OK so unpacking 15 iPod touches takes quite a lot of time. For some it’s a quasi religious/retail experience, after opening 3, it becomes a chore.  We have also purchased a set of Apple Headphones with built in Mics. There are cheaper options but we wanted the simplest approach. These are “in ear” which could lead to some interesting hygene issues.

We have no clear game plan (being honest)  - Amilla and I set up a specific OSX user account on a Macbook with the idea of mirroring all 15 devices. We are going to use free and some 59p apps. Ideally we don’t want to spend anything.

So the first challenge has been simply having an Apple ID account to register the iPods and open an iTunes account. Of course attaching a School/LA debit card to a student’s hand held device is asking for trouble, but we’ve done it. In order to download the key apps there doesn’t appear to be a way around it. If we find one we’ll update this. The pupils will have access to the App store app, but they won’t have the password so hopefully we’ll be secure.

Some education iPod set ups in FE/HE can basically hand the devices out and the student is totally responsible for setting it up, managing content etc. In this first instance in a Primary context, we are taking control of the content and apps. This could change as the project develops.

What we are keen to do is encourage  the pupils to use the Touches as research and  publishing tools and not merely for watching/listening video/podcast content. They will also be using the devices with the StudyWiz VLE. This offers some bespoke integration for iPods.

We are not yet clear how the whole process will work. We are looking at three options

1. Email (creating a unique iPod Touch GMail account)

2. Evernote

3. Tumblr - we like the interface on the Touch

Exactly how we manage this remains to be seen. The pupils hopefully will blog their own experiences.

Finally, as we are working within the LA filtering system, we are challenged in terms of access to the iTunes store. This is typical of LA networks, each with their own quirks. Access to the iTunes Store sometimes gets there and at other times doesn’t. As this project is being set up in a CLC, we have access to a separate line, but this is down, so we are trying to work through a 3G USB dongle! I write this because things are not always slick.

So we are simply at the stage of creating an account and adding some apps and content and sharing this across 15 devices. How to store, charge, and manage in the class has yet to be figured out.