regular "carry your stuff with you and be wirelessly connected" is my push to try a pilot with these.
As you know, I play with lots of tiny gadgets, since I truly walk the walk and am always connected. I want the same things for students and I feel this device is at the right price point, does most everything well, and would not cause me, as the technology administrator, tons of angst about repairs, maintenance, improper installations, etc.
I think it can do the job, but the pilot project will tell!
(My pull with Apple? I am sure I have none!)
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Can you pilot this in my class? Pretty please?
Have you ever tried hooking up the Touch with the Simo product Hitch? (http://www.gethitch.com) I have used this with iPods and mp3's alike, and it is much easier to sync with.
Susan
On the iPhone, dragging with two fingers in a text field scrolls the inside of the textbox. Not sure if you knew or if it transfers to the Touch, but I thought it might be worth sharing.
Secondly, iTunes can convert some types of movies into files to play on an iPod (which without testing, since its H.264 AAC files should work). All you do is drag the files into iTunes, switch to movie view, right click the movie and then choose Convert Selection for iPod.
Finally, if you did some research I think you could get the Touch to replicate a Classroom Response System as well. Students all log into some type of website, the teacher logs in with a teacher account, poses a question, the students answer the question, and the teacher gets a graph showing the response. It's one more way the device would be useful, in response to Doug.
The new software update greatly enhances the touch's capabilities in the classroom. The note pad solves the so dilemma and has a one touch email button for submitting assignments.
A number of 3rd parties are now on board with web apps specially programmer for the device. The most helpful seems to be the ones that easily stream podcasts and video. Come on United Streaming. I am going to really bug Steve Dembo at my next conference.
I am waiting to hear about a Best Buy grant in order to start a similar but smaller pilot. Keep your fingers crossed.
-Andy Losik http://mrlosik.blogspot.com
Came across your blog while looking for iPod Touch word processing. I'm very interested to hear how this works out for you.
I've had in the back of my mind to do something similar with my high school Computing Science students. The Eee looks promising (the next generation may be even better), but I've been thinking about the iPod Touch as a mobile computer as well.
Our IT people are planning to have open WiFi for our students in September, so it may be a matter of students just bringing their own devices.
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