Using the iPod touch as an educational tool

1. Using the iPod touch as an educational tool

2. How to use the iPod touch • An iPod touch is very simple to understand. This is a touch-screen device used mainly for playing music. However, this device also allows for picture and video viewing as well as many other things.

3. In order to use any of the iPod touch features, you must register with i-tunes. You can set iTunes to sync any or all of the following: Music and audiobooks Movies Applications downloaded from the iTunes Store TV Shows Music videos Podcasts Here is a list of things the iPod touch has Calendars Pictures (zoom in or out by pinching and spreading) Movies Internet Instant message Mail Accounts Web Browser Alarm clock Weather Camera Notes Maps Stock You Tube Recording system

4. iPod touch features • You can set any of these • things to your front page for easy access. There are • several pages you can have • and see by swiping your • finger across the page. • International Keyboards • iPod touch provides keyboards that allow you to enter text in many different languages, including languages that read from right to left. For a complete list of supported keyboards, go to www.apple.com/ipodtouch/specs.html.

5. Security Features • With so many education apps available, you can carry an entire library of reference materials with you anywhere. Apps help transform the way teachers teach and students learn. And there are apps for every subject and every stage of learning. • You can do video chat with a tap on the iPhone 4 or iPod touch, collaborate on projects with other schools, hold a virtual field trip, or talk to (and see) museum, park, or zoo staff. FaceTime also provides a face-to-face way for students with illnesses to chat with teachers from home. And it works right out of the box — no need to set up a special account or screen name. • Built-in Wi-Fi on the iPod touch and iPhone means you and your students can do research on the web, write an email (even attach a photo or document), and chat or text with classmates or colleagues. The iPod touch and iPhone instantly recognize nearby wireless networks; iPhone uses 3G as well as Wi-Fi to deliver rich HTML email, maps with GPS, and Safari web browsing over the cellular network. You can even email or browse the web while making a phone call.

6. Special Features • Built-in accessibility features make it easy for any student to benefit from all that the iPod touch has to offer. The 32GB and 64GB iPod touch come standard with features that accommodate people with physical impairments, visual and hearing challenges, and different learning styles.

7. iPod touch in the Classroom Technology helps enhance the learning experience. An Apple iPod Learning Lab provides flexible and convenient access to technology, easily transforming any classroom into a digital learning environment.

8. The iPod touch is a powerful education tool that puts learning directly into students’ hands anytime, anywhere. With devices like these, students have access to the Internet, as well as productivity tools and core curriculum content in a mobile, media-rich style that lets them learn as they live—on the go. And with Apple mobile learning solutions—the Apple iPod Learning Lab, and Bretford PowerSync Case for iPod—educators can manage multiple devices in the classroom with ease.

9. Free getting started guide You can get up to speed using iPad or iPod in your classroom with help and recommendations from Getting Started with Apple iOS (initial operating system) Devices: A guide for using iPad, iPod touch, and iTunes for K-12 teaching and learning, available as a free download at www.apple.com/education/resources. The guide includes helpful classroom management tips, suggestions for creating, and locating educational content, lesson ideas, and more.

10. iOS devices in action • Do more on the go. Productivity apps are included for taking notes, keeping calendars, and communicating over email (requires Wi-Fi connection). • Tap into the App Store. Right out of the box, iPad and iPod enhance learning. Add the thousands of apps for education available on the App Store, and learning is enriched and personalized. You’ll find apps for graphing equations, building vocabulary skills, testing geography knowledge, and so much more. • Read anywhere. With the iBooks app, students have access to a vast collection of books right on their iPad or iPod. They can download books (many are free) from the iBookstore and then browse, search and highlight text, and add bookmarks and notes.

11. Confused on how and where to start? • Apple Professional Development • For educators and administrators who are new to iPad or iPod, Apple offers two- and four-day workshops designed to help them experience the educational value of these technologies. They’ll also learn strategies for integrating the Apple iPad Learning Lab or Apple iPod Learning Lab into their classrooms. Visit www.apple.com/education/professional-development for more information

12. How do you know what Apps are good and how to get them? • This website brings you to an awesome page of hundreds of educational apps that can be used in the classroom. • http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AtmIIa0toLTdGVucnUxMUVMTUdmbWE5a0RrYTJtb1E&hl=en#gid=0

13. A Few Free Apps • Spelling Cat – is a feline and jazz theme education tool designed to help the player improve their spelling ability. Players challenge their ability to spell words correctly in mini-games. The game is designed to be flexible enough to assist anyone regardless of their spelling efficiency. A central feature of the game is the creation and customization of word lists to use in the game. • Math-ster Frog – is an app starting with a challenging addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division lessons. Each challenge represents an element. After collecting all elements, the frog becomes a ninja master.

14. Free apps continued… • Hudson Alpha i-Cell – i-Cell gives students, teachers and anyone interested in Biology a 3D view inside the cell. Included are three different types of cells: animal, plant and bacteria. Learn about the various parts of the cell, which biologists, biochemists, and DNA researchers at Hudson Alpha Institute study and use to advance the limits of biotechnology.

15. As Teachers…. • There is so much technology that is available for teachers to use in their classrooms. Make what is known as a distraction to the students’ learning, a tool for learning. • Take advantage of new resources and do not be afraid to use them to their fullest potential. New technology is what students connect to, use as a facilitator.