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In iPod We Trust
by Mikael Blaisdell
Related Software Capabilities. Various related and linked software
technologies enable students and teachers to work with audio tracks, photos,
and video clips in a wide variety of ways to create works that can be played
on the iPod. Podcasts are becoming more and more common at all educational levels,
both as a way of distributing content to students and as creative assignments
themselves. “The draw of listening, speaking, or applying technical skills
can make a difference,” says The Brearley School’s Hallissy Ayala.
GETTING FROM HERE TO THERE
Resources for transferring data between home and school.
It’s too big to e-mail, but the assignment’s on the home computer and has
to get to school. What’s a student to do in these days of bloated word-processor
and even bigger music or graphics files? Burn a CD or DVD? Use a memory
stick? Treat an iPod like a portable hard disk?
The answer may vary, depending on what’s available and where you’re going
with it. While a CD or DVD is inexpensive, offers good capacity, and is
readable on almost all computers, it can only be used once—unless you’ve
bought the RW (“rewritable”) kind (nearly double the cost of a CD-R). The
common USB “memory stick” is reusable, and the available capacity of such
handy devices keeps going up while prices slowly drop. The iPod offers the
most capacity of all, but requires a special cable in order to connect to
the target computer.
“I teach songwriting courses,” says Paul Eliot, head of the Department
of Performing Arts at the Tacoma School of the Arts (WA). “My students record
their projects in ‘home studios.’ They bring their final version in for
me on either memory sticks or an iPod—usually by iPod. I connect either
the USB stick or iPod to my Mac, import the song to iTunes, and play it
for the class within 20 seconds.”
Yet another option for some of Paul’s students, though pricey, is a firewire
external hard drive. “I just got one that holds 100GB, optimized for music,
for $200,” says Paul. “USB2 is too slow for live audio recording. Firewire
is really the way to go for speed, if you can afford it.”
An Apple for the Teacher
So where should a school or district start in building an effective plan for
using iPods in their curriculum?
According to veteran iPod integrators like Craven and Hallissy Ayala, commitment,
resources, and training are all key elements. “You have to have a firm
commitment from a school’s leadership,” Hallissy Ayala insists.
Also crucial are a piloting faculty core and an instructional technology staff
to support the group through initial training in use and troubleshooting, and
in an iterative exploration of content. Additionally, anyone at all involved
in program development initiatives inevitably emphasizes the importance of hands-on
training.
