Sandy Plains IPod Touch Pilot - Year Two

Planning and purchasing for our second year of IPod Touching is well under way as we wind down this school year.  The scope of our pilot will double during the 2011-2012 school year.  We will bring onboard, or should I say online, one additional fourth and one fifth grade classroom resulting in half of our fourth and fifth graders having their own IPod Touches during the school day. 

The overall cost of the Year Two Expansion is $21,206.  This amount is $5,200 less than the cost incurred during the initial year of the IPod Touch Pilot.  While the new generation of IPods went up $39 per unit, we purchased two fewer laptops, as well as 5 fewer IPod Touches.   This year, Apple bundled the Bretford carts with 20 IPods into an IPod Learning Lab.  Professional Development is not included in our Year Two Plan as we expect most of the new learning and sharing to be conducted by our returning Pilot Teachers and students.  This year’s fourth grade pilot students will be split between two fifth grade classrooms in order to have “experts” in each of the two IPod Classrooms.

With any purchase made through Apple. I strongly recommend the Apple Care Program.  The customer service is exemplary and it is easy get replacements or repairs right on the spot at your local Apple Store. 

Here is the breakdown of expenses for the Year Two Expansion:

2          Apple IPod Learning Labs with Applecare      $  13,798

10        IPod Touch 8GB                                             $   2,290

10        AppleCare for IPod Touch                              $      590

4          MacBook Air, 1.4 GHz, 64 GB  Hard Drive      $   3,796

4          AppleCare for MacBook Air                            $      732

                                                                   Total        $ 21,206

During the summer, we will be putting together a summary report of our first year's expereinces including student data, lessons learned, and more detailed plans for 2011-2012 school year.  In addition to increasing the scope of the project, we are looking to make our work more transformational.  Pretty exciting stuff.  Stay tuned.  Please contact me if you have any questions about our IPod Touch Pilot Program and remember to stop by and see our poster session this summer at ISTE in Phiadelphia.