Why iTouch #1

So I am playing Trivial Pursuit on my iTouch. I am one answer away from beating the "game." Because I am playing to learn to use the app in my class, I have Firefox open. I search for the answer - I've got it! I reach to the screen and press - on the answer below mine. It happens not once, but twice. I lose.

REMATCH.

I don't do a whole lot better at first. I am not looking up every answer and the computer is getting smarter. On the other hand, I am paying better attention to the hints built into the game about what tiles to land on. I start looking up every answer. I win Game #2.

How does it feel? Given that I had to Google almost every answer (Easy?), I did well. So, how can I use this in my classroom? Easy.

Plug in my document camera and project the iTouch game on the LCD screen. Divide the class into teams and give them bells or buzzers. Students work in teams to beat the game. It would be easy to tally answers on the board. I can even video record the whole game, but I won't.

SKILLS? Researching with keywords is HUGE. This happens to be a Maine learning result (measured skill) for grade 7. Collaboration is a sub-skill.
LEARNING? Cool random trivia, which is learning-enhanced by competition. A lot of geography. Effective keyword search skills. Visual Literacy (a lot of the questions involve decoding visual clues). Communication (if students work in groups).

Now that I have an iTouch (2nd generation), I am all over using Trivial Pursuit at some point in my classroom. Not an everyday event, but an event worth remembering. Of course, lots of teachers already have the board game in their classrooms. I don't own that. Seems to me that either would be an excellent choice for a research skills activity.

I have also just put Civilization and Spore on my iTouch. For a non-gamer, this is risky business.