The great thing about the itouches

There are some things that make the I touch great in the classroom. Many of these things can increase student performance and participation in the classroom. First, when there are Apps. that can apply for a lesson, they are usually successful lessons. Early in the year, we wanted to find an app. that used the physics concept of speed by using distance and time. We found an app in which the students are given a distance, and then they run their fingers along the track on the screen. As this goes on the app. is taking the time. When they finish the race if finished, the students can determine their average speed by dividing the distance by the time. We did not get to completely use this app. in our classes, because we found it after this unit. However, I tried it with a couple of students (and teachers), and they loved it. This assignment could have been done on a worksheet, but the touches make this assignment more interactive (hands on), and the students loved the competition of racing each other. I plan on using this during the review for our final when we talk about speed.

Secondly, the I touches allows students to catch up for tutorials and assistance by simply pressing play and listening to a pod cast. One problem that many teachers face is the fact that more and more students miss days for various reasons. It is sometimes difficult to keep up with all of the students that missed a day. One way that the I touches can and have made this easier is that they allow teachers to record lessons, and labs (in the case of science,) for students that missed class. This eases the teacher's responsibility because they don't have to repeat themselves over and over again for each student that missed a class or a lab. With the touches, the teacher simply records 1 lecture out of a class, and then sync the lecture or lab on an I touch. Now, the students can get a touch, and simply press play. The teacher is still there for assistance if the there is any confusion, but many of the higher level students can watch a podcast and catch up on a lesson. This is a big advantage of the I touches.

Finally, the touches give students a personal feel. This means that they can use them and send information or say things via the microphone and sync application, which they normally would not express on front of the class. This is great for the speaking portion because they can send a voice note directly to the teacher. This personal touch to the i pods make them great for educational usage.