{"id":15714,"date":"2012-12-21T11:53:32","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T16:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=15714"},"modified":"2012-12-21T11:53:34","modified_gmt":"2012-12-21T16:53:34","slug":"how-an-ipod-can-help-turn-kids-into-life-long-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/12\/21\/how-an-ipod-can-help-turn-kids-into-life-long-readers\/","title":{"rendered":"How An iPod Can Help Turn Kids Into Life Long Readers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_15725\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/12\/21\/how-an-ipod-can-help-turn-kids-into-life-long-readers\/12-21-ipodtouch\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-15725\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-15725\" title=\"12-21 IPodTouch\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2012\/12\/12-21-IPodTouch-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2012\/12\/12-21-IPodTouch-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/files\/2012\/12\/12-21-IPodTouch.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">chrisdejabet \/ Flickr<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Miami Dade program is using the iPod Touch to help 600 students learn how to read.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>About 600 Miami Dade students are learning to read using an iPod Touch and an app which allows teachers to listen to and track a student&#8217;s performance &#8212; or receive help from tutors across the country.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.innovationsforlearning.org\/\">Innovations for Learning<\/a> initiative started as a pilot last year in a handful of classes. It\u2019s now being implemented in kindergarten and first grade classrooms in low performing schools.<\/p>\n<p>The program combines teaching, tutoring and technology.<\/p>\n<p>The students are using a digital program called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.innovationsforlearning.org\/teachermate.html\">TeacherMate<\/a> to learn how to read with help from volunteers. The program is aligned with Common Core standards for reading in elementary school.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The students are working with iPods purchased by the school district. They can access IFL\u2019s learning app, which is used for small group instruction each day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents are engaged in activities that improve their phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and reading fluency skills,\u201d says Sonya McSwain, Instructional Supervisor in <a href=\"http:\/\/eto.dadeschools.net\/\">the district\u2019s Education Transformation Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The app enables the teacher to sync the iPods with recordings of students\u2019 reading and provide detailed, customized reports.<\/p>\n<p>The program includes a feature called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.innovationsforlearning.org\/onlinetutor.html\">Tutor Mate<\/a>. \u00a0Volunteers from anywhere in the country can tutor students via a laptop computer in the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>McSwain says the technology aspect of the program fits right in with <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/09\/25\/explaining-floridas-shift-to-digital-textbooks\/\">the state\u2019s current transition to digital learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause most of our schools are located in our most impoverished neighborhoods in South Florida,\u201d McSwain said, \u201cstudents get an opportunity to use technological resources that many of them would never have access to at home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The program and additional resources are funded through a federal Race to the Top grant.<\/p>\n<p>McSwain says they\u2019d like to expand the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is our hope that this initiative will strengthen the foundational learning of our students and will be the spring-board for future achievement\u201d McSwain said. \u201cIf they are able to read well and think critically, we have provided them with the tools they\u2019ll need for continued success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About 600 Miami Dade students are learning to read using an iPod Touch and an app which allows teachers to listen to and track a student&#8217;s performance &#8212; or receive help from tutors across the country. The Innovations for Learning initiative started as a pilot last year in a handful of classes. It\u2019s now being [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":15725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[680,1017,1120,1050],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}