I did some research on the Internet to determine if it was possible for teachers to create their own custom education applications for iPods. This would be the ideal way to create an application to use with your curriculum to ensure that students are learning what you want to teach. I was planning on spending some time learning the programming language to determine if it would be possible to hold an in-service, professional development training session to teach educators to build custom Apps. I found out that you need the SDK (Softward Development Kit) which is a free download from Apple, which uses the Xcode programming language (based loosely on C programming) or the Cocoa touch language. The main problem is that all Apps must be created on an Apple/Mac computer. Apps cannot be legally made on a PC running Windows according to Apple's rules for App development. This was rather disappointing for me to learn.
I also noted that there are several Apps on the App store that offer to teach you how to create an App. One that looked interesting was Jiggy which has several Utube videos showing how to use it.
Since I do not own a Mac and have no intention of buying a new computer any time soon, I will not be able to pursue my interest in creating a custom education at this time.
Brian: As you, I plan to be follower to Windows forever. I do not see switch to Mac anytime soon either. I am very interested in learn how to use ipods and aplications in my classroom, among my grade level team, and probably with my parents, too. Hopefully, you will find the way how we can create our own educational applications in ipods, soon. It is going to be very exciting podcasting homework and activities. I will review my district tech page again. I saw some classes working with ipods. Now, I wonder which system they are using. I will let you know. I really believe that your blog is going to be very beneficial to the group in terms of being aware of including the latest applications of technology in the classroom. Very good job!
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