cellular learning

  What is NYSCATE?  Well, it is the New York Association for Computers and Technologies in Education.  I have been at their state conference in Rochester, NY for the past 2 days.    Today, I attended two workshops that interested me greatly.  The first, lead by Mike Amante with the New Hartford School District in New York, focused on iPod Touches as  mobile learning devices.  Mike is an Apple Distinguished Educator and has been using the Touch in school for a couple of years now.  His workshop interested me because of my recent discovery of the potential of the use of the Touch in my classroom.  Mike made an interesting comment that I feel the need to reiterate here.  He stated that we should not assume that the iPod would replace the computer in the classroom.  On the contrary, the iPod should be used to supplement the computer. 

I agree that mobile devices like the iPod or a cell phone can not quite make up for the power of a laptop or pc for each student in the classroom.  However, these tools have the potential to be great tools for learning. They are a low cost solution to a problem of providing technology to every student in the classroom.  At $200 to $400 each, they are still cheaper than many of the laptops that would need to be purchased for students. 

I saw many wonderful apps today that could be used on an iPod to promote learning.  There is the voice recorder Voxie that could be used for language practice.  The LoseIt App for calorie counting in health classes.  Using mobile Google apps for data collection.  Mike showed us these and gave ideas on the implementation.  His experience is invaluable to anyone interested in implementing these devices in their classes.  A site that he demonstrated with wealth of information educational applications for the iPod touch is located at the Apple Learning Interchange.

I also heard Maureen Lindell speak about her experiences using cell phones and iPods in her English classroom.  Like Mike she presented a wealth of information about iPod apps that aid her in teaching English.  She is using both cell phones and iPods in her classrooms.  Like me, she is running a pilot program at her school in East Chester, NY.

I would like to give a shout out to NYSCATE for choosing such good presenters.  These two were among many outstanding presenters at this conference.  I look forward to working with both of these individuals in the future.  Those of us who use cell phones and other mobile devices are few but our numbers are growing.