What does Free REALLY mean? Well, so far I have discovered it could mean 1 of 4 things:
1. It's REALLY free. It could be an organization that wants to get out the 411 or help, or it is the first in a series of Apps and they're giving you a freebie.  Buy these freely NO caution here, you can alway delete.
2. They give you a taste with the option to buy more.  A GOOD example of this is NO Fear Shakespeare.  You get 1 free play and then you can in-app purchase other plays.  My only question here is if I can only purchase them on the iPod do the new ones transfer to my App Library to share? Another is Highlights Hidden Pictures you can get a subscription.  I have the same ? with this one. Caution Here! Make sure you turn OFF in-App purchases in the setting->General->Restrictions, then you can download these and at least enjoy the full free sample and decide later to buy more.
3. Helper App to a computer based subscription.  A good example is QuickInput, they want me to purchase a school liscense of their data management software just to use a (perfectly developed by the way) behavior tracking.  I actually hope they have more of these to solve the Java problem.  I would really like to use my webbased subscriptions like ALEKS Math, Reading Plus, Brain Pop, etc on the iPod and iPad.
4. Last and probably MOST plentiful: It is only a partial or Lite version with features or levels missing. Thing to think about if you are a school account.  The lite versions in my eyes have 2 problems: 1- They pollute my Mothership (App Library:) I already have almost 1,000 Apps.  As an administrator I DO NOT want to mess with the free stuff coming back to haunt me (and they will!) and 2- If it is under $2-3 dollars and the teacher has read through all the description page I want him or her to try the FULL version.  Trust me here.  I tell the teachers that if there is a full version of a free app and under $3 to go ahead and get the Full..

*WITH ALL FREE APPS BE CAUTIOUS OF ADVERTISEMENT.  I DON'T use the Discovery App because the first commercial it showed was for Vodka! REALLY

That's it for now.


Lisa Pospishil


 
 
Happiness is….an iPod.  I’m serious! It’s been nine months and 600 iPods deployed since I received the news that the iPod Project was a go.  On one hand that seems like forever and on the other it was a blink of an eye.  I’m going on record right now as saying the iPod is an educational miracle! Devices like the iPod are why I have become an assistive technology specialist 15 years ago.  The iPod has so many tools to break down educational barriers for struggling students in one device.  Plus, the iPad is coming out to solve my size issue with students who have fine motor or vision barriers!  All this in 1 year!  I’m overwhelmed and amazed at the possibilities and applications if implemented correctly.
 
 
This is a story about how ARRA funds (Stimulus money) are breaking down educational barriers for students with special needs with the use of iPod Touches and Kindle2.

Well, it's Wednesday of Thanksgiving Break 09 and here I sit catching my breath and feeling a need to blog about the fantastic things that have been happening.  I better start at the beginning.

Last Spring our special education director came to me and said, "Hey, what could you do with 6 figures?" After I picked my jaw off the floor, ideas started rolling.  The first 2 things that came to mind were iPod Touches for every student 6-12 with an IEP (individual education plan) and Kindle2s.  I had been reading current news on both (research just isn't out there yet for how I wanted to use them).  After 2 days I had a proposal that was shooting the moon and we agreed to tame it down a bit.  But in the end the proposal still totaled approx. $360,000.  It included 5 projects. 1-iPod touch for every secondary special education student and class sets in the elementary and preschool program, 2-Kindle2 sets for all schools, 3 Aleks Math Program, 4 Reading Plus Software, and 5-Smartboards for each school to help implement the “i’m Determined” program out of the department of education in Virginia. https://php.radford.edu/~imdetermined/

After presenting the proposal I waited, and waited, and waited, and on several occasions was told we might not get anything (which is typically the story at any public school waiting on funding).  Summer break started and I was very disheartened. We had ordered a couple iPods and Kindle2s and were immediately  iNLove with them as an educational tool.  I have been working in the area of Assistive Technology for over 15 years and had and still have the feeling BOTH these devices hold the power to eliminate educational barriers for our special education students. (Actually ALL students would greatly benefit for this type of technology)

 A few days into June my Boss called and said they approved funding for my entire revised proposal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After doing my “happy tech dance” I was suddenly overwhelmed with the magnitude of it all.  385 iPods, 120 Kindle2s, Sync stations, cases, Smartboards, laptops to manage….TRAINING, Wholly Cow! Management of all those devices, student user policies, parent, teacher, student, and community communication; the list goes on and on and I’ll share more as I tell our tale.

Summer 2009: First, things first.  Call Brenda (my right and left arm) and tell her the good news! Then schedule teacher training and order initial devices.  I also teach educational technology courses through Doane College in Crete, NE so I set up a course for those who were interested in getting credit for the training.  With such late notice for teachers we decided to offer the training 2 different weeks and in module format.  So teachers got to basically pick and choose what applied to them and could come either during the week in July or August.  We also utilized a SCIP grant to provide a daily stipend for teachers and paras.  This training was not mandatory but over the course of the summer over 28 teachers and paras had completed an average of 4 of the 5 days of training.  I WAS BEYOND PROUD OF OUR STAFF!!!

During the summer training we also sketched out our student rules and had the teachers express any concerns they might have.  There really is very little on the web about how to implement such a program and we agreed we had to do it right and take our time.  I had already heard horror stories about teachers getting iPods and being told here you go and here are some iTunes cards.

After the summer training I knew I had to revise my plan a bit.  My original intent was to have the teachers train on the iPods in the summer and then they would become student iPods.  Big mistake! I quickly realized I needed to let the teachers have their own and learn how to use this as a tool for themselves as well as think creatively on how to use the apps to help make the general curriculum accessible for our students. 

I headed back to my budget and crunched numbers to figure out how to make it work.  That same day I got news that the new iPod 3g was lowering its prices!  This thing is meant to be!  In fact it would save us enough that I could open up the training to interested general education teachers with the agreement that they would help us find “apps” that would support their curriculum.  What a wonderful way to help them be accepted in the classroom (a barrier I hadn’t thought through yet).

I’ll end this blog at the end of the summer and leave you with what’s to come in the next few blog installments:

Continued teacher training

Student communication

Parent communication

Policies and Management tasks

General Education staff informational meetings and training

ORDERING ins and outs, triumphs and nightmares

Device Management- This will be full of tips I’ve learned

Student Investment

Student iNtouch Club 1st Stage Lesson