iPod Touches are amazing devices—wireless connectivity to the internet, free educational applications that are expanding daily, the functionality to view video and sound podcasts—Apple has educators thinking this is the computing device of the 21st century.  Last spring, I took the lead in showing teachers how these handhelds could be used in their classrooms as our district piloted a cart of 40 iPod Touches in each of our district high schools.  For as much fun as I had exploring all that the Touch could do, I was skeptical of how it might be used in the classroom because it really felt like, at most, a receiving device that teachers could deliver content but not much more.  Students couldn’t easily create using the iPod and they couldn’t record sound.  They couldn’t cut and paste information that they found.  For all the applications that were available, none really did a good job stream-lining the exchange of documents between teacher and student.

Touch 3.0 and Evernote dramatically change the school equation!

With the release of 3.0 operating system for the iPod Touch this summer, I have now been converted.  iPod Touch 3.0 now enables students to copy and paste text and images and record sound (with the addition of a third party mike).  Add to this functionality the Evernote application, and suddenly the iPod Touch has become an interactive tool for capturing and sharing information—whether it be text, pictures, or sound!

Evernote is a free application that resides on the iPod—but is also resides on a website created by the  teacher for sharing and exchanging content.  Teachers can copy text and images into “notes” that then is synched to each student iPod.  Text that is shared is reformatted for viewing on the iPod, thereby eliminating constant resizing and zooming.  Students can also create “notes” that can be tagged by the student so that teachers can sort by assignment and class as students turn in assignments.

Imagine students now researching using a Touch, uploading content that they cut and paste (and that includes a citation of the source!).   Imagine an English Language Learner student “copying” vocabulary that is new and pasting it into a note for further exploration.  Imagine a world language student doing a voice recording of a lesson and turning it into the teacher by posting it as a “note” in Evernote.

I can’t wait to demonstrate the possibilities with high school teachers!  Do you use Evernote in the classroom?  Post comments that demonstrate ways you use this application.