Nursery rhymes, Humpty Dumpty... now on iPod

KG kids in a Malad school are learning the alphabet, numbers, nursery rhymes... all on an iPod

Kindergarten kids at the Universal High School, Malad, have put away their pencils, slates and cursive writing notebooks and instead plug into an iPod every day in school.
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Each student in nursery and KG gets 15 to 30 minutes of every school day, in keeping with the school's attempts to use technology to further learning the only school in the city to do so.

Jesus SM Lall, chairman and CEO, of the Universal Education Group (UEG), said, "We conceived the iPod project a few months ago to deliver a fun, engaging and interactive educational experience.
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It is based on the logic that learning results are best achieved when it is experiential and fun. While it is just for KG students at the moment, we plan to include students in higher classes in the project as well."



Zarin Virji, the principal of Universal High School, said the kids love the iPod experience.

"Each iPod has dozens of pre-loaded applications that help kids gain access to a whole world of knowledge in itself. For the kids, it is like having all that you imagined in your pocket."

Special Care

Jimi Gajab, IT manager, UEG, says they have a strict filtering at the device and firewall that ensures no inappropriate content reaches children.

"The iPod Touch is basically an iPhone without the phone and the camera. We have paid special care in ensuring the materials are safe, and the content is filtered.

We tried several dozen products and ideas before freezing on a sustainable and scalable system."

Kids Learn Faster

Alok Dokania, a parent from Goregaon, whose son is a Jr KG student in the school, said, "My son can't wait to lay his hands on the iPod .

He has been more excited about going to school since they introduced the project. He just can't stop talking about it."

Arundhati Chavan, president of the Mumbai Parent Teacher Association, welcomed Universal High School's initiative.

"I can say from experience that kids learn much faster when technology is used. For instance, playing a nursery rhyme on the iPod makes it easier for the kid to commit it to memory.
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It is definitely better than merely teaching it in the class through conventional means," Chavan.
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IT expert Vijay Mukhi said that fears that radiation from the iPod would harm kids was unfounded.

"It is good that children are being introduced to gadgets at such a young age. It will help them get an edge over others later in life," said Mukhi.

Oct 13, 2001
Apple introduced the iPod , with the slogan '1000 songs in your pocket'. Since then, 22 crore iPod s have been sold worldwide

400
Number of iPod s ordered by Universal High School, Malad

80
No of KG students in the school