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iPods in Education Learning to go.
Current trends in media technologies have great potential for education. Specifically, personal audio and video players enable educators to expand their curriculum to meet the mobile and media-rich learning styles of today's students. Furthermore, they extend teaching and learning beyond the normal classroom hours, allowing students to easily and continuously learn.
Educational iPod Uses at a Glance
- Podcasts - Sync education podcasts created by students and teachers for learning on the go.
- Audiobooks - Download audiobooks on a multitude of subjects from authors including Elie Wiesel, William Shakespeare, and Mark Twain.
- Music - Supplement a history lesson and bring rich cultural, historical, and educational value to all subject areas.
- Photos - Bring new life to science experiments, art history, and journalism projects.
- Videos - Experience a wide range of visual content, from short documentaries to foreign language lessons, for even more learning opportunities.
Examples, PleaseMany educators are already taking advantage of current technologies, and with great success. Following are a few such success stories.
Student Videos Spark Dramatic Increase in Student Achievement
Escondido Union School District
http://www.eusd4kids.org/edtech/project_live.html
The Escondido Union School District attributes a 30-point increase in test scores to an integrated use of video technology. Now, educators throughout the district are clamoring to be a part of Project LIVE (Learning through Instructional Video in Education).
iPod Helps Special-Needs Students Make the Grade
Louisa-Muscatine Elementary School
http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/louisamuscatine/
At Louisa-Muscatine Elementary School, special education students use iPods to take tests at their own pace. By listening to the test questions as they see them on the iPod screen and on their paper, several of the school's students with special needs are beginning to work more independently. At the same time they've increased their self-esteem, and have found a way to join the mainstream of education.
Videos Make Magic for Math Teachers
School District of Beloit
http://www.sdb.k12.wi.us/mathmagic/
At Beloit, teachers use video to improve their teaching. Thanks to the district's Math Magic program, math teachers now have access to important video content that captures and shares best practices in the classroom.
"The math curriculum has become very sophisticated," Tinsley notes. "Instead of spending a day or two on a lesson, students may spend several weeks on a particular concept, and really dig deeply into it. Now when we tape the lessons, teachers can clearly see what students talked about, whether they learned a particular concept, and how successful the lesson was. This is a terrific opportunity for teachers to critique themselves and improve math instruction, and has been one of the most powerful parts of the Math Magic project."
UC Berkeley on iTunes U Galvanizes Campus
University of California, Berkeley
http://itunes.berkeley.edu/
Since its founding in the 1860s, the University of California, Berkeley has been guided by its motto, "Fiat Lux" ("Let there be light"). The university has established a renowned tradition of openness, encouraging innovation and exploration among its faculty and students. Now, Berkeley has extended that openness still further by making educational audio and video content available to students and the public via UC Berkeley on iTunes.
Elementary School Students Become Podcasting Pros
Wells Elementary School
http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/wells/
Students at Wells Elementary School produce their own educational Podcasts. The students have created such a "buzz" that educators across the globe now download and listen to the podcasts, and send questions for the students to research and answer in future recordings. This type of education brings true value to the students.
Online School Offers Highly Interactive Content
The Lincoln Interactive School
http://www.lincolninteractive.com/
The Lincoln Interactive School offers an online curriculum of more than 200 courses for students in grades 5-12. Every lesson has been read aloud and the file is posted in the course for the students to listen to directly or download to their iPod. This is especially important for special needs students with hearing, vision and reading issues. There are also instructional videos posted in 16 core courses that can be downloaded and viewed on video iPods are sent to students when they join the school.
Imagine a student watching an educational video while they walk around the mall or wait at the doctor's office. At this school, these things are happening for thousands of students everyday and the iPod is an important and effective part of the educational process.
The iPod Changes Dental School
University of Michigan
http://www.apple.com/education/solutions/ipod/news.html
The University of Michigan's School of Dentistry has incorporated iPod usage in its curriculum. "We were amazed to see that almost two-thirds of the students showed a preference for using the audio-only content, as opposed to the video files. They liked the mobility of the audio material, and its ability to be played back on an iPod," said Lynn Johnson, associate professor of dentistry and director of dental informatics and information technology at UM.
Foreign Language Learning Goes Digital
West Tisbury School
http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/wtisbury/
In Spanish classes at West Tisbury School, students are encouraged to use iChat AV and iSight cameras to communicate online with each other. But there's a catch: all messages must be in Spanish. Along with iPod, iMovie, Keynote, and GarageBand, iChat AV is helping transform the drab language lab of yesteryear into a dynamic, modern-day learning environment.
"The great thing about the iPod is that it lets students have more contact with a language than they've ever had before."
iPods Enter Duke Classes
Duke University
http://cit.duke.edu/ideas/newprofiles/ipod_faculty_articles.do
The entire Duke University class of 2008 received Apple iPod digital devices as part of a university initiative to encourage creative uses of technology in education and campus life. This mix of pop culture, information technology and pedagogy has generated enormous interest from other educators as well as news media. At Duke University:
- Economics Lectures Recorded, Reviewed with iPods
- Accounts of Columbine Shootings Captured, Analyzed with iPods
- iPods speed the collection of data in engineering classroom
- iPods Assist with Spanish Accents
- iPod Tunes Illustrate Engineering Principles
- iPods Help Carry On Class Discussions
- Bach Accompanies Students on iPods
iPod Centered Education @ GCSU
Georgia College & State University
http://ipod.gcsu.edu/
With a 100% wireless campus, a diverse and growing list of iPod projects that enhance teaching and learning, and a new Library and Instructional Technology Center, Georgia College & State University is embracing technology.
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