I-Touch in a Fifth Grade Classroom

Today I want to highlight how one of our teachers used an I-Pod I-Touch to enhance the instructional experience for her students. An I-Touch is a handheld device that acts a lot like a mini computer and fits into the palm of your hand. The students can access educationally appropriate web sites on the internet as well as using the device to type. This article is from the local newspaper about how Mrs. Raubenstrauch used the I-Touch in her fifth grade classroom. Great job Mrs. Raubenstrauch and all of her students!
The use of new technology in education is not a recent phenomenon. After all, at one point a chalkboard in a classroom was considered “new” technology. I am not one to believe that newer technology is the “fix-all” for everything bad in education. I will always believe that the most important component in the educational process is the teacher sitting down and trying to teach the students in their classroom. The power of some of the newer technology is that it can assist the teacher by bringing more resources into the classroom for the students to use. The article about Mrs. Raubenstrauch’s class points this fact out. The newer devices also allow students to interact with experts from all over the world in a controlled setting. Mrs. Buhite and I conducted an experiment this Winter testing whether or not an I—Touch can enhance the educational experience of students. You can read a "white paper" that I wrote about the topic here. The bottom line is that an I-Touch can enhance a student’s experience under the right circumstances. Schools must be willing to adapt their instruction to incorporate these new devices. After all, it is not the devices themselves that are powerful educationally; it is the resources that the devices can bring into the classroom.