As a new year begins, there are already many plans and ideas afoot for mLearning at Shepparton High School and beyond. In this post my intention is to outline where you should be looking to keep in touch with the learning that is taking place with the iPod touch and mLearning around the world. (in no particular order…)
- iPod touch schoolwide implementation :There is a great ongoing conversation about the iPod touch taking pace at Classroom 2.0 which was started by Susan Wells at Culbreth Middle School, NC, USA in February 2009. They have a school-wide implementation of the iPod touch and those interested in Applications and management of these devices should read and contribute to the lively and interesting discussion.
- Diigo Groups : Diigo is a social bookmarking tool that allows you to research, share and collaborate. Once you have signed up, you can request to join groups such as the iPhone and iPod touch users group and iPods in education.
- The iPod touch classroom : This Ning was established by Stacey Kelly from Rural and Distance Ed, NSW, Australia. It is a network to foster communication and collaboration about the use of the iPod touch in the classroom. Stacey has recently returned from a study tour to the US and Canada.
- Twitter : If you haven’t signed up for a Twitter account yet and you are interested in creating your own international personal learning network (PLN) in a your field of interest, what are you waiting for? Far be it from a blow by blow commentary on the latest Starbuck’s coffee purchase, you can find out what your colleagues, institutions and commercial ventures are up to. Start by searching for groups such as #mlearning, #iPodtouch or this week, I am following #BETT2010. Have a look to see who is following those you are following, and soon you will have a new way of keeping in touch with your professional field. (I am probably preaching to the converted here, but just in case you haven’t tried it yet). I use TweetDeck on my Mac and Twitterific on my iPod touch to follow the tweets. There are also some good resources outlining the uses of Twitter in the classroom, such as this blog post last year by Tony Vincent.
- The iSchool initiative : I had the pleasure of meeting Travis in Atlanta last October. He has a student’s insight into the value of the iPod touch / iPhone in education in the US. He has recently started a new blog, and as he has just been on holiday, written a great post about how he and his family used the iPhone to assist in their trip to Disney World. On the iSchool initiative site, you can sign up for Travis’ monthly newsletter or register your school for more collaboration and learning opportunities. If you are a student like Travis, you can contribute your voice to the student’s perspective by becoming a student advocate. Check it out if you haven’t already!
- Jonathan Nalder’s shared Evernote notebook has all the latest links to the use of iPod touch / iPhones id Education. He is part of a team at the University of the Gold Coast in Australia who will be conducting a Digital Device Bootcamp in Queensland on Monday January 18th.
- Learning in Hand : Tony Vincent’s blog is ever entertaining and you are sure to learn something new about how you can integrate the iPod touch into your teaching and learning as he posts here regularly. His latest post outlines all the great technology he purchased in 2009.
There are many more links to great projects around the world to be found on my blogroll and links list. Please let me know if you have visited here and would like to have your project / blog / site included.
By: John Stritt on April 7, 2010 at 8:50 am
I work with 26 schools and about 150 students in a technology class in Nebraska (central US). Each of our schools received ipods this year and these students were challenged to assist in the implementation of the units in their schools.
As we began the process, your site became a template of sorts for how to do this. You can see our student sites at http://blog.studenttechs.org/techs/
As we are concluding this year, I was hoping that I might be able to do a skype connection, IChat, or even a video conferencing connection with someone who is associated with your project. The intent would be to ask you a few questions about how your project is progressing.
If there is any chance that this might be possible, I would appreciate discussing the possibility.
My email address is jstritt@esu10.org My web site is http://blog.studenttechs.org
By: louiseduncan on April 8, 2010 at 11:35 pm
Hi John,
I am pleased you found some application for our experiences in Australia for your iPod touch implementation. I would be happy to organise some kind of connection with you to discuss our teaching and learning experiences. My class of year 10s would be pleased to chat with you I am sure. We finish term break after this coming weekend, so I will send you an email. Be sure to join our Ning for the ‘Slide2Learn’ mobile event which is now less than three months away at http://slidetolearn.ning.com
By: John Stritt on April 9, 2010 at 1:01 am
Thanks for your quick response. I did check out the slide2learn site and registered.
In my earlier email, I shared that our students used your site as a template for beginning our project. Next Tuesday, I will be conducting a live video conference with the 26 schools involved.
Since they are familiar with your project, I thought it would be great to follow up on your progress with them.
I realize that a live conference would be very difficult due to our time difference – midnight or later for you compared to 9 am for us. Also with the end of a term, I understand what is involved with that.
If it would be possible, I would suggest that we do an IChat or if you have video conferencing technology we do that and record it on a time that might work for you.
I understand if you are not able to do this at this time. If you would be available at a later time, we could do it at that time and I can share it with our students at that time.
Again I appreciate your response as well as what you have shared through your project.
John