While I am a bit skeptical about using cell phones in the classroom, I think an ipod is a wonderful alternative. It allows for students to use the internet and apps and you can monitor it more than their own cell phones. While researching for my Wicked Problem Project, I came across many great sites which stated education apps to put on the ipod and/or ipad. I loved that there were so many FREE apps to choose from. Since the device itself is expensive, I think it is important to find ways to implement it in the classroom at little or no cost. There are free apps that are great for elementary students as well as high school students.
I was excited to see Flash Drives as a mobile device- I've used this!! When my students would type papers, I would have them save the file to the flash drive or USB drive. This way I could take the little flash drive home with me rather than a stack of papers. I was also able to make comments and spend more individual time than I would have in the classroom. I think it is a great piece of technology to use, especially if printers are not available. My only concern: the spread of viruses.
My school also have a mobile lab or what we call the COW (computers on wheels). I have used these numerous times in my classroom. There are so many ways you can use them, especially since we have wireless internet in our building. However, with one computer or laptop can come issues, and with 25 laptops comes many issues. I do not think I have had one lesson run smoothly when I have used our mobile lab. But of course, I am convinced that every piece of technology has a mind of its own :)
I also enjoyed the Poll Everywhere site. I was not able to implement it due to school being out for the summer, but I still wanted to give it a try. I liked that the site offered various ways for people to respond. Text messages, twitter, or a website are just 3 different ways to reach this poll. I also liked how you can change the appearance of the poll and make it more your own. The site offered about 3 ways to display your data. Below is my poll I created, even though I was not able to get any results as of now, I still enjoyed browsing the site and playing with all the different options! There are so many options and this site is so easy to use- I look forward to trying out that different options next year! The first poll posted is the Web Voting Widget- where you can click on the answer to help me get responses.
Get a free sms student response system at Poll Everywhere
This second way to show your poll is the Live Chart Widget which gives the number to text to answer the poll and displays the answers in real time.
There are so many tools and types of technology to use in the classroom. My advice would be to start our small, flash drives, and then move towards devices you are comfortable with using yourself. Research is also key! I learned this in my wicked problem project. The internet is a wonderful base of knowledge. People who have tried all sorts of ideas share their findings. You can research anything from free educational apps to how to edit movies using a flip camera. I think it is important to think about TPACK when implementing technology. Technology in education isn't about how many different devices you can use, but how well they can be incorporated into the content to impact learning. Using technology for the sake of using it, is not helping anyone.
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