Hot Team: iWriter

Posted on October 10, 2006 
Filed Under Hot Team, White Papers

Hot Teams keep turning out results here at ETS. The latest technology to be put through the paces was an interesting little piece of software by Talking Panda called iWriter. On the surface it allows you to create interactive games for the iPod … our team discovered you could do quite a bit more with it.

Our Hot Team found that iWriter has potential to enhance the educational experience in a great number of disciplines, from foreign language instruction to science and technology. iWriter provides the opportunity for educators to quickly and intuitively create rich instructional media where utilizing a mobile platform like the iPod might be beneficial. In an age where such mobile devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the simplicity of iWriter and the iPod interface is a refreshing combination that can be applied to many situations.

I have promoted the use of small teams to investigate technologies that impact teaching and learning since I arrived at Education Technology Services close to a year ago. We have done five such investigations in that time … each one has brought teams of designers, technologists, subject matter experts, and others together to do a quick hitting review and investigation of a specific technology. The latest Hot Team investigated a very interesting little piece of software by Talking Panda called iWriter. On the surface it allows you to create interactive games for the iPod … our team discovered you could do quite a bit more with it.

Our Hot Team found that iWriter has the potential to enhance the educational experience in a great number of disciplines, from foreign language instruction to science and technology. iWriter provides the opportunity for educators to quickly and intuitively create rich instructional media where utilizing a mobile platform like the iPod might be beneficial. In an age where such mobile devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the simplicity of iWriter and the iPod interface is a refreshing combination that can be applied to many situations.

Download the PDF of the white paper and let us know what you think. I also have a sample iWriter project created by a member of the iWriter Hot Team for download — I warn you that it is a little big (13 MB).

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2 Responses to “Hot Team: iWriter”

  1. German Department Podcasting Studio at Education Technology Services on October 25th, 2006 2:40 pm

    [...] ETS recently worked with the German and Slavic Language Department to create a Podcast Studio in the Burrows Building on the University Park campus. This studio supports a whole host of podcasting and digital media activities across several foreign language courses — including multiple sections of French and German courses. Tim Perry visited the space today and took some pictures. Also, one of the key drivers behind the partnership, Noelle Isenberg, played a big part in the iWriter Hot Team project as well. [...]

  2. Creativity in Academic Innovation » Hot Teams on April 11th, 2007 7:25 am

    [...] Education Technology Services at Penn State University run Hot Teams. These are ‘teams of designers, technologists, subject matter experts, and others together to do a quick hitting review and investigation of a specific technology.’ In this review they look at iWriter: iWriter Hot Team Results at Education Technology Services [...]

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