Integrating the iPod Touch in K-12 Education
I felt the article by Banister, Miller, and Herman (2009) gave many interesting benefits of integrating the use of the iPod touch in kindergarten through twelfth grade classrooms. Before reading this article I would have been very hesitant to consider using iPods in my future classroom. After reading the article however, I was more open to the idea of using this new technology with students in school. Although I’m more open to the idea, I still feel there are both benefits and drawbacks to using this type of technology in a classroom. One of my main reasons for being more open to using iPods is my belief that children would find the idea of using iPods in school extremely engaging. In this way, I feel students would become more motivated in their learning if they were able to do educational activities that involved using an iPod. For example, for a student who extremely dislikes geography, being able to use an iPod to view maps of the earth and zoom into area views of places around the globe (through programs such as “Google maps”), this student would become much more engaged in a learning about maps and directions than through the typical textbook version. In the same way, allowing elementary students to listen to digital audio books on an iPod may help motivate the struggling readers in a classroom to become more interested in books and reading. I also believe that having iPods available to all students would make it much easier for multiple students to have access to the Internet at one time. I know from previous experience working in a classroom that it is very difficult to give every child time at a computer when there are typically four to six computers in a class of twenty-five to thirty students. Overall, I can see where the iPod touch would be a great addition to a classroom learning environment since it takes up little space, but still allows many students access to very engaging education programs found on the Internet.
On the other hand, I can imagine that integrating this type of technology into the classroom can cause problems. As a teacher you would definitely need to enforce rules in regards to using the iPods and stick to those rules. It may be harder to control what students are viewing on the internet or catch students who are viewing sites that you did not intent for them to use; given that the screens are much smaller than a typical computer monitor. As the article pointed out, it also may be hard to find an energy source or time to charge thirty-some iPods. Additionally, supplying this type of technology to all students may not be worth the cost given that many of the activities and programs that can be used on the iPod can already be used through a typical computer program and also can be shown to all students using smart boards or other classroom projectors.
I felt the article by Banister, Miller, and Herman (2009) gave many interesting benefits of integrating the use of the iPod touch in kindergarten through twelfth grade classrooms. Before reading this article I would have been very hesitant to consider using iPods in my future classroom. After reading the article however, I was more open to the idea of using this new technology with students in school. Although I’m more open to the idea, I still feel there are both benefits and drawbacks to using this type of technology in a classroom. One of my main reasons for being more open to using iPods is my belief that children would find the idea of using iPods in school extremely engaging. In this way, I feel students would become more motivated in their learning if they were able to do educational activities that involved using an iPod. For example, for a student who extremely dislikes geography, being able to use an iPod to view maps of the earth and zoom into area views of places around the globe (through programs such as “Google maps”), this student would become much more engaged in a learning about maps and directions than through the typical textbook version. In the same way, allowing elementary students to listen to digital audio books on an iPod may help motivate the struggling readers in a classroom to become more interested in books and reading. I also believe that having iPods available to all students would make it much easier for multiple students to have access to the Internet at one time. I know from previous experience working in a classroom that it is very difficult to give every child time at a computer when there are typically four to six computers in a class of twenty-five to thirty students. Overall, I can see where the iPod touch would be a great addition to a classroom learning environment since it takes up little space, but still allows many students access to very engaging education programs found on the Internet.
