iPods in the Classroom

In my search for articles about iPods used in instruction, I found an article about the positive use of iPods in the classroom. School CIO: Strategies for K-12 Technology Leaders is the website I found this article "iPods in the Classroom" by Susie Meserve.

Meserve's article explains why iPods are a good thing to use in the classroom. Meserve states,"According to Robert Craven, education technology coordinator for the Orange County Department of Education in California, iPods offer astounding possibilities for education. Administrators can record meetings, administer professional development activities, and keep contact information for every student and faculty member in the district. But the real benefits are for students, who use iPods to count calories, to record themselves reading, to make podcasts—even to get to the moon." In her article she interviews Mr. Robert Craven asking him what his reaction to the iPod when it first came out,and what the eductional possibilities are. He says that the first time he heard about the iPod his first thought was about the way they could be used in education. He points out the fact that you can use music in your lectures and intergrate video as well as let the class listen to famous speeches.

On the Wired website I found an article about Duke University giving their incoming freshman iPods. The article states that Duke gave their 1,650 incoming freshman 20GB iPods preloaded with an academic calender and freshman orientation information as well as the Duke fight songs. They did this because they wanted the students to use this technology. Katie Dean, the author of the article states, "Students also will be able to use the devices to download course content, recorded lectures, foreign language lessons, audio books and music from a special Duke website modeled after iTunes. The school will supply voice recorders for some classes, enabling students to record notes while working in the field." I think this concept makes very much sense. From what I have learned in my EDM class, I can agree that technology is growing and that by using iPods it makes things easier for students. In my experience with note taking it can be very strenuious. By having an iPod it can ease that stress of note taking.