iPods in Instruction

About 22 million Americans own an ipod or mp3 player so why not put them to a good use. Ipods are becoming more and more prevalent in the classroom as technology rapidly increases. After viewing Duke ipod first year experience report I began to realize it was for the best. The ipods gave initiative thinkers a new way to learn. Duke gave away about 1,600 ipods to incoming freshmen in 2004 to technologically enhance their school. The ipods succeeded in more subjects then they expected. They were used in 38 classes that first year for academic purposes such as: course content dissemination tool, classroom recording tool, field recording tool, study support tool, file storage and file transfer.

After reading about this i wanted to learn ways I could use ipods in my own class so i searched the internet. While searching I found a very interesting article on abcnews.go.com called Schools Dump Textbooks for iPods, Laptops. Several schools across the nation are becoming textbook-free zones. Teachers believe ipods and laptops are more efficient learning tools then books because they are cost efficient, the internet is never out dated, they are more portable, and it makes learning cool and fun for the students. I believe it is a great idea; it will give students an equal opportunity no matter where they are from or their social status.

As a teacher I will to incorporate the educational use of ipods in my class. I will do so by using podcasts for weekly assignments, due dates, major project information, and tips on study skills as a way to communicate with her students and their parents. The world is morphing because of technology shouldn't education too?