These are my notes from Tony Vincent’s NECC 2009 presentation, “Do So Much with an iPod Touch!.” His notes are available with all the links! This was a fantastic presentation in all respects. Tony is a model presenter, very engaging, so relevant with specific classroom examples, has such depth of experience as a classroom teacher with his extensive Palm background, I could go on and on. If you are looking for a professional development guru to work with teachers and students and the iPod Touch, look no further than Tony Vincent.
Survey prior to the session using Google Forms
I am a former 5th grade teacher, last year as an independent consultant I visited 28 states and the US Virgin Islands
In 2001 I started using Palm Handhelds with my 5th graders
- we developed our own applications, and had applications for us
- a PBS affiliate came in and did a documentary about our class
- had lots of fun using handhelds for learning
2 years ago I spent 18 weeks working in the US Virgin Islands working with schools using iPod Touches
- palms had worked really well
- smaller devices were needed, great for smaller spaces
showing name of App from website
- http://mkaz.com/nametag/ lets you create a nametag on your iTouch!
URL shorteners are great, esp when using handheld devices
tr.im is an example
I enjoy using the Google Form Summary feature (FORM - SHOW SUMMARY)
My website: Learning in Hand, click iPods
Use the twitter tag #LIH
Handhelds
- Palm technology with stylus looks so ancient!
- portable, dependable, easy to troubleshoot, ulta-cool, battery life, multipmedia
- #1 reason iPod Touch is great is ALL those apps that are available
- easy to install from the App Store application
- you can also get to apps via the iTunes Store
In the Palm days it was harder, you had to HotSync
- didn’t always work
- example of contraction timer for pregnancy
- teacher who was pregnant had a funny
iTunes Store has a ‘as seen on TV’ section
There are LOTS more apps now
- it took Palm 10 years to get 30,000 apps
- today there are over 50,000 apps for the iTouch in less than 3 years
- this is AMAZING application
148apps.biz keeps track of app activity each day on the store
- perday 238 apps are added to the app store!
- 3,514 education apps today in the iTunes Store with that education category
18% of all aps are games/education entertainment
Way to NOT have a credit card in iTunes
- log out of your account
- go find a free App in the store
- click GET APP
- you will be prompted to create a new account
- THEN and ONLY then (when you are signing up to get a free app) you can get an account without putting in a credit card
THAT IS A HUGE TIP!
- you can also just use iTunes gift cards in the future to buy paid apps without a credit card
Another bugaboo: trying to understand syncing
- iTunes account syncs to 1 computer and iPod, that makes sense
- what about the classroom: multiple iPods?
- you can sync as many iPods as you want to 1 computer
- then you can sign in on up to 5 computers with 1 iTunes account
- Apple has this setup so if you buy the software once, you can sync it as many times as you want
- the system is not setup to take multiple payments for multiple devices
Web directories for apps:
- mobxlix
- AppShopper
- iEducation Apps Review
On my site I’ve setup Google Moderator site, now have 38 ideas from 31 people
tr.im/appvote
right now gFlash and Stanza are top
iPod Touch graphic
Google Application: you can use your voice if you have an attachable mic
Let’s see these Apps in action
For Language Arts
- Whiteboard
- 2 devices can share 1 whiteboard
- similar to an app we used to have on the Palm
For language arts I like to do a game called crosstalk
- write a word on the whiteboard
- another student thinks up a different word that is a synonym, perhaps better for elaboration
If you want a stylus, you have to get a special stylus for the iTouch
YouTube has tutorials about how to make your own styluses on the cheap
Next demo: Quickword
- good Word processor, still not fantastic on the mobile devices but this one is pretty good
- peer review together
- have students trade handhelds
- this apps lets you highlight words, make some bold (highlight HOT words red, highlight words that could be revised blue)
- then when we trade handhelds I can see what my peer reviewer thought was awesome, and what I need to improve
- in this case my peer reviewer hasn’t changed anything
Dictionary.com is a huge dictionary, several megabytes in size
- all downloaded, doesn’t require active Internet connection
- Thesaurus too!
- More than 275,000 definitions
- WARNING: they have those words that you know students will look up first!
Social Studies apps
great videos online that you want to put online, YouTube may be blocked
- you can install and sync videos
- if YouTube is accessible there is a YouTube app right on the iTouch
To get it off of YouTube and convert to MP4 so iPod touch will use
- example: Schoolhouse Rock video
- Trick: just add the world “kick” in front of “youtube” in the URL
- on that website (KickYouTube.com) I can directly download the site
- be aware this could be against Google’s terms of service
- then go into the Videos app to watch it
Another way to get videos, get them from iTunes
Let’s talk about Safari
- you’ve seen the ads: this is the FULL web
- this is probably the application students will use most
Teachers may want to create their own homepage
- mobile homepage: my favorite is a web editor too: wirenode.com (kind of like a wiki, but ideal for iPod Touch, accounts are free, you can pick out your URL)
- my site: http://lih.wirenode.mobi/
- fonts are big
- I can link to different things
- can put direct links to podcasts (audio and video) to download
Social studies app: Inflation
- 99 cents
- I was wondering about Presidential Pay
- inflation tables just go back to 1913, President’s salary was $75,000
- today he makes $400K plus expense account of $50K
Google Maps
- let’s find the President’s house
- I am using the iPhone 3.0 software, I paid $9.99 for the update
- it allows Google Maps streetview in Googe Maps
- can add a drop pin to the map, and go right to Google Street View right on the iPod Touch
WOW THIS IS GREAT
Can take a screenshot of ANYTHING on my iPod Touch by holding down both buttons on the device
- it took the picture, now it is in my photos
- great geography links here!
I like to
LifeStrips ($5)
- vocabulary is great
- can be used to create comics
- some people will decry the lack of a camera
- two fingers to twist and stretch images where you want them to go
- double tap to add text
- screenshots from Google Maps, combined in LifeStrips
Comic touch also lets you make
Ali’s Jigsaw Puzzle
- save comics back as photos
- turn any photo into a jigsaw puzzle
Tip:
- extra power
- can use an iPod Touch connected to computer or power (Apple chooses
- battery back can give you about 3/4 of a new
- Get one that takes the same dock connector, so no cable is required
You want a powered USB hub to make your own inexpensive charging station
Hilarious photo on EdTechBytes with chargers
You can sync on a Mac more than 1 mac at a time
- for some reason on Windows, you can just sync 1 at a time
THAT IS HUGE! NOT AN ACCIDENTAL “FEATURE OMISSION” FOR WINDOWS I’D BET
Earbuds: Walmart has them for 99¢ each
- get earbuds for everyone
- they get tangled constantly: get adhesive hooks and put numbered tags on the wall
Another management tip: email
- Apple would really like you to get info with email
- so you can issue each iPod Touch its own email
- start a free GMail account for each iPod Touch
ACTUALLY I THINK YOU CAN CREATE AS MANY SUBACCOUNTS AS YOU WANT WITH 1 GMAIL ACCOUNT, THO IF YOU CHECK THE ACCOUNT I DON’T THINK THEY ARE DIFFERENT
My podcast “Learning in Hand iPods”
- don’t leave an iPod in your hot car! That diminishes the battery big time.
Have an App called “Beard Me”
- now using app “Talking Heads”
- commercial example Billy Mays style!
Power down your iPod by holding down the top power button for 6 sec
Math Applications
- lots of drill and skill
- research shows students who are using a handheld will remember their math facts better than if they are using paper
- it is more engaging
Math Drills
- they also give you visuals
- has a light version
Make Num Lite
- also called “Sum It Up”
Lemonade Stand (99¢)
- practice supply and demand, make the posters
- same algorithms from the Apple II days, but updated graphics
- you can actually go back to the Apple II graphics if you want to
Science Apps
- there are cheap thumbtack microphones
- I have a Belkin one
- for science, do a “sound seeing tour” when you are on a field trip
- come back and research it, add more sounds with an audio editor on a “grown up computer”
Flipbook
- Sketchy was my favorite palm app
- full version is $10
- old style Palm
- draw directly on the screen
- make it animation
- anything my kids made an animation about they remembered it forever
- they would watch it over and over, show it to their friends
- they turn out with a great product
- Flipbook
At flipbook.tv you can see lots of examples
Now ready for an unbelievable example: made by an amazing artist using Flipbook (Foodchain)
- you can pinch in and zoom in to make changes
You can make your own database with HandDBase
- can use for observations
- checkboxes
- any types of notes
- once I save it, it joins my database, can be synced back to the desktop computer
- doesn’t have to be bahvior, it can be what did you observe
Something I miss from the Palm days: the fold-out keyboard
- currently there are not any attachable keyboards for the iPod Touch, but I hope we might see those
Now for each student: iPod Touch for $229 or Netbook for $289
- tradeoffs: battery life, portability, all the apps, cool factor
http://handheldlearning2009.com/
- Oct 7-9 2009 in London, everyone gets an iPod Touch!
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