iPods in the Classroom: Our Digital Outlook (Part 2 of 7)

I recently gave a survey to all of the 5th grade students in order to determine the types of technology they use at home. I decided to call it their "personal" technology. I formed the questions to focus on what types of technology they use and the frequency in which they use it. I also had them think about those types of technology and comment on which one(s) they would like to see used in the classroom more.

Here are the results:

• Almost all of the 5th graders have an mp3 player - the majority of those with mp3 players use it not just to listen to music, but also to play apps.
• Also, almost all of the students have a video game console. In addition, 14% of those with a video game console, are gaming for more than 2 hours a day.
• I was most surprised by the YouTube data. I threw it in there because of some observations I had in my own class. Not only are students viewing videos on YouTube, 15% of those students watch more than 10 videos in one sitting.
• One more statistic to add is that 20% of the 66% of texters, send more than 10 texts a day.

The students at Norton Creek spend a lot of time at home gaming, playing apps, watching videos and listening to music. These are their after school and preferred activities and we need to use this information to engage them in class.

To meet their needs, we need to design our instruction keeping their interests in mind. We need to meet them where they are with the tools they use in their free time. Let's look ways we can integrate the technology they want to use, they know how to use, and show them how to use it for their learning journey.

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