Utah Librarian Launches iPod Program at High School
RSSBy Lauren Barack Thanks to their librarian, nearly 1,700 teens at Utah's Kearns High School are getting an iPod Touch as part of a massive technology rollout that took almost a year of teacher training and infrastructure development. "It's just an incredible opportunity for the school," says Rachel Murphy, Kearns's media specialist, who first developed the program in 2009. "We knew we could never fund laptops, so we looked at what else we could use and wanted to stick with mobile devices because this is how students interact." The $1.06 million initiative was launched with an Enhancing Education Through Technology grant, along with federal stimulus funds awarded to Kearns—one of three schools Utah singled out for the award, says Murphy. While schools across the nation are piloting mobile devices, a program this large is still fairly unique, and Kearns has had complaints that educational funds were being spent on handhelds, Murphy adds. Murphy, however, notes that the school was required to use the grant on technology, and it spent nearly a year preparing and piloting the iPod program. Once teachers completed 18 hours of training in December 2009, Murphy purchased a few mobile carts loaded with iPods so they could check them out for students. Then the school tested and upgraded its Internet network so that students could use WiFi to download information and upload assignments and notes. Finally, educators received iPods before their students in August so they could meet with peer learning groups and assess how to intergrate the handhelds into lessons. "The goal was not to be application focused, but how to use them as connected and engaged devices," says Murphy, who continues to work with teachers to develop new ways to adopt the iPods into the curriculum. Students have taken to them quickly, using some of the more than 400 applications to create flashcards, file homework, and even write short papers. They've also used the embedded camera and audio and video recording capabilities in ways, Murphy says, the school hadn't immediately envisioned. "A student recorded her chemistry teacher doing a demonstration so she wouldn't forget," says Murphy. "They're finding ways to use them that we hadn't imagined." Although syncing personal photos and music is allowed, students are banned from using their iPods to upload their own applications. But that's only temporary. Graduating seniors can expect a little bonus along with their diplomas this year. "[IPods] will be restored to a brand new state, completely cleaned off, and ready for seniors to take with them after graduation," says Murphy. Not a bad graduation present for the 21st century student. This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.
Teens at Kearns High School now have iPods.
