In the palm of their hand

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Comment by Suegerb on November 4, 2009 at 5:12pm

I love these ideas. I think that they are great to keepthe kids today using not only they technology that they have but they are motivated and engaged in learning, who thought that an ipod could be used as a recording device to help with comprehension and reading.
Love It..

Comment by Millie Davis on July 6, 2009 at 4:08pm

I didn't attend either but another NCTE staffer told me the conference was very well attended and had a high level of excitement and good networking.

Comment by Katherine Nelson on July 6, 2009 at 3:15pm

Thanks, Millie! Great idea! How was the ISTE conference? We had four from our school attend--Unfortunately, I wasn't one:(

Comment by Millie Davis on July 6, 2009 at 2:22pm

I hope you'll take a minute to comment by July 12 on what needs to be included in a new national educational technology plan. Go to the website under NECC brainstorming under the Participate tab on the website.

During the the NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) sponsored by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), ISTE and the Department of Education held a series of meetings to invite public comment on the education plan and they've made commenting possible on the website. Please take time to comment on the plan and also to pass along this opportunity to others.

Comment by Tara Seale on May 2, 2009 at 9:03am

Katherine,
The Gatsby slang term activity using cell phones is awesome. How wrong can it be to teach students to use their cell phones to find educational information?
I have not asked them to pull out their cell phones yet, but another teacher shared a lesson with me in which students text message sentences that they are proof-reading to other students in the class. They work in groups to see who can get the most points for ending up with correct sentences. Just another idea for using cell phones in the classroom.

Comment by Katherine Nelson on May 2, 2009 at 7:56am

Don't tell . . . I did a research project in my suburban high school classes (because our library was full). I allowed my students to use their cell phones to go online to find slang terms of the 1920's to go along with our study of The Great Gatsby even though cell phones are banned at our school. Every one of my students had a phone, and this was the most engaged I've had them all year! Those who didn't have Internet connections, phoned family and friends who did. Some connected with recent college graduates, former students who asked to speak to me:)

Comment by Bobbi Ciriza Houtchens on April 1, 2009 at 7:45am

Just these two comments provide me with useful information that I am going to make sure get to the highest levels of the Department of Education today!! Please be aware that the Stimulus Funds that are being released this month to the State governors, as well as the Secretary of Education's Discretionary Funds have money for innovative practices/programs. Log on to the Department of Education's website, ed.gov, regularly to find out more about this money as the decisions are being made about how to spend it and grants are being made available!! Email me if you need more information at Bobbi.Houtchens@ed.gov. I'm a Teaching Ambassador Fellow right now at the Department, detailed here from my classroom in California, and want to make sure that teacher expertise is heard at the national level.

Comment by Eric Federspiel on March 31, 2009 at 12:45pm

I've just written a grant for 10-25 iPod Touches for my junior high Language Arts classroom. I'm looking forward to having students create audio podcasts from the palm of their hands, having students record their own reading to improve comprehension, listen to audiobooks, and a wealth of other activities. I'm really hoping to get these into my classroom for the next school year, and would love to hear how other teachers are using iPods as well.

Comment by Tara Seale on March 23, 2009 at 1:10pm

I am replying to Bobbi Houtchens' s comment. First, I am thrilled that you want ammunition to improve student achievement because that is really what it is all about for an educator.
I teach 9th grade English at Bryant High School in Bryant, AR. I was fortunate enough to win a grant for a class set of ipods. I have discovered that if I want to disseminate information that my students must retain or introduce my students to a difficult concept, there is no better way than to create an audio or video presentation and put it on an ipod. I teach students who are scoring just below our state standards. We are trying to boost their scores and achievement, and often these students have difficulty focusing in a whole class environment, but if I give them an ipod with headphones they tune in and listen intently. I have used ipods when I am teaching a student how to read a passage closely, and it works very well. I use a program called Audacity to read a passage, and I discuss my understanding of the passage and how I am marking it up as I go. I then export my audio to the ipods and students listen to my audio with the passage in front of them. It is a little hard to stray or tune out instruction when it is coming straight into your ears via headphones. The students claim to enjoy listening to audio on the ipods versus a live lecture. If they miss something, they can always stop it and replay it which is essential for students who are struggling. They need to be able to replay what they do not understand.
We also have a biology teacher who has used the ipods to teach genetics with an ipod game called Spore. My son was in her 10th grade biology class, and there is no better way to engage a student then to turn learning into an activity that is familiar to them, such as, a video game. He now has Spore on his own ipod.
I also briefly had a group of ESL students in my English 9 class. The ipods were very useful to give these students a visual lesson on mythology through a video on the ipod while the rest of the students were reading the material in a book. I did not have to dim the lights to show a film because the students watching the video watched it on the ipods. I could carry on class with the students who were not watching the video which helped me to differentiate instruction.
I know elementary school teachers who send ipods home with an audio reading of a book. Students can listen to English spoken aloud through an ipod as they read to help increase their fluency. When the ipod is sent home, often the parents will listen to the audio book as well which increases English fluency in the household.
I have some websites you can also read about handheld instruction. The first is a study that shows students are performing better in college by downloading podcast lectures which also confirms what I have discovered when I use podcast lectures in my classroom. The article is called iTunes University better than the real thing.
A great website that has helped me to discover how to use handhelds in the classroom is Learning in Hand.
Another great resource is K12 Handhelds.
Brandies University also has a good website on the iPod Experience.
I hope you will be able to add the use of handheld technology to the stimulus fund because it is a useful tool that will increase student achievement in the classroom.

Comment by Bobbi Ciriza Houtchens on March 22, 2009 at 1:20pm

I'm looking at the Stimulus Fund and ARRA and noticing that these one time moneys for the next two years provide for improving the use of technology in classrooms nationwide and talk about smartboards, computers, projection systems, but nothing about handheld tech. If you all can give me some ammunition, like research articles, examples of how they've improved student achievement, sites where they are in wide use, I will add it to my commentary at the Department of Ed.

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