Using a document camera (the next generation of opaque projectors) and an iPod to project an animated math puzzle, teacher Amy Sullivan (left) and teacher aide Dara Perlow (right) quizzed Hemlock first graders in addition and subtraction problems. Welcome to the future. Even recent high school graduates would be surprised by how technology is being integrated into the primary school classroom. A surveying glance at Amy Sullivan’s first grade class at Hemlock Primary School, for example, would include students solving math problems by viewing an iPod screen projected through a document camera, sitting side-by-side sharing a favorite storybook, one student hugging a giant Pooh Bear while another reads aloud to her, and a cooperative learning group solving visual sorting games on individual iPods. Children who are natives to technology see no incongruity in this juxtaposition of stuffed animals and iPods: it is just another day of learning in their classroom.

While one group learned on the iPods, other students spent time reading together. The first grade groups then switched activities. “I am excited by all this technology,” commented Hemlock Principal Audrey Bellovin. “I recognize that our students are natives to it and are very familiar with its uses. The iPods are relevant to their learning and certainly motivating. By using the document camera, we are presenting the children with a visual model for what they are doing. This is hi-tech learning in a multi-sensory way. The learning is visual, kinesthetic and auditory - really addressing the needs of all learners. The children are not isolating themselves - they are interacting with each other and the iPods.”

Purchasing iPods for Ms. Sullivan’s classroom was accomplished through a grant from the Paul Robert Eckna Foundation. Born, raised, and educated in Garden City, Paul was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald who lost his life on September 11th. The foundation in his name makes regular contributions to causes that were special to him - most notably, the schools. In this case, the foundation facilitated the purchase of the classroom iPods and training for teacher Amy Sullivan.

Teacher aide Dara Perlow demonstrated a sorting game for Developmental Skills/ Reading Teacher Debbie Babitz during a first grade iPod lesson. After attending a conference on the use of iPods in the classroom, Ms. Sullivan saw the tremendous learning potential of this new technology. “They are engaging and can be used to individualize and differentiate instruction,” Ms. Sullivan noted. “Children use the iPod to read out loud and play it back, helping their fluency. Music is integrated into the classroom as a powerful motivation for reading. In our efforts to integrate 21st century technology, iPods are a wonderful tool being used to improve literacy in first grade.”

This first grader and her cuddly friend listened to a story read by a classmate before it was her turn to work with her classroom’s new iPods. Parents and educators alike took note of the recently released, but not surprising findings by the Kaiser Family Foundation: children ages 8-18 now spend an average of 7 1/2 hours a day using electronic media (www.kff.org, 2009). The down side of this is obvious - technology-as-babysitter is never acceptable. But when technology is coupled with guided learning and peer/teacher interaction, individual and group learning can be enhanced and deepened. As educators like Amy Sullivan bring new technologies into the classroom, Generation M2 (media squared, as coined by the Kaiser Family Foundation) is learning just how useful technology can be in advancing their skills. In the primary school classroom, the abacus coexists with the iPod, and Winnie the Pooh still makes a great pillow for story time.

Teacher Amy Sullivan (left) and teacher aide Dara Perlow (right) modeled the iPod lesson with an audio component for Hemlock first graders.