Four Ways to use an iPod Touch in a Kindergarten Classroom: AKA “Death of an iTouch”
by Chris Crowell
They say you don’t know how much you miss something until you no longer have it. Such is the case of my shiny iTouch, which slid into a permanent coma last week. The cause? A weak heart, otherwise known as a battery that could no longer hold a charge, even for a few seconds, and even when plugged in.
Born in 2010 in the first week of September in a union between Apple and Foxconn, our iTouch was one of the very first 4th generation editions (with two cameras) to be produced. After a year of service by CTR and in Mediatech, it was put into full time use last fall in my Kindergarten class. I had orginally thought I would use it to supplement my two iPads, but quickly found that my pocket felt empty if it wasn’t there. It was both a backup and a supplement to my iPads, especially since I had figured out how to air-sync new apps and photos.
My students helped me discover that the small screen on the iTouch actually is preferrable at times to the much larger iPad. Their small fingers were drawn to the small screen (some called it an iPhone). They seemed to move in and out of apps faster, and seemed to like to share the iTouch with a friend. Here are some examples.
Why not just replace the battery?
Certainly one of the most controversial technology design decisions ever made in the history of gadgets, was Apple’s choice to solder the batteries inside the device. Permanantly. So when the battery dies, so does the iPad or iPod.
You can get your iPod “repaired” with a fresh battery for $79, at http://bit.ly/olKbTN. You can try it yourself at http://bit.ly/wVq3Y2 but this process requires special tools and soldering, and is not for the faint of heart.
Morning bus duty. Two sleepy kids are in the gym, just sitting silently on the bleachers, not talking. I’d say “I have some new games that just appeared on my iTouch. Would you like to try them?” Within a few minutes they’d be working together cooperatively on an app like Motion Math or Magic Piano. Thanks to the iTouch, I could turn bus duty into math or music enrichment.
Child management prevention. Any experienced teacher knows that busy, engaged kids get into less trouble. My app-heavy iTouch was another way that I could keep children engaged. Even if I didn’t need it, I knew I had the option.
In the electric area. I keep my tablets in a part of the room I call the Electric Area. This is a place where children are given their choice about what type of device they use. This is where I realized that the small iTouch screen sometimes was preferrable at times to the larger iPad. Some activities (not all) seem more fun on the smaller screen.
A less-obvious way to capture teachable moments. During a fire drill early in the year, I wanted to record my student’s hallway behavior as they moved outside. I didn’t want to use the iPad because it was too big, not to mention that I didn’t have it in my pocket. I quietly fished my iTouch out of my pocket and recorded my children as they moved into their assigned position. Later, I synched the video to my laptop and we watched the video together, creating an ideal setting to discuss hallway protocal. It worked like a charm. Too bad I didn’t have my AppleTV working!
The lesson for me: Don’t underestimate the power of the small form factor of the iPod Touch. Think of it as a mini-iPad that you can fit in your pocket. When I broke the news to my class that the iTouch battery would no longer hold a charge, one of my students asked if he could use my new iPhone instead. Sorry I said. That’s where I draw the line.
This article originally ran in the June 2012 issue of Children’s Technology Review on page 4.