Study and organizational skills are vital to a student’s success. They are important in every class at every age, and become increasingly important as students get older. As a teacher I am constantly looking for ways to help my students improve their study skills, and the iTouch offers a way for students to do just that. If your school district is considering allowing students to use iPods in class, but you are not quite sure if it’s a good idea, consider the following applications available for students’ use.
Digital Assertion:
This application allows users to create digital notecards. Students enter the information they need to study and then progress through their digital notecards. As the student studies, the iTouch keeps track of the percentage of questions students answer correctly. It even records which cards students answer correctly most of the time and which cards students answer incorrectly most of the time. Students begin with a small group of cards and after they successfully learn those cards, more are added. Not only would this be a great way to study and learn material, it would also boost students’ confidence while improving their study skills.
Teacher Idea: Have students create digital notecards for vocabulary words for an upcoming lesson. A great pre-reading stratagy is to familiarize students with the vocabulary before the lesson even starts. This sets your students up for success.
iHomework
This application allows students to record dates of tests, projects, homework assignments, and anything else they might need to remember. Students can record grades they receive on assignments and mark assignments they have completed. While students could always manually record assignments in calendars, this digital option would be appealing to them, thus making them more likely to actually record and remember important assignments. This is a good way for students to get organized and improve study skills.
Teacher Idea: Require students to record homework assignments and test dates. Email parents and let them know where this information can be found.
VocabWiz SAT Vocabulary Lite
The Lite version of Vocab Wiz is free and contains over 200 vocabulary words that students are likely to encounter on the SAT. It uses a flashcard format and even pronounces the word for the student. There is a quiz which allows students to test their knowledge. A full version is coming soon from Apple which will contain over 4700 words.
Teacher Idea: Have this as an option for students that complete their work early. Rather than daydream or chat with their peers, they can be learning vocabulary for the SAT, a test that most students will take.
These three applications are just a small sampling of uses of the iTouch in the classroom. Many teachers, myself included, are nervous about this particular use of technology in the classroom, but given correct instruction and clear boundaries, this new technology can go a long way in helping our schools become more in touch with students while helping them improve their study skills.
**Some of these applications are free, while others are not. You can find information on cost in Apple’s App Store.
