Can an I pod be used effectively during instruction? This is a question that our EDM 310 teacher wanted us to think about this week. I personally do not own an I pod so my understanding of the device is very little. I needed to do a little research on the topic before getting started answering the questions.
An I pod is a digital audio player that is designed to store and play audio files that are encoded by Mp3. Depending on what kind of I pod you purchase depends on how much can be stored on it. I read that some I pods can store up to 10,000 song! Wow! How can something so small hold that much information? Many people use their I pod for listening o music, but the world is starting to realize that they can be used for much more.
I pods are now being transformed into educational tools. Apple how now created "I Tunes U" that makes many lectures and materials available online. This is not only useful to the instructor but, also to the students. The students are using the I pods as study tools because they are able to fast forward or rewind to parts of the lecture that may have been unclear. This program has become so popular that I tunes has offered it to all colleges. In grades K-12 I pods are being used a lot but mostly in foreign languages. This is because they function in digital voice.
Many students at Duke University began to use the I pod about three years ago as a way to absorb their course content. This was the first school to provide each student with a 20 gigabyte I pod. The students also have many compliments on them such as, size, power, convenience; they fit right into armbands and jean pockets. The students feel that this new tool has really helped them take charge of their way of learning. Although Duke was the first University to use I pods the idea is catching on rather quickly everywhere else. I personally think this is a great idea. I do not have an I pod but I am sure if there was a learning initiative involved I would be encouraged to purchase one.
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