IPod touch in the library?

[Lory]

I discovered there are 40 Ipod Touch devices available for teachers to use in their classrooms. They have been sitting in boxes, unused for 8 months! I would like to learn how other libraries are using them with students to determine if I should use library time to put these puppies in the hands of our students. I have done several hours of searching to find out what apps are good, but I really am not satisfied with what is out there. How does it benefit a library student? We have laptops with wireless access, so I am not sure that the Itouches would really be much different. The Itouch we have at home is for music, gaming, etc. ease share with me any successes you have  had! Thank you :) BTW- I am interested in what elementary librarians are doing with these. I teach k-5 in the library.

[John Crowley]

We have distributed 9 iPod Touches (or is it iPods Touch?). Anyway, they are supporting various teaching and administrative functions. With the iBento app, you can use them to wirelessly (within the school's LAN) connect to a FileMakerPro database. We use it to allow our administrators, security staff, and nurse have the updated health files of all students on the iPod. Our PE teachers use it for assessments.
We have our special ed department very excited about some assistive tech apps. I claimed an iPod so that I can be the tech support for all of the iPod users. If you pay for a MobileMe account, you can sync the calendars (each administrator has a separate color) so that a secretary can merge all of the admins calendars. You can set the calendars to automatically sync through the "cloud." You can access up to 20G's of Movies and other files from the MobileMe account.
You can view and edit Word and Excel docs.
The apps are endless (100k and counting). Most are cheap (1.99) or free. Nothing for libraries, yet. Tons for education. Access NPR (including podcasts) or the New York Times. Check the weather, traffic, local news. I find that I use my laptop a lot less, since I can check all of my emails on the iPod. It will also be a good prep for the iPad, which should be a big ebook platform. I have begun to download audio books from our state's catalog of about 1700 books.
Don't hesitate. Jump in the pool!