The ipod in education

When searching the web for uses with the ipod in education, I was surprised and excited to find many cites on how to use the ipod in the classroom. Lesson plans, audio lectures, video lectures, podcasting, notes, references, quizzes, photos, calendars, games, and RSS feeds are all available through itunes and can be converted to the ipod. The most useful, however, seems to be the ipod touch because it has an automatic internet connection, and a touch screen, making web navigation and downloading easier and more accessible then the basic ipod.

There are many educational games available for the ipod such as the new and improved Oregon Trail, which I loved as a child. This particular game is not free; it costs $6.00 from the App Store. However, about 25% of the games available in the App Store ARE free. Here's the description of Oregon Trail from iTunes:
Oregon Trail shares information like what clothing to wear, how much oxen weigh, and which is the best seat in the wagon. Of course, by playing students get to practice map skills, conserve resources, and develop a strategy. Teachers using this in school will enjoy teaching students about dysentery (and other historical diseases) as well as having students compare the game to the real struggles pioneers had traveling across North America.

Some examples of free applications are: Grammar Girls Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, English Idioms and Slang, Storynory: Free Audio Stories for Kids, MathGrad: Everyday Mathematics Explained, and First Amendment Minute.

Duke University, as an initiative to promote creative uses of technology in education, conducted a kind of experiment with there first-time freshman in 2004. They distributed 20GB ipods with voice recorders to each freshman and incorporated their uses in 15 courses at the university. They were used in courses such as foreign language, music, social science classes, and humanities courses. The ipod was used as a course content dissemination tool (portable access to music, lectures, historical speeches, etc...), a recording device during lecture, a field recording tool (interviews, environmental sounds...), study support through the ability of repetition, and for a back-up for file storage. Duke found the ipod to be very useful and will continue to encourage its use and other technology to improve the learning environment.

To find out more about the use of the ipod at Duke visit:Duke's final evaluation report.

For other ideas on ipod use in the classroom click here:Learning in Hand