I’ve ordered three iPod Touches to be used in a trial at the high
school, middle school, and elementary level. Stealing some ideas from
John Schinker, I’m putting forth the following questions for the
participants to answer:
Does this device work well enough to have a place in our schools?
How could this be used effectively with students?
What limitations are there that would affect its usefulness?
Are there solutions to overcome those limitations?
What technical hurdles would have to be overcome to make the use of
these devices successful?
If we were to start using these computers, what could they replace?
What could we buy fewer of to make this cost effective?
Are these durable enough for student use?
Is the iPod Touch too complicated / different / cumbersome / annoying
to be used in this environment?
I’ve started to come up with some ideas on how they can be used. My main
goal to start is to focus mainly on communication. I’ve setup the
Prologue theme for WordPress, and am currently recruiting teachers to
try it out. I’ve also installed the Elgg.org Open Source social
network software at the HS and am investigating ways that it can be used
in the classroom.
What are some of the important aspects that you can see implementing
with a 1-to-1 program?
p.s. I’m trying out publishing from Google Docs, let’s see how well that
works!