iPods as an Instruction Tool..

I think using iPods for an instruction tool in education is a really interesting idea. There can be arguments for or against it though. "The Principals' Partnership" site did some in-depth research on the use of iPods for instruction. Honestly, beyond getting information off of iTunes U (which I just found out about this semester), I didn't know there was furthur use of the iPod for education material. After reading this research though, I have really been enlightened. As said before, things such as lectures and podcasts can be found on iTunes U and then synced on the iPod. Seems pretty basic, right? Well in K-12 classrooms iPods are being used for so much more than even that. Slideshows are created, loaded to the iPod, then loaded to a computer at school. It has also been shown to help when learning another language. Students have files of the language stored onto their iPod and can listen to it and practice more than just sitting and listening in class. Also, to go along with that, the students can record themselves, download it to the iPod and have even more resources at hand.

Not only can it be put to all of these uses and so many more, it is also very convenient. Students can carry them around and have them at easy access the majority of the time. Plus, students like this idea. Instead of getting in trouble for using the iPods at school, it can be encouraged. Yet, not only the students can use iPods. Teachers can put them to good use too. You have all kinds of lessons and materials at hand for use or just to gather ideas from.

Yet, after all of this great information there is always going to be a downfall somewhere. Duke University did a study and put all of this iPod talk into action. They distributed a number of iPods to incoming freshman in August of 2004. These iPods were implemented into certain classes and data was collected on how they were used, and the pros and cons of the use. Of course, most of the uses stated above were how it was implemented. Students could download and listen to content, and also record things and use them for storage. For all of those uses plus the conveniency it was a positive experiement. Yet, there were negatives such as some content was hard or unable to download at all, some downloads were not sufficient, some students just couldn't understand the technology enough for it to be productive, among other struggles. It was an informative study, but it's hard to tell if it goes positive or negative for the use of iPods in instruction.

Personally, I think it is a good idea but I do not think it should replace everything else used in the classroom. A person's education should not rely solely on what they have on their iPod. It has some very neat and productive uses, but at the same time traditional ways can always be put to good use too.

Well, those are all of the blogs for today. As always, hope you enjoy!