iPods: Not Just for Music Anymore - Some iPod Educational Resources
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Back in May, Pearson stated its intention to acquire PowerSchool, Apple’s student information systems division. Pearson’s goal was to develop educational content for teachers and students compatible with the iPod. New services for educators will include podcasts for teachers on professional development to help with lesson preparation and strategies for reaching students. Students will have access to study guides they can load on their iPods that are aligned with Pearson texts.
There are tons of web sites that explore ways to use the iPod in the classroom. There are even web sites that collect links to other web sites that explore educational uses for the iPod. Podcasting and Education seems to have an excellent selection of resources, many of them video or podcasts themselves.
David Warlick’s Co-Learner’s Wiki while mainly focused on the use of wikis for teaching and learning, also has a section on podcasting for educators. It’s more useful for the links it provides to other podcasts and resources than as a self-contained resource. Among the resources linked to is Gary Stager’s web site. In addition to listing a plethora of useful links to podcasting-related resources on his site, Stager gives a workshop on podcasting for educators.
Of course, we can’t leave Apple out of all this. The maker of the iPod has put together a free, three-part video series on podcasting in education. The videos show how podcasting enhances learning and fosters communication.
iLearn Radio is an Internet-only radio station playing 100 percent educational podcast content in a 24/7 stream. It covers diverse topics designed to appeal to all ages. A typical day’s stream includes a Japanese language podcast, an astronomy podcast, a tech-related podcast (the Web Hosting Show, one I’ve listened to myself once or twice), a music podcast (Guitar Lick of the Week), an ESL podcast, a math podcast, a history podcast…the list goes on and on. For some reason, however, I could not get their podcasts to play.
Finally, you can find more resources on this topic on About.com. There’s an interview with Dr. Kathleen King, who has written a number of articles and produced lots of podcasts on the topic; she also has a book titled Podcasting in Education which will be published by Information Age Publishing in April 2007.
When you think about it, it really isn’t surprising that iPods are being used so much in education now. Students quickly started using audio recorders for their lectures as soon as the technology became portable and affordable. iPods are much more versatile, especially with microphone attachments, and many of them have the same storage capacity as a laptop (or even better). At the very least, high school and college students trying to get their parents to help pay for an iPod now have plenty of ammunition if they insist it’s for their education!
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