An AMAZING Transformation...

"Let me not resist change but embrace it. It offers an easy path to internal transformation and personal empowerment." -Innerspace

So much has happened in the classroom and with the students since the start of the iPod Touch journey. A couple BIG things:

1. Mrs. Stacey has mastered the syncing of the cart - phew!

2. We have connectivity with all of our iPod Touches

3. There has been a transformation in how the students are learning and thinking about learning

Let me start by painting the picture for how this is playing out. First, Mrs. Stacey has done a phenomenal job of empowering her students to be problem solvers and supports for each other as they use this tool. She has truly created a student centered model that is incredible to watch. As I stepped in her classroom, I saw her students working on finding 3D shapes with Google Images, then they were uploading them into Sketches (app) so that they could identify edges, faces, and vertices. The ease with which they were manipulating the tool to made it seem that these students were born with this device in their hands. Because of their independence with the tool and freedom with the assignment, Mrs. Stacey was able to wander throughout her classroom and assess the students understanding of the content. See quick video of this activity: 3D Shapes in Nature The next day, I entered the classroom to find the students wrapping up the 3D shapes in nature and posting their findings/understandings of 3D shapes on Wiffiti using their touches.

Although this was extremely exciting to see, what really supports the transformation of these students happened in writing. They have been working on a piece of writing using a powerful tool...the pencil and paper (hey...don't knock it! Sometimes, it's the best tool around!). One of Mrs. Stacey's students approached her and said that he was ready to publish. Before she could say anything else, he asked if he could use Story Kit, an app on the touch, to publish. As he published, he incorporated pictures from the web to support his story, and then added voice. This was his own initiative! At this point in the game, Mrs. Stacey hadn't even introduced Story Kit to the students. This student saw a tool, explored the possibilities, then asked if he could run with it! What a transformation in learning! Since then we have added Brushes (app) so that when the students are publishing, they are able to illustrate their stories using this app.

The really wonderful thing that continues to stretch us (the educators) is that the students are coming up with astounding ways to utilize this tool. It's so neat to hear how the use of apps is constantly evolving (as well as the tool itself) to bleed into other areas of learning, not just the ones we define!

The sweet smell of SUCCESS!!!!!

Success doesn't come to you…you go to it -Marva Collins

And that's just what we did! Thank goodness for the tons of snow that we got in the last two weeks. The days without students allowed time for me to tap into the greatest PLN in the world! With the help of Chris O'Neal (@onealchris) I was able to begin syncing our cart successfully with a PC. It's still very cumbersome...but at least we are able to sync apps to the iPod Touches.

The focus of this post isn't so much about the iLearn Project (but definitely check it out at our Wikispace), it's more about the power of the PLN. I have always appreciated the learning that is spawned from the various blogs I read and people that I follow on Twitter, however I truly experienced the magnitude of a PLN a few weeks ago. In the middle of my despair with the iLearn Project, I sent out an SOS Twitter to my network to see if anyone could help me. Not only was my SOS heard, I received a life raft and a ride back to shore! Information came via tweets, personal emails, and blogs to help me solve my syncing problem. I was overwhelmed (and so excited) to know that I have such a great resource out there to help me through any adventure that I take on to promote 21st Century Learning! I hope to repay the favor one day VERY soon!

So this post is not so much about what's going on in the classroom right now. It's a shout out to my PLN peeps and a big THANK YOU to you ALL!!!!!

Preparing for launch

The iPod Touches arrived last week and we experienced a few "technical difficulties" that were not anticipated. I thought I would take a minute to share these out so that if anyone out there is trying to replicate, you can use this information to help make it a little smoother.

Our first road block was the cart. We ordered the Bretford Power-Sync Cart which allows us to charge 40 iPod Touches and sync 20 touches at a time. Originally, Bretford said that we needed to use an Apple computer in order to sync the cart. We had several G4 iBooks that we could use, however, the system was now powerful enough for us to download the 10.4.9 OS so we were unable to download the iTunes that we needed to sync with the cart. Fortunately, we called Apple and they informed us that a PC would work with the cart, so we should be good to go from here on out.

Our next speed bump was syncing the iPod Touches. Before you are able to sync with the Bretford Cart, you must sync each individual iPod Touch to the computer that will be used with the cart. We needed to sync 28 iPod Touches, which took about an hour. During this process, you need to set up each iPod and name it. Again, this only needs to be done once, but it takes a little bit of time - so it's smart to plan ahead. Along with the set up of the iPod Touches, we had to also get them on our network at school. This only took a few seconds to do each iPod Touch, but needed to be done before the iPod Touches were launched in the classroom.

Stay tuned...the project has launched in Mrs. Stacey's Class. Video and updates will follow!

Uncharted Waters....

It has been an interesting couple of weeks. I came across a video on Twitter about what happens when you put an iPod Touch in an 8year old's hand and was immediately moved into action! My brain began racing with ideas of the impact that this tool could have on teaching and learning. After many powerful discussions with my PLN (which I LOVED the push back, by the way...) and a Skype session with Becky Fisher (thank you thank you thank you), we began the process of acquiring iPod Touches for an action research project in 3rd grade.

We approached our Parent Teacher Association at an Executive Board Meeting in regards to purchasing iPod Touches with the money allotted for "Gifts to School". After a fantastic presentation by Megan Stacey (research teacher), the board voted to move forward with this project. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be in a district with parents who are supportive of such a new endeavor. There are not many schools out there who are experimenting with this tool, I'm just thrilled with the forward thinking in this district!

Megan Stacey - Classroom Teacher, Cary Harrod - Instructional Technology Coordinator, Debra Simson - Media Specialist, and I met today to begin the process of planning the implementation of this tool into the classroom after the Winter break. We are trying to begin with the end in mind, yet we have no idea where this could take us. Needless to say it was a little bit of a struggle.

Ideas were definitely flowing, but it's still WAY to nebulous at this point (which we don't want to lose that entirely). A couple of things that I took away from this meeting were that we are attempting to create a learning environment where students are highly motivated and engaged in their learning, able to connect with others, and where knowledge is easily accessible. We also want to promote an atmosphere where students are able to adapt and change their use of the iPod Touch to create new ways of implementing this tool...ways that they can teach us! We want to promote an environment of inquiry and creativity. Finally, we (as action researchers) want to celebrate our mistakes. We don't expect this project to be flawless, but we want to utilize our failures as our greatest opportunities for learning!

Stay tuned as we venture out into uncharted waters...I will be looking to my PLN for an occasional lifesaver!