March 2006 — Features

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In iPod We Trust

by Mikael Blaisdell

Since its October 2001 debut, the iPod has enjoyed enormous popularity, and the reasons for it have not gone unnoticed by educators at all levels.

USEFUL LINKS

SOURCES OF HELPFUL INFORMATION abound for teachers and administrators thinking of introducing the iPod into their classrooms and schools. A Google (www.google.com) search of “iPod education,” for example, returns more than 25 million pages of information. Submitting “podcasting” will turn up another 16 million. A simple browsing of the education page of Apple’s Web site (www.apple.com) will deliver a substantial number of good ideas for possible iPod classroom applications, as well as links to those who have gone down that road before. Other reliable links can be found by searching “iPod language education.”
Here are two highly recommended search topics and Web sites:
  • Copyright issues and acceptable use policies. The TEACH Act is the starting point for developing a sensible policy regarding copyrighted works. Do a Google search of “TEACH Act” to find several useful sites that tell you what you can and can’t do when using copyrighted works for teaching.
  • Making the case for an iPod program. The Orange County Department of Education (CA) has a good video podcast, Technology in Education: iPods, available at edtech.ocde.us. The site also has a number of other useful articles and how-tos.

Brian McElfish is the technology coordinator and a math teacher at Serrano Intermediate School in Lake Forest, CA. “Today’s kids have not known a world without the conveniences of mobile phones, portable music players, fast Internet connections, etc.,” he says. “They have the ability to function as multitaskers. They can listen to their iPod, watch TV, and call a friend at the same time they’re doing their homework by pencil and paper.” But McElfish is concerned that forcing students to use outdated equipment and old technologies risks boredom and lower interest in schoolwork. In fact, “giving them the freedom to use current technology in what for them may be new and creative ways seems to create a sense of buy-in to the material.”