Wired Educator

Apple released the second generation iPod Touch last Tuesday. This new iPod Touch now contains the one essential feature for making it perfect for education: it now has microphone support!

I have been eagerly awaiting microphone support for the iPod Touch because I believe simplified podcasting creation is essential for educators.  You could of course create a podcast with Garage Band or some other software program and sync the podcast to the touch, but educators need a simple, no-hassle, one-step solution for creating podcasts at the spur of the moment. Now the iPod Touch has it. The iPod in Every Classroom Initiative I started a few years ago is about to get revamped.

Now the that iPod Touch can create podcasts on the fly like all of the earlier iPods, let’s review the other great technological features that really set it apart from all the others as a learning tool for the classroom. First of all, Podcasting should be an essential part of every classroom. The iPod Touch will make that even easier. Microphones for the previous iPod line was around $50 or $60, but this new Touch will be able to use a much more economical microphone as a MacRumors post has demonstrated. The post states that the headphone jack will accept a four rung headset with microphone. Video Podcasts will now be even better on a larger screen. Second, the Educational Apps for the iPod Touch are growing at an incredible rate.  There are currently over 160 Educational Apps at the iTunes Store, and the list is growing every day. One great app titled Flashcard allows any teacher to create a study tool for the iPod Touch. Third, the iPod Touch’s overall concept of durability, battery reliability, ease of use, and cost ($229) make it a great fit for the classroom.  Anyone can pick it up and start using it.  It is affordable enough for any classroom.  It has built in security features for both theft and volume, and it is a hard one to damage.  The “touch” concept makes students addicted to learning. (Teachers control the content on the device.) Last, and by no means least, it has the internet.  Students can access the sites you announce instantly via WiFi.

I am excited about making an iPod Touch in Every Classroom a new focus.

Broad Creek Middle School in Newport, North Carolina is using Quest Atlantis to enhance reading skills and as the data is being analyzed it appears it is working quite well.

Quest Atlantis is a virtual reality software program created by Indiana University professor Dr. Sasha Barab.  Virtual Reality Software is a software program that creates a three dimensional world with multi-user environment. This particular program, Quest Atlantis, includes games and a story line to assist children with both reading and decision making. This particular model places students in the role of junior scientists, political advisors, business managers, and national park rangers.  Students tackle a variety of subjects trying to solve problems in this virtual world.

What began as a successful program in North Carolina has now expanded to Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and California.

The greatest results have been seen in students who are the poorest performing readers and with disadvantaged students.  These students are typically the hardest to reach, and the program has given them incentives and rewards for their work.  These students often do not enjoy school but now have great interest due to this interactive world.  The game style approach appeals to the students and keeps their interest.

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The school district that I work for invested in a program called Study Island to help us improve our test scores.  We are about to get our first comparision data back that supposedly will show how this program is in fact helping us to improve scores. I would like to try Quest Atlantis out with my students for a closer examination.  If you have used Quest Atlantis please send me your thoughts.  wirededucator@gmail.com

Here is a sample video of Quest Atlantis:

Wired Educator is keeping an eye on the Presidential Candidates so you know where they stand on the issue of technology in Education.  This first report will be on promises made during the Democratic Convention.  We will follow next week with a report from the Republican Convention once it convenes. (Wired Educator will not endorse a candidate. We simply report the candidate’s platform on Tech in Ed.)

Educational Technology highlights from the Democratic Convention focus on the need for 21st Century skills. The Democrats clearly have made boosting education a top priority of their campaign. During the convention’s Keynote, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner said it best when he stated, “If you think there’s been dramatic changes in the world and in technology over the last 10 years, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”  He believes Sen. Obama understands the needs best for technology in the classroom and will deliver what is needed to our schools. Warner ended with a direct focus on education, “Look at education. If we recruit an army of new teachers and actually give our schools the resources to meet our highest standards, not only will every child in America get a fair shot, the American economy will get a shot in the arm. Whether they want to be an engineer or an electrician, every kid will be trained for the jobs of the 21st century.”

According to an NPR article, Obama calls for a new Cabinet-level position: a chief technology officer” to focus on making sure the best technology tools are being imported from the private sector and Americans are getting the needed training. The article portrays Sen. Obama as the candidate that best understands America’s future economy depends on how we have access to technology and how we empower Americans to use it. Obama embraced a plan to provide phone/Internet service to rural areas that McCain opposed.

In Barak Obama’s own words (courtesy of his website): TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION FOR A NEW GENERATION

“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let’s set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let’s recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let’s make college more affordable, and let’s invest in scientific research, and let’s lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.”
— Barack Obama Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07

At a Glance Sen. Barack Obama is an advocate to:

Ensure an open Internet.
Create a transparent and connected democracy.
Encourage a modern communications infrastructure.
Employ technology to solve our nation’s most pressing problems.
Improve America’s competitiveness.

Wired Educator’s will feature McCain’s platform on Tech in Ed after the GOP Convention.

The U.S. Army is increasingly using custom iPods as field translators instead of carrying around bulky PDAs or notebooks.  The U.S. 10th Mountain Division has been using hundreds of iPods over the past year to run a special app known as Vcommunicator Mobile which allows soldiers to effectively communicate in an unfamiliar region.

Vcommunicator Mobile is a special application that allows the soldier to use the click wheel to locate phrases in local dialects that match the situation at incredible speeds. A headset plays an audio sample for the soldier. Vcommunicator also contains video of appropriate behaviors to assist cross-cultural communication. The iPods contain text as well to assist in language learning.

iPods are now operating in Iraq and Afghanistan as learning aids.

Vcom3D, the creator of the application, also has a business and travel adaptations for nonmilitary customers.

The military values the iPods for the portability, ease of use, durability, light weight, cost, and extensive battery life.  The same reasons I like them in the classroom.  The soldiers, like our students, are already familiar with the device and software.

The program has been so successful for the military that they are expanding the use to the 1st Calvary Division and are the program to include iPhone apps for future projects.

The miltary wants results and so do we as wired educators. iPods in the classroom works!