iPods in the classroom

The school where I work, North Lawndale College Prep Charter School, uses iPod touches in the classroom for a variety of purposes. One of our technology teachers wrote a Donor’s Choose grant and received 10 iPod touches for our school. Because they can record and send both audio and video, the iPods are used by various departments and for multiple tasks. They are used by our special education students who have trouble with reading. The iPods allow them to listen to the audio versions of books they are reading in English classes. This gives them a sense of freedom and being self-paced that they would not have if they only had the print version of a book. Because the iPods are new and seen as item of value by other students, the fact that the students using them are special needs students isn’t what stands out to others. Instead, what stands out to them is that they are using a very teen friendly item to help them achieve at school. The iPods are used not only by the special education department, but by other departments and clubs as well. The Spanish department uses them to record speaking assignments and to make videos of classroom assignments. The department has its own YouTube channel where it posts both videos made by students and made by teachers to reinforce grammar and vocabulary concepts learned in the classroom. (http://www.youtube.com/user/atingwall?blend=2&ob=5) When the department took a field trip, students used the iPods to document the murals they saw. They later interviewed one another in both Spanish and English using the iPods. Many at the school are concerned with both the cost of the items (nearly $200 each) and the distractions it could cause to students. At the school there are two separate camps of students. Some are incredibly tech savvy to the point where they know how to get around the network firewall so they can check their Facebook accounts. Others are less tech-savvy and need help with simple tech tasks like downloading files, allowing pop ups or using spell check. It seems that the iPods would be more probably to cause distractions to students who are very tech-savvy. Students, who are not comfortable with technology, would be less likely to use the iPods to mess around instead of completing in class work. In the end, the use of this technology makes differentiating instruction an easier task for teachers and makes classwork a more accessable task for students.