Week 4 - Schools welcome iPods in classrooms

Title of Article: Schools welcome ipods in classrooms
Publisher:The Dallas Morning News
Date of Publication: November 5, 2007
Author: STELLA M. Chavez
LINK: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/110507dnmetgpipods.2f9eabc.html



Educators at a Texas elementary school use iPods to record songs about different aspects of history, science, etc. They use these songs in their classes where their students seem very responsive to instruction delivered in this new way. The principal of the school says that the teachers use new ways of reaching out the students and explains the reasons behind this approach. " "This is [the] tech generation. So, when we think of instructing students, we have to think of different ways of teaching," said principal Alisha Crumley. "To get their attention in class, we have to keep up."

The students interviewed in the article say that learning becomes fun and easy. They also like to learn new material this way instead of taking notes in a notebook. The article talks about how teachers in this school incorporate podcasts to make the lessons more engaging and to share the students' work with their parents.The students of a fifth-grade class, have produced a historical podcast about the American Revolution. The students learn and share the new information on American Revolution by using visual images. Students listen to their classmates talk about historical figures as images of the figures pop up on the iPod screen.

I think these methods of getting the students enjoy more their classes are great. It doesn't mean that they should be used all the time and leave the writing out but they are definitely a good way of providing the students with new and exciting ways of learning. In this school, teachers allow their students to take the iPods at home to revisit the lessons. I am not necessarily saying that this is a good thing but, according to the article, it works good for this particular school.

The district in which the school is located seems to be pretty responsive to new technologies and purchased 321 video iPods for the schools. This just makes me ask a question. Do district leaders in different states, network and talk about their ideas, vision and success stories in their district? Do they share their techniques and find out what's best for their schools?