Apple iPod Touch - Page 4

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Getting Started with iPod touch:
A guide for using iPod touch and iTunes for teaching and learning
Foreword
Educators all over the world are examining the methods and tools required to develop
the 21st century skills our students need to succeed in their schools, workplaces, and
civic lives. One device many educators are already using in their classrooms with
great results is the iPod. Teachers are using iPod to support second language learners,
address the needs of diverse learners, motivate struggling readers, as well as to support
their own professional development. And, because the iPod is mobile, teachers and
students can learn where and when they want.
iPod makes it possible to deliver large quantities of content—such as comprehensible
language—tostudentsinanecientandconvenientmanner.Today,oneoutofevery
veK-12studentsintheUnitedStatescomesfromahomeinwhichalanguageother
than English is spoken. This situation presents additional challenges for educators. With
iPod and iTunes, teachers can now enhance audio with pictures and video, making
important visual connections to the second language being learned.
Teachers and students can use the iLife suite of digital authoring applications included
on every Mac, such as iMovie and GarageBand, to create their own iPod content. iPod
and iLife are a great way for educators to create, organize, and distribute content, all of
which adds new and exciting dimensions to learning. And iTunes provides an easy way
to store, organize, and purchase content for the iPod.
The seamless integration of iPod and iTunes makes it easy for teachers to provide
textual, auditory, and visual resources to reach all types of learners, particularly those
students who need extra assistance. Using iPod in the classroom can also assist in
helping students master content standards. For example, iPod can help students
achieveoralreadinguency—animportantbridgebetweenworddecodingand
reading comprehension.
Capturing the attention of today’s students can be challenging, and using iPod with
audiobooks is yet another way to get students engaged in learning. Audiobooks
motivate and create interest in the physical texts themselves. Audiobooks can be
readily used with iPod—using them in this way is like having a reader with the student
at all times.
And with the iPod touch—with its built-in Wi-Fi capability and Safari web browser—
students can access the Internet, take notes, keep track of their calendars, communicate
viaemail,blog,andevenaccessascienticcalculator.Theycanalsoaccesshundreds
of educational applications in the iTunes App Store. Many schools are discovering the
power of giving all students access to an iPod touch and are seeing how having mobile
devicesliterallyatstudents’ngertipstransformsteachingandlearning.