Ipod in our schools

I wasn't sure what to write about today and I started to look at different videos around the Ipod. I came across this one that I thought was very good and also showed other benefits of the Ipod. Most of the students in this class did not directly use them in their everyday work but instead they were used as a communication tool between home and school. Many of the students in this class used some form of sign language to communicate and it is very important that both home and school be using the same signs. The Ipod gave parents an opportunity to see what their child was doing during the day and what they are capable of doing. Parents also benefited in that when they were not sure how to communicate something in sign the interpreter was able to video tape himself doing the signs so that the family could see it rather than try and figure it out from a book. The teachers could also record messages for parents and make it easier than always having to write notes back and forth.

I really liked the idea of video taping the reading of books with the sign language. First they started with taping just the signs with the audio in the background. They than added the book with the signing. This is a great way to incorporate the whole family in reading of stories and the family can pick up new signs that they can use to communicate with their child. It is also a very good way to teach the different vocabulary words for the different subject areas. Anyway,I just thought it was a neat twist to some of the things that we have already been talking about it class and other ways of using the Ipods.