I see a lot of benefits in regards to using Touches to support differentiation. As stated in my previous post, I really wish I had a Touch for every one of my students. I have concluded that the use of technology is a powerful tool that can enhance learning for individuals, and be used for differentiation in exponential ways.
However, having only one Touch to share between three students has hindered the time I would have liked to have spent experimenting using the Touch with different individuals at differing levels. I also brought my iPad to share with the class, but since I was only there two days per week it still wasn't "enough," and the gaps between using the Touch and iPad interrupted the learning that would have would have increased had the technology been available to them all five school days in a row.
With that being said, the questions that have come up while using the Touch this quarter are: How do we attain the funds to purchase this technology for every student, especially when budgets are being cut so drastically right now? How do I find apps that target individuals with special needs (like the student I know who's reading level is well below her grade level and is not able to read directions or prompts within apps for math, etc.)? Are there less expensive ways to put books on the Touch/iPad? Some of the books I purchased for my students were $10, which adds up really fast. It would be fantastic to match every book my MT has in her classroom library, with the Touch so the students using the Touch for supported learning have as many option as the students who do not "need" them. (We have found that those who benefit from having the books-on-tape can listen to books via an iPod, but iPods are very limited compared to Touches).
If the only way to obtain funds for technology in the classroom is through grants - I will need to figure out where to find the grants, and learn how to write a grant proposal. I think this is where networking will really come in handy.
However, having only one Touch to share between three students has hindered the time I would have liked to have spent experimenting using the Touch with different individuals at differing levels. I also brought my iPad to share with the class, but since I was only there two days per week it still wasn't "enough," and the gaps between using the Touch and iPad interrupted the learning that would have would have increased had the technology been available to them all five school days in a row.
With that being said, the questions that have come up while using the Touch this quarter are: How do we attain the funds to purchase this technology for every student, especially when budgets are being cut so drastically right now? How do I find apps that target individuals with special needs (like the student I know who's reading level is well below her grade level and is not able to read directions or prompts within apps for math, etc.)? Are there less expensive ways to put books on the Touch/iPad? Some of the books I purchased for my students were $10, which adds up really fast. It would be fantastic to match every book my MT has in her classroom library, with the Touch so the students using the Touch for supported learning have as many option as the students who do not "need" them. (We have found that those who benefit from having the books-on-tape can listen to books via an iPod, but iPods are very limited compared to Touches).
If the only way to obtain funds for technology in the classroom is through grants - I will need to figure out where to find the grants, and learn how to write a grant proposal. I think this is where networking will really come in handy.
Very cool that you were downloading books...!
ReplyDeleteYes, grants are one way to fund these things.
And when we installed all of those very expensive white boards in classrooms that largely go unused in many schools, the thought was that technology is something that *teachers* use, not kids (except for an hour of computer lab a week to learn PPT), in part because we had no way then to put tools in the hands of kids. And someone will be deciding soon whether to replace all of those IWB as they wear out or need to be updated....
So lots of educators are asking... what if we gave up the animated lessons and instead have a good computer and projector in every room, and spent the money on things that kids themselves use? Or trust that we'll be able to do that interactive teaching by projecting through an IPad within a year or so, and that would be a much less expensive alternative?
Then what could we do with the leftover money that would have gone to the IWB?
Your MT has likely bought all of those books herself, and your generation of teachers will be deciding when to buy e-books and when to buy paper books... costs can be less for e-books sometimes.
All good questions to be thinking about, and having one Touch just to spur this sort of thinking was a first step for us!
Are you on lists or have teacher grant websites bookmarked?