Why using an IPod Touch to differentiate learning would help my students…

My main placement is in a “highly capable” classroom. These students, as well as many others, would benefit greatly from having the ease of access to information that the Touch would give them. Currently, they are working on 2 different assignments that they have to research and put together using computer generated end projects. If they don’t have to wait for the use of a computer, a lot more can be accomplished during the school day. This would also help for those instances where the student does not have computer access at home to do this type of research.

It is also a great gift to a teacher who has many of these "highly capable" students so that they could make use of the large number of educational apps, available for every subject, as extensions of their learning while they are waiting for others to finish their work. The teacher could tailor the list of possible activities for each student according to what they need to work on at that time.

I have one student in particular who has a difficult time getting ideas down onto paper. He is VERY verbally talented with an amazing grasp of vocabulary and he is an out of the box thinker with fantastic ideas if you verbally ask him questions. But when he is confronted with a blank piece of paper, he can’t start. If he had the ability to go somewhere and record what he says in response to the prompt given verbally, and then he could listen to what he said and start to write it down on paper, it might get him past that initial first step of brainstorming freeze.

Our school is fortunate to be taking place in pilot program for using netbooks in the classroom. I have seen firsthand that even the mention of using technology gets these kids excited about even the smallest task. Enthusiasm and attitude can play a major role in how quickly and willingly students will advance their learning. If we are able to add this relatively inexpensive and easily accessible form of technology to our classroom activities, the level of excitement that could be brought to everyday activities, such as literacy centers and learning math facts, could only help these students advance. The tech can be somewhat distracting at times and the kids tend to lose focus on other things that they need to do instead, but with proper classroom management this can be minimized and possibly be used in a positive way.