Students Learn New Ways to Use Technology to Learn

According to Janet Copenhaver, director of technology for Henry County Schools (VA), 70% of children already own a portable device such as an iPod. Therefore, it is important to teach them how to use these devices to help them with their education. Dictionary and encyclopedia applications already are available, and in some cases, entire textbooks can be loaded onto the tiny device.

John Inman teaches an elective digital input technology class at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School in which students learn new ways to use technology for education or completing school work. Inman said about half the students in his class already owned an iPod Touch when they enrolled, but none of the teachers did. When the middle school received 24 of them to use in the classroom, a representative from Apple taught the teachers to use them during a two-day workshop.

Learning to use new technology in school not only teaches students a new way to learn, but it also prepares them for successful futures, Inman said. “Getting to use an iPod touch in class makes the lessons a lot more fun,” said Logan Huffman one of Inman's students.

North Carolina district prepares for technology overhaul

Educators in the Pamlico school system in North Carolina are preparing for a digital overhaul as they plan to spend $1.25 million in technology stimulus money awarded in September through an Enhancing Education Through Technology grant and the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus money. Laptops for middle-school and high-school students as well as iPod Touch technology for primary schools are all being considered for fall 2010. Pamlico administrators will also travel to other districts to find answers to technology-related questions. Joseph Spruill, the school system’s director of technology, said officials may travel to a district that no longer uses paper textbooks, and another to see how they are using technology in their math classrooms. Sun Journal (New Bern, N.C.) (11/5)