Friday, August 7, 2009

Thing #6: iTouch Applications

I have spent several days exploring the last "things" and am going to do one giant blogging session today to get the posts finished!

Ok, to begin... iTouch Applications... I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE my iPhone. I recently upgraded to the 3G from the Gen 1 phone, and it's been an awesome experience in speed acceleration for only $100 bucks or so. However, I hadn't thought a great deal about how to use the iTouch with students until this past Spring. I still think I'm a bit fuzzy on the overall value vs. the potential for loss, breakage, screen crack, stress to "sync" when only 1 computer is allowed to "own" the iTouch. Those "cons" said, though... the iTouch is an amazing piece of technology and it is SO intuitive.

My 2 1/2-year old nephew can work his parents' Applications on their iPhones. It's incredible!! I know that students will love to play the math facts application, the states/capitals application, and even will enjoy some of the music apps and the games (Labrynth, PacMan, Falling Gems) if they were gifted a few free minutes. It's super easy to find and DL an app, although within the app search, there are some questionable applications for young people to use, so application DLing would need to be strictly monitored, for sure.

Ways for multiple users to spend time on the iPhone?
* Work in a small group together to select, download, and take turns working in an app
* Have 1 student do the browsing, 1 student do the typing, 1 student do the application searching, etc.
* Time limits for each student to explore so that all students are given an opportunity
* Each month a different group of students is allowed to use the iTouches for projects/products

I really look forward to seeing how these can be used in the library and classroom setting!

No comments: