I keep
thinking about the iPod touch in the classroom and every few weeks or so I Google
the topic to see if anything new has been written. I came across a blog that had been written in
March: iPod Touch in the Classroom. Even more than the blog itself, the comments
took on an interesting discussion of their own. The author made a comment in his post
quoting someone from the presentation he was at: Now one of the developers is talking, his
company located in RTP. He says that part of the appeal of the iPod T is
that a $200 device makes more sense than a $1000 laptop. “It’s
cheap! It’s out there.”
This remark
sparked a number of people to jump to the defense of the laptop – emphasizing
that some notebooks can be as cheap as $250.
Why would someone want a closed platform/small screen/difficult to type
on device that is only $50 less than a fully functioning notebook?
For me, the
appeal of the touch over a laptop is … well… I can touch it. If I have to do a lot of work in a browser or
write something that is going to be more than a few sentences, I certainly
agree – go laptops! But I don’t ever
intend to use my touch for those things anyway.
I love it for its music applications that make practicing music easy
anywhere! Or its classic novel
application that lets me read classic novels during the idle intervals of my
life, like waiting for a bus or waiting in a doctor’s office. Given its size, it’s definitely easy to carry
around … but still it got me thinking about how a touch screen laptop would
probably just blow the iPod touch out of the educational thought waters.
Correct me if
I’m wrong, but it doesn’t seem that touchscreen laptops have fully made their
way into the commercial sphere yet. I
see a few touchscreen options online but the price seems to be just a bit high
for the average consumer and especially too high to be given out to every
student as a learning tool.
But it will
be interesting to watch over the next few years as touchscreen laptops become
more commonplace and the prices drop to see if people begin using them heavily
in the classroom. Touchscreen
applications hold awesome potential for music classes, laboratory sciences, art
classes, practicing investment strategies, and other hands-on classes. But I still don’t think it’s a replacement…
it’s great to learn chords and music theory from my touch… but nothing beats
holding an instrument in your hands and making the music yourself.
On an
unrelated note, I was thinking again this morning about the concept
of introspection (see yesterday's blog) and then I remembered a quote by Albert Einstein that says
something like, “You only truly begin living when you get outside yourself.” Kind of goes against the whole introspective
thinking… but then I thought back again to the recurring theme of my life –
balance & moderation. Introspection
paired with getting outside of yourself.





