Personalising Learning with the iPod Touch

To all my blog readers, you may wonder where I have been for the last month. Mobile learning with the iPod touch continues in strength at Shepparton High School and beyond. Here are some the learning, creating and sharing that has been going on in the last month.

It is now less than five weeks till the Slide2Learn mobile learning event at Shepparton High School on July 1st and 2nd.

To register for the event, go to http://slidetolearn.ning.com . Anyone who registers before the close of business on Monday May 24th (yes, that’s less than two days away) will go into a draw to win one of two iPod touches, to be announced later in the week. There’s not much time left for this opportunity, so don’t miss out. There is much effort going into the planning of this event and less blogging…

I have made several presentations over the last few weeks, both ‘in the flesh’ and online. Anne Mirtschin does a great job of hosting Tech Talk Tuesday and also eT@lking on Elluminate and I have presented at both of these forums in the last month. You can pick up a recording of the eT@lking session by following the link. I have also been down to Melbourne for the DEECD Innovations Showcase and the RADII conference. I met many great educators at both venues who I hope I have helped to inspire to include mobile learning strategies using the iPod touch in their schools.

As a result, plans are brewing to visit Irymple SC near Mildura next term to share ideas with them, as their principal and some teaching staff have enjoyed the message enough to purchase iPod touches for their classes and warrant a workshop in the Mallee.

At homebase, we have also held a mobile learning session with our eLearning PLT. There are more teachers keen to try activities using the devices, including our Science and Japanese teachers. Keep posted for lesson ideas we will develop in these learning areas in the next few weeks.

Our numeracy PLT has been exploring the engagement provided by videos from ‘Maths Snacks‘ and my year 10 ‘IT Alive class’ is currently working on lesson plans using sports apps, which they will deliver to year 8 sports classes, which run at the same time as our lessons on a Friday afternoon.

This weekend, I am with many like-minded spirits at ITSC 2010. I enjoyed some great workshops and presentations, especially Marco Torres, whose message was to allow learning to grow wings beyond the classroom and have a positive impact on peoples’ lives, rather than the submission of an assignment. I had a chance to have a play with the iPad for the first time and am asking myself the question, could it ever take the place of my iPod touch?  Thank you also for the hospitality of Coburg Senior High School who are hosting the event.

All that, and our parent evening to introduce 1 to 1 is this Thursday!

Podcasts and Wikis turn cafes into lecture halls

Google spreadsheet of recommended iPod touch Apps

Slide2Learn Mobile Event: Registrations will be opened in the next few days at http://slide2learn.eventbrite.com Get excited!

Teaching with the touch

Maths Maps and the iPod touch

Apple is now supplying the Bretford PowerSync Case in Australia for $1599.00

Orders can be placed via the Apple  Sales Support Team. Part Number  TV403X/A.

Phone 1300 551 927 or email education@apple.com.au

and Apps on the list to consider…

Egretlist

Word Clouder

Swankolab

Flickr Search

I was listening to the wonderful weekly podcast yesterday by The Ed Tech Crew and found a reference to the LaTrobe iPod touch project which I have been involved with. They tagged their podcast notes with the statement “Is it a little too late – Why not wait for the iPad?” I wrote about the LaTrobe iPod touch program in February and there is also a media article, “iPod touch, therefore I teach” on the LaTrobe University website explaining in more detail.

I am looking forward to exploring the possibilities of the iPad like many other educators, but it will never replace the iPod touch for a few reasons:

1. Mobility: It still falls into the realm of portable rather than mobile. Even though Robin Rhys from App Advice Daily recently said she was looking forward to taking her iPad everywhere – gardening, to bed, in the tub (with waterproof protection of course!), the reality is, the device will not be as accessible ‘anywhere, anytime’ as the iPod touch.

2. Cost: To purchase 20 iPod touches as another class set at Shepparton High School recently cost in the vicinity of $250.00 AUD per device. The price for the iPad has not yet been released, but it will be closer to $650 – $700. You can do the math to determine which of these device purchases is more readily approved by a school finance committee.

3. 1-to-1 learning: The position of the iPad has not yet been established as a suitable option for 1 – to – 1 technology access programs in schools, certainly not here in Victoria. At present, our school is about to make its final decision about what we will offer our students as 1 – to – 1 technology access. The iPod touch does not conflict with this program, as it is clearly a device to be used as well as a MacBook / netbook / notebook. Many of our students already have their own iPod touches and of course we have been using them in the school for two years. However, the pricing of the iPad will make it competitive with netbooks, and I am certain that schools around the world will pioneer the iPad as their chosen 1 – to – 1 device.

4. Learning opportunities: As educators, we are in the business of providing rich learning opportunities for our students. The accessibility and flexibility of the iPod touch to provide these opportunities will not be diminished by the presence of the iPad.

With the release of the iPad this week in the US, there will be much discussion about its role in Education, and I welcome it all. You might want to join Tony Vincent’s ‘iPad Party‘ on April 3rd. You can sign up to his Google moderator series now and add questions prior to the event.

As for me, I am sure that mobile learning with the iPod touch is alive and well. This week we have used the iPod touch to record podcasts for VCE Psychology, explore motivational images and statements for girls, edit photographs, create movies…

I will be attending HHL10 in London in October, an iPad was part of the early-bird registration…I will have my iPod touch with me all the way, less obtrusive on a crowded bus or in a restaurant!

So in answer to the Ed Tech Crew’s question, no, it’s certainly not a little too late for the iPod touch in the LaTrobe program. Please add your thoughts.

At Shepparton High School we run two ‘girl’s only’ personal learning electives entitled ‘I am Woman’ at year 9 level and ‘Cinderella Storms the Palace’ at year 10 level. The units provide an opportunity for girls to explore female role models, friendship and promote a positive self image. Both units of work are an incredible testimony to the hours of work put in by Janet and Katie as part of our LSF team a couple of years ago. Now, it’s time to take these units of work mobile.

Heather and Fiona are taking these courses for the first time this year and I started thinking  just how many applications and activities on the iPod touch I could suggest for them to use in the program. (which is my usual train of thought…)

Here are some ideas:

Healthcare and Fitness

Nike Women’s Training : This application creates a customised training program. Make a ‘mini’ avatar and workout program then access video content and share with friends.

Yoga Relax : Provides a visually appealing and easy to follow sequence of Yoga positions for relaxation

Fresh Fruit : gives a good overview of the many health benefits of…you guessed….fruit!

Self-esteem

Fairy Cards : Based on the wisdom of Irish folklore and its legends, the readings from these ‘fairy cards’ create messages to encourage independence, positive thoughts and self esteem.

Gratitude journal : Record all your positive thoughts and things you are thankful for.

My personal motivator : has loads of meaningful and enjoyable motivational quotes

Fashion

These apps can be used in an appraisal of the messages about women portrayed in fashion magazines and for creating their own.

Teen Vogue : A fashion closet to explore trends and create ‘lookbooks’. What is really important about us? How we look?

Photoshop.com mobile is a free App. It gives you simple effects and editing tools along with access to online storage of your photos.

Seventeen Fashion Finder :

Women in History / Issues

The history podcast gives the girls some examples of women in history for discussion or to use as an example for students to create their own.

Power women magazine : Podcasts in the style of interviews discussing issues important to women worldwide.

International museum of women podcast - Dedicated to valuing women around the globe in different cultural settings.

Friends

Words with friends : encourage interpersonal skills and improve your vocabulary at the same time

How to draw Manga : cartoons are a great way to express many concepts in the course visually and Manga are always popular.

Friendship : A ‘tapstack’ App created by a 12 year old!

You can also add homescreen links to great websites such as ‘Girlosophy‘

What video content would make good mobile resources for this unit?

The iPod touch would not be the only learning tool accessed during any course. But a collection of resources and applications such as that shown above can be collected to form a personalised learning kit to compliment any learning program.

As I am working through planning my IT Alive course, my goal is to provide my students with a range of opportunities to create content for the iPod touch. Thanks to a discussion over at Classroom 2.0, I have discovered a new mobile content creation tool  called Mobl21 and I am going to give this a try for my next project.

I will be able to create some example content for my students, but more importantly, give them a chance to publish content themselves. There are a few steps required before you are published, here is an outline.

Firstly, download the free Mobl21 App and install on your iPod touch. You can’t do much with it until you have created a Mobl21 account and some content. There is some terminology to learn to understand how the content hierarchy is structured. At the top level you create a category, which is the largest unit in the course. I have called my first category ‘IT Alive’, the name of the elective this project is contained in. Within this category, I create a series of stacks, which are the different topics included in the elective.

Each stack has a studyguide, like an online book with substantial amount of textual content supported by media files such as image, audio, and video. With a free account, you can also have 10 flashcards and 10 quizzes for each stack you create.

The free account allows you to have 10 users for each group. In a classroom situation, this is quite adequate, as each student creating content for the iPod touch can have an audience of up to 10. For my class content, I have created one group and added the students as users.

Now your new group will be assigned a name, password and content code. So now it’s back to the iPod touch and into the Mobl21 App. Enter these details and you can access the stacks and content you have created.

If you wish to add more users or content, there are some very reasonable paid upgrade plans available.

There is a great FAQ page which outlines everything you need to know. Give it a try. We won’t be starting work on this in class till next term. I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has used Mobl21 in their classroom.