Laptops and iPods in the classroom

When I was a child in elementary school (a long time ago) computers were just coming into classrooms. Of course there were only a handful of computers in the whole school, and they were used to teach typing. Well fast forward 25 years, now schools are beginning to have laptops and iPods in every classroom. As a future educator I need to be prepared to teach my students to use laptops and iPods, while also knowing when to use them in my curriculum.
I came across an excellent video on youtube that discussed just this issue. The video "Laptops and iPods in the Classroom" is showing a Des Moines, Iowa classroom that has six laptops and several iPods for educational purposes. From the interviews with the teacher and several students it seems like the technology is a big hit. Mr. Starr a 4th grade teacher at Stowe Elementary says he really likes using the technology and it has gotten the students motivated and excited to do their work. Mr. Stowe also makes the point that using technology in the classroom can be a lot of work for the teacher. The teacher needs to be familiar with the tools and able to teach the children about them.
The children in the class are using the laptops by working in groups, recently they worked on Iowa projects, using the laptops. Then they created pod casts to present their projects to the rest of the class. The students also used the technology to work on reading theatre projects. They are practicing their reading and are able to add in sounds. The students are making digital, audio, and video files right in their classroom.


Click on the video below to watch, it is really worth watching if you are going to be in the field of education.




Classroom image used with permission from www.pics4learning.com