iPod Project Reflection

by Roger Crump

Bayshore High School

6/5/2010

This report, the survey and results are viewable at:	http://rogercrump.pbworks.com/iPod-Project
A video documenting the project can be viewed at:	http://crumpr.blogspot.com/2010/06/ipod-project.html

 

 

Initial reflections

      Looking back on the year and on the iPod project, I'd like to thank the folks that made it happen. Namely, thanks to Jeannie Galindo, Kathy Sharp, Faye Charnell, Tina Barrios, Cindy Seletos, and Mark Benno. One benefit I saw from the iPods was that it generated something of a special feeling to both my students and myself. As a teacher, I'll always remember the image of Jeannie and Kathy wheeling that cart into my classroom on Day 1. My students and I were happily surprised that folks would spend the time and money to put new tools into our hands. I heard students say things in disbelief like, “They're going to put them in our classroom?” The project showed care and gave us a special feeling.

      Feelings aside, as a lump-sum assessment of the project, I'd give it a grade of B-. It was definitely positive, yet could have been better. Here's what I based that assessment on...

 

Conclusions

Negatives

1. iPods vs. laptops My classroom, is very fortunate in that my students have 1-to-1 laptops. One of my first questions was, “What can an iPod do that a laptop cannot?” I didn't know too much about iPods at the beginning of this year—I learned quite a bit. There are things iPods can do over laptops (certain apps and just the mobility/manipulative nature of iPods). However, I'm not sure that I was completely convinced of the power of an iPod over a laptop. For instance, I gave students an iPod pre-survey and a post-survey of the same questions. The goal was to compare impressions and look for changes. Question number 3 asked if iPods had benefits over a laptop. You can see the results in the graphs. Responses were the most scattered of all the questions. The post-survey might've even shifted a slight bit leftward (against iPods). As to why this could've happened, who knows? Maybe it's true, maybe I just didn't use the iPods to their full effectiveness.
2. Subject-based apps I found that history-based apps weren't the best or at least weren't the most exciting. It seemed to me that history apps were mostly like reading a textbook on a very small screen. The apps that I found the most useful were more generic or tool based types of apps—ones that could be used for any class. Namely, “Doodle Buddy” which I'll discuss later.
3. Syncing Syncing was a hassle at times. First, there was definitely a learning curve involved during my first sync. The problems seemed to revolve around (a) OS version and app compatibility, (b) the fact that syncing 40 iPods takes time and it always seemed like a couple had a glitch here or there, (c) if one iPod caused a pop-up, the whole syncing process paused for input. Thus, I had to babysit the syncing. The notion of “just plug it in and it's all automatic” I found to not be reality. The syncing situation got better as I got used to it.
4. Connectivity A rather large headache for me was the iPod connectivity to the internet. Specifically, certain iPods seemed unable to hold their connections. Oddly, others were great and never lost their connections. The cause baffled me. I wonder if some students had been monkeying with the connection settings, but I don't know. Either way, it was a hassle while teaching for kids A, B, C, and D to suddenly get disconnected. I had to go over and re-connect them while trying to keep momentum in the class. Re-connecting was easy, but it occurred and then re-occur and got old. At times, if we were using the iPods for a non-app activity, I found I told them to just put the iPod back and use the laptop.

 

Positives

1. Motivation The number 1 benefit that I learned about iPods is their motivating power. The students absolutely loved doing things with them. The pre and post-surveys reflect this enthusiasm. The pre-survey showed very strong enthusiasm. The enthusiasm was not entirely surprising because of the “newness” factor involved. Still, I found the extent of enthusiasm surprising. A quick glance at the graphs easily shows this. I figured the post-survey would show a marked decline in iPod enthusiasm. My thinking was that the newness and novelty had worn off, thus, the positive responses would decline. I was very surprised when I calculated the results yesterday. For each question excepting the iPods-vs.-laptops one, the responses were either eerily the same (like question number 4) or they actually increased. The increase in question number 2 (the effectiveness of using apps in class) was substantial. My overall conclusion here was that students definitely see the iPods as worthwhile. We've used the word “engage” or “engaging” a lot the past 2 years. iPods certainly help engage a student into the subject and the lesson.
2. Springboard to writing The iPods were great at getting students involved in a lesson and then spring-boarding into a writing assignment. I mentioned Doodle Buddy earlier. I think one of the best lessons I had on an iPod used this app. It's not a history app, just a drawing app. I had students work collaboratively to draw two pictures on WWII. Then they had to write a paper describing what they did, how, why, challenges, etc. Students enjoyed the assignment and didn't whine about the writing part of it. I did the same in Economics using “Lemonade Tycoon.” Students played the game then wrote about the game—the goal, the choices, mistakes they made, things they did right, and so on. The iPods got them writing, and again, there wasn't much whining because they enjoyed the activity they were writing about. Another good thing about these types of apps is that many are free or have free versions.
3. Alternative instructional tool One of my initial goals was to compare an iPod lesson to a traditional reading lesson. I did this twice. My students watched a video lesson on the iPod. Another teacher's classes read the same text that was heard. A quiz at the end compared results. My findings and conclusion were that the reading group did slightly better, but there was no real distinguishable difference. In the first quiz, the reading group beat the iPod group with an average of 85.8% to 80.5%. On the second lesson, the iPod group beat the reading group with an average of 79.77% to 76.92%. I wanted to do more of these types of things, however, I began to wonder if I was actually comparing apples to apples or oranges. I didn't want to waste time if I wasn't going to be sure the numbers were legit, so I set that aside.
4. The Wow! factor Lastly, I just want to emphasize and reiterate point number 1 above. The glory of the iPods is their neat-O Wow! factor. They get kids into the class and the activity. That's the absolute best thing I found.

 

Recommendations

1. I spoke with Jeannie Galindo and suggested that in the future the iPod cart be used on a check-out basis. There were lots of days I didn't use the iPods. I felt a little guilty having 40 iPods just sitting there in my room doing nothing. I asked myself, “Can't somebody else use them right now?” Even splitting them up was a thought I had. I only have about 25 students in class, not 40. But, splitting them up would create a whole group of logistics issues—new cart, syncing situation, etc. Back to the checking-out system, I think that's the way to go. A teacher could use the iPods for a project he or she is working on, then pass them on for someone else. I felt a little pressured that I have to use them. They were sitting right in my class and felt a bit guilty if I didn't use them for a while. Forcing them into a lesson isn't constructive either. There will be issues with a check-out basis though. The syncing I foresee as a headache. If teacher X wants to use app Y, he or she will need to sync them up. Like I said earlier, there's a learning curve on that.
2. I found that teacher creativity is key for the iPods to work effectively. That's awesome, but I think it would take a certain type of teacher to make it fly the right way. I made some video lessons with a music theme—lessons on John Philip Sousa (band music) and jazz. I thought the lessons were pretty good, the students liked them, hopefully learned from them, but they took time to be create. Even the use of apps takes time and creativity to come up with a good lesson (I imagine that's always the case with any good lesson).

 

Last thoughts

      I gave the project a B-. It could've been better if I'd made it better. I had to learn on-the-go a bit. I did some trial and error. Making the iPods useful and successful and fully effective takes some time. We had a lot of irons in the fire this year, and sometimes, the iPod iron got put on the back burner. Still, I found them useful and motivating to students.

 

 

 

 

Thoughts I recorded throughout the year

 

10/23/09

 

Following are my responses to the mini-grant application:

I use tech nearly each day in at least one of my classes for various reasons. The best way to see what I do is to look at my website: http://www.crump.2ya.com My website is mostly a jumping off point for whatever the assignment of the day is. My students use a variety of applications, depending on the task, including and roughly in descending order: Safari, Appleworks, Word, Keynote, Power Point, Excel, Garage Band, iMovie, Comic Life. I've also monkeyed around with HTML, javascript, perl, and php. I'm not an expert on the latter 3 by any stretch but I understand the gist of them. I feel confident about using technology and have the philosophy that if I don't know something, I can mess around with it and figure it out.

 

This question concerns me a bit about its wording. I want to be completely honest here and not mislead the Apple folks. I was on the original team to pitch one to one laptops for our school. I made the comment that I think laptops would change the way I teach history. Thinking back, I'm not sure that I would've said that. Perhaps it's true: I use the laptops nearly every day in at least one of my classes. I'm thankful for them because it opens doors that otherwise are not possible. On the other hand, good teaching takes place whether a laptop is present or not. I find myself in a quandary of being either "new school" with straight tech, or "old school" with little more than a clean sheet of paper and a teacher talking. That said, I frankly don't intend to "transform teaching and learning" in my classroom using an iPod. I'm applying to aid or assist teaching and learning in my classroom. I've been ambivalent about this project, and have postponed it until now, for the following reasons: on the one hand, I ask myself, "What can an iPod do that a laptop cannot?" On the other hand, I view certain things in schools using the lame philosophy of the old Beavis and Butthead cartoon. They saw everything in the world in a crystal clear dichotomy: everything was either "cool" or it "sucked." No doubt, to a high school student, using an iPod in class is cool. Mostly, that's why I'm filling out this application. I see iPods as a tool to hook kids into the lesson.

 

I just want to be up front about things. If Apple wants a cheerleader person to pitch reasons iPods are awesome in class, I may not be their guy. I really don't care. I teach for my students, plain and simple, and do the best I can each day. If iPods help, that's great and I'll be glad to say so. If not, I won't make up reasons as to why they're awesome anyway.

 

I'll need to learn more about the iPod touch and specifically its apps. I consider myself fairly tech savvy but have never messed around with an iPod. My initial thoughts when seeing this project was a podcast regarding American history. I thought students might be more inclined to listen to a podcast of history rather than me talking, due largely to the novelty of it. My second thought was to get the students involved in making podcasts or, if not actual podcasts, just mp3's of historic subjects. After doing a little research, I see there are lots of apps. I'd be interested in apps that pertain to Social Studies. This project seems geared toward engagement and I see this as certainly being just that. Frankly, I'm open to ideas about how to use an iPod in class to learn history, government, or economics simply because I don't really know a whole lot about these things.

 

I'd try to do two things: one, a simple likert scale where I survey students on their perceived engagement due to iPods. This would be good but admittedly subjective. Secondly, I'd try to come up with a more objective assessment of achievement. Ideally, I'd have class A use iPods and class B not. Then I'd give an objective test. Ideally, I'd do the same thing in reverse on another topic. The results could then be compared.

 

I'll admit this was my first concern. An iPod is pocket size and tempting. We have a laptop program at our school using carts for classrooms. I'd essentially use those same rules. Fundamentally, they are: no laptops/iPods leave the room, students use the one assigned to him/her, and I check over the "stock" at the end of class.

 

11/2/09 Monday

 

I just heard that I got the iPod mini-grant. My first thought...Oh my word, what have I gotten myself into?! My second thought, after seeing all the gizmos...I’m in way over my head.

At the end of 7th block today, Ms. Galindo and Kathy Sharp wheeled in a cart that looked like a cross between a real-slick recycle bin and R2D2. I said, "What’s that, an air purifier?" Not so. It was the iPod cart that came with the Apple mini-grant. I’m not sure what they’d expected in terms of a reaction, but I was a bit awed. Me? My classes? I was feeling very overwhelmed. I’d filled out the application as honestly as I could. That meant I said up front that I wasn’t going to "cheerlead" for Apple and/or iPods. I’d really debated even applying but felt that, if I was honest with them and with myself, it’d all be fine in the end. Thus, I was surprised that my classes and I had been chosen for the project. When I got home that afternoon I called my wife (who is in NC at the time) and told her about the "good" news. "I won!" I said, "now I have a lot more work to do! What have I gotten myself into?" That’s okay. Got to get to work.

 

Some thoughts later in the evening...

I see 2 goals for this project:

(1) to use iPods as effectively as possible as learning tools.

(2) to document the project as accurately as possible.

Regarding the first goal, my initial thoughts were to use podcasts or mp3's. These would be pre-made, me-made, and/or student-made. My other thoughts would be to somehow apply mini-movies, either pre-made or student-made. Other thoughts are to use the apps (I need to study and learn more here about apps available and their uses).

Regarding the second goal, my initial thought was to conduct an experiment as clinically as possible. My thought was to have one class study a lesson using iPods and another study it traditionally, then give an objective test and compare results. Later I'd flip flop the classes and techniques. Newer thoughts are to perhaps engage another history class and do essentially the same technique. Also, a simple Likert scale of students perceptions might be employed in the early, and perhaps middle and latter stages. Other thoughts are to record my thoughts as I go along (hence this journal type of account) and keep a visual log via photos and video.

 

11/3/09 Tuesday

It's 1:09 AM and I woke up thinking about this iPod thing and couldn't go back to sleep! Just trying to get things straight in my mind, to get a gameplan. The two things that seem to keep coming back to my mind are where to start and security.

 

11/9/09 Monday

Things have settled down a bit. The students are excited about the idea of using the iPods. I want to get them into their hands this week, perhaps even tomorrow in one of my classes. We had a bit of a snag getting thing set up and syncing correctly. Kathy Sharp came in last Friday, I think, and again this morning. She thinks things are going well now and that the syncing process is set. I wanted to start getting some numbers right away on effectiveness or ineffectiveness. I'm working on a pre-survey to give to the students prior to using the iPods. I'll give a post-survey with many of the same questions at the end for comparison sakes. Also, I've made up a little podcast type of lesson on Alexander Graham Bell with a quiz. My history classes will listen and then take the quiz. Mr. Wampole's classes will read the lesson and take the same quiz. We'll do a comparison of results.

 

11/10 Tuesday

I plan on putting the iPods to use for the first time during my next class. They're a good group and I want to use them as my guinea pigs to find any glitches before going to all classes. Plus, it's American Government and the topic that we're on (the bill-to-law process) fits well with the Visible Vote app. I hope to mesh the bill-to-law process, the current health care debate, and the Visible Vote app. Essentially, the question would be, "How would YOU vote on the bill and how is your REP voting on the bill?"

 

11/16 Monday

Last week was the first time the students used the iPods. They were very excited about it. I gave them an initial survey before they used them. The results were very pro-iPod. I'll include graphs to illustrate their responses. We did two lessons using the iPods. Goverment class used the Visible Vote app. I liked it and I think the students liked it. We'll finish that up tomorrow. Secondly, they watched the video lesson on Alexander Graham Bell that I put together. They seemed to respond fairly well to it. The results from Mr. Wampole's classes were very good--better than my classes that used the iPods. However, I'm not sure if we did things the same. A student in both of our classes said they were given the text and the quiz at the same time (making it easier). I gave them the quiz after they watched the video. So, for my last two classes, I'm dividing the class in half. One half reads, the other uses iPods, then they take the quiz. We'll see.

 

Just finished tabulating the stats. I only used the students in my classes that I split up (half reading and half using ipods). The read-only group got an average score of 85.8%. The ipod group got an average score of 80.5%. The number of students was a bit lower than I would've liked (25 reading and 14 using ipods).

 

12/3 Thursday

A successful project thus far has been the Lemonade Tycoon game. Students really got into it and some were very good. I had them write a how-to play the game essay afterwards. They were to explain to a person who'd never heard of the game how to play it and how to win. It was an easy way to get the students writing.

 

2/1 Monday

Mark Benno is scheduled to visit my classes tomorrow. He'd been scheduled for a pre-Christmas holiday visitation but came down with bronchitis. Thus, we're on for tomorrow. I've put the iPods on hold a bit until his visitation and so am excited to meet with him. My students seem excited too; they've asked many times, "When's the Apple guy coming?" I asked the students for questions that they'd like to ask him, and the consensus question was, "What's the next big thing for Apple?" Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow!

 

2/13 Saturday

The "iPod man" can a couple of weeks ago. He gave very interesting talk on Apple. I think the students liked the insight into Apple. I got a couple of classroom usable ideas. The "poll everywhere" site I've already put to use, like it, and will use it again.

 

3/14 Sunday

I think I lost an entry or two from these thoughts somehow. Anyway, my class recently did what I thought was a good assignment. We used the app "Doodle Buddy" to draw collaboratively. Students link up their iPods with a buddy, draw, and whatever they draw appears on their buddy's iPod. This forces them to work together to make something that looks right. Their assignment was to draw their vision of WWII during the war, and then again just after victory. Some drawings were very basic, others very good. Lastly, they wrote a reflection on the assignment--what they drew, why, challenges they faced, advice to anyone planning to do the same thing. The kids loved it. Talk about engaged--they asked to do it again. We will before the year's out.

 

 

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A survey was given to students to evaluate their opinion of using iPods in class. For comparison purposes, the same survey was given at the year's end. The directions were:

 

• Circle the number that matches your disagreement or agreement (1 means you very strongly disagree, 10 means you very strongly agree).
• If you don’t know, choose either 5 or 6.
• Questions number 1-5 were disagree/agree statements. Numbers 6-8 were open-ended.

 

View the iPod project pre-survey results in PDF

View the iPod project post survey results in PDF

 

Student Pre-iPod Survey Students filled out this survey before using the iPods. There were 90 respondents.	Student Post-iPod Survey Students filled out this survey at the year's end after using iPods.  There were 58 respondents. The questions were the same as the pre-survey.

 

 

 

Results from Alexander Graham Bell lesson:

 

Results from the John Philip Sousa lesson: