Dissemination of information

Lectures and other audio resources can be recorded, place on the web and then downloaded by students to listen to when they find it convenient. Students can even do this recording themselves.

iPod devices can also be used to make audio recordings for distribution by ‘podcasting’ over the Internet

Downloadable audio files can also be linked to web blogs

Example 1:
Economics Lectures Recorded, Reviewed with iPods
”Economics professor Lori Leachman is giving her students an extra aid to achieve ‘basic economic literacy’ in one semester: audio recordings of her lectures, which she makes with an iPod.”

Example 2:
Text and audio
Transfer text-based information to your iPod and read it onscreen. With the notes reader, news articles, classroom notes, even flash cards for spelling tests can be right at hand. You can even link audio files and notes files for enhanced audio/visual learning.

Storage of information

iPods can be used by students as a portable storage device to be connected to computers using a USB or Firewire cable. The information backed up on these drives can include assignments, unit notes and research notes.

Example:
The School of Education (ECU) currently recommends that all students have an iPod to act as a storage device for holding their important files.

• upload notes/assignments to lecturers
• storing files and photos
• collecting and analysing data

iPods in Research

Under some circumstances ipods (with appropriate input devices and software) iPods can be used to collect information.

Example 1:
iPods speed the collection of data in engineering classroom
“Using iPods in the Electrical and Computer Engineering class ‘Fundamentals of Digital Signal Processing’ has a two-part purpose: collecting and analyzing pulse rate data, and using that data to design and test a heart-rate monitor.”

Example 2:
Developing new engineering software
Lab instructor Professor Michael Gustafson explained why he decided to incorporate the devices into the lab. “Rather than spend any money buying signal generators, we could just use the free signal generators [i.e., the iPods] that Duke provides,” he said. Plus, he said, the music helps connect engineering principles to a familiar experience.

Study abroad programs

Due to their portability iPods can be used by staff and students to listen to prerecorded material and immerse themselves in the language while travelling and studying abroad without the added weight of a laptop.

Example 1:
iPods in a study abroad program
“Dr. Edmondson was one of the first faculty at GC&SU to offer an iPod enhanced course - War, Politics and Shakespeare. He has expanded his use of the iPod to some of his other courses including, Ethics and Society and two study abroad courses, Interdisciplinary Study in Spain, England, and Ireland and The European Union: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.”

Example 2:
Thessalonikipods
iPods were used to provide background materials to explore Thessaloniki. The iPods were loaded with music from ancient Greek to Renaissance. The playlist also included 16 Greek language lessons. The photo gallery on each iPod featured archeological sites, art works, and statues.

Recording information

There is a huge variety of information that can be recorded with an iPod and a suitable microphone. This could include:

• tutorials
• media files
• interviews
• recorded diaries
• podcasts
• speeches
• guest speakers
• spoken poetry

Example 1:
Broadcasting students at ECU record interviews use an iPod and a Belkin microphone.
“We investigated digital recording devices and the iPod was one of the cheapest and easiest to use on the market” says Peter Holland.

Example 2:
Dictating lesson plans and research notes
“I drive to work over 100 miles each way,” says Thursby. “My assistant converts memos and documents from text to speech through translation software, and I listen to them via the iPod on the drive home, rather than wait until I arrive to read the hardcopy, as I did in the past. I also use the iPod to make verbal notes and then send them to key staff via e-mail the next morning, without needing to re-key them.”

Listening and responding to information

With a suitable microphone attached, there is almost no limit to what can be achieved. Students can listen to information and then record their responses to what they hear. Students can add their own audio files, text notes, voice memos and calendar entries to their iPods. They can share personal notes and use audio files for self-paced learning.

Attach an iTrip or other broadcasting device to the iPod and they can play this back on an ordinary FM system for the whole class to listen to.

Example 1:
Life Histories
With an iPod and a voice recorder, students interview relatives about their life histories, and then combine the audio interview with family photos in an iMovie project.

Example 2:
Accounts of Columbine Shootings Captured, Analyzed with iPods
Including audio excerpts in the presentations reinforces a key principle of writing. “One thing we emphasize about academic writing is that researchers are expected to move beyond speculation and support their claims with some form of evidence. You make a claim, and then you give data to support that claim. Incorporating the sound files made that expectation clear.”

Example 3:
Listen to audio books
“We were impressed to find out that at least one library has come up with a novel way to get teens into libraries: put audiobooks onto iPod Shuffles.”

Example 4:
iPod Lessons
Students listen to instructions prerecorded by their teacher on an iPod. They then record their science experiment using a digital camera and an iPod with a voice recorder, and create an iMovie project.

Example 5:
iPods Help Carry On Class Discussions
In order to capture and carry forward class discussions begun by guest lecturers, Lucic records those classes with an iPod; then he posts the recordings on a class Web site for students to download and review on their computers or iPods.

Example 6:
Digital/audio fieldtrip/travelogue
On a field trip, students use an iPod with a voice recorder to take notes and a digital camera to take photos. They then create a guided tour in iMovie.

Music appreciation

There is an increasing amount of copyright free music available on the web. This can be downloaded to an iPod and used in music appreciation exercises. Staff can also record tracks to their iPod from CDROM (as long as they stay within the copyright provisions) and with a suitable FM transmitter play this music to their students in a closed classroom for use in dance, music appreciation or for other reasons

Example 1:
Music appreciation
“If you take [Bach music] around and listen to it constantly then eventually you're going to hear all the different layers”. The next step the class is taking with digital music technology is to a kind of eighteenth-century karaoke.

Example 2:
Creating an oral presentation with music
High school students from San Francisco, California wrote original short stories and combined oral readings of their stories with music excerpts to set the tone and mood.

Language instruction

iPods are a natural fit in this area. The ability of an ipod to link audio and text files means that students can listen to and read foreign languages,take dictation, make recordings of their own voice for others to listen to.Example 1:
iPods Assist with Spanish Accents
iPods are used to: hear dramatic recordings of the novellas they read; record responses during oral quizzes; play back her verbal comments on quizzes and homework; review the pronunciation of each week's vocabulary words; listen to audio exercises inside and outside of class; and make “audio diary entries”.

Example 2:
Parlez-Vous Français?
High School students and teachers in Columbus, Ohio, use iTunes and iPod to better assess verbal skills and reading comprehension in foreign-language classes.

Example 3:
Capturing and sharing language acquisition
Audio recording provides an important way to capture a dynamicpicture of students linguistic development. It is a particularly useful tool with English as a Second Language and some special-needs students who find it difficult to learn sound and symbol relationships, inflection and accent of words, and grammar.

Example 4:
Multilingual presentations
Irina’s ELL students could use a Griffin iTalk voice recorder to speak into the iPod in English and Spanish, then save the audio files and import them into their Apple presentation slideshows. When the students presented their slideshows, their parents (who were not English speakers) would understand what was being said.

Libraries

Libraries with audio files can have material for specific classes or exercises loaded onto iPods. Instructions for students can also be placed on iPods: students listen to these in times when the library is operating with minimal staff. Libraries can also act as a borrowing centre for iPods.

Example :
Library iPod experiments
Michael Stephens investigates ways that librarians are using this popular consumer device.
“The relationship between the iPod and libraries is off and running. All it needs is more librarians recognizing more uses for the devices. An art library might circulate an iPod Photo with digitized images to support an art history course. With the included cable, the artwork could be reviewed on practically any television. Could libraries also give users a chance to load a circulating iPod via iTunes in the library? Talk about user-centered: Here’s an iPod Shuffle and a library of 100 songs; fill it with what you'd like to hear.”

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