iPods: Duke University

Use of iPods

For more information on Duke University

For more information on Union City, New Jersey

In 2004 Duke University wanted to test if ipods could be used on their campus for educational purposes. In 2004 Duke University handed out 1600 ipods with voice recoreds to first year students to study the impacts and outcomes the ipod had on students and teachers, and if it could be succesfully used as an educational tool. The outcomes of the implementation of the ipod were very intresting. A total of 1228 Duke students, and 48 courses total incorportated ipods into learning. Foreign language and music classes used the ipod the most which was expected, but also some unexpected courses such as enineering, and other social science classes reported they used the ipod for educational purposes. The ipod aided more audio related courses because students could play songs back. At first most believed the audio play back on the ipod would generate the most feedback, but this was not the case.It turned out that recording was the number one tool used on the ipod for educational purposes, and 60% of the first year students used it. By the end of the experiment Duke University came up with several educational uses for the ipod. One was the portability factor of an ipod incorportated with education.

With the ipod students were able to acess lectures, speeches, music,and podcasts through itunes. It was also used in the classroom to record important information like lectures, class discussions, guest speakers, and verbal feedback.Research also showed that the ipod was greatly used outside of the classroom to capture field notes, interviews, ennviromental data, and audio data that could not be found in a classroom or lab, but could only be gained through outside experience. Next, the ipod helped students study. Students would record notes, facts, and information and then re-play it to learn by hearing it. The ipod in the case of Duke University improved not only student intrest and engagement, but also teachers and facultly members were showing intrest witht he experiement. As a whole Duke University was feeling the positives of using ipods for educational purposes.






Union City, New Jersey


Other times ipods were used in the classroom was in Union City, New Jersey were in this urban disctrict made up of a 11,000 students, 94% qualified for free or reduced lunches were struggling to preform academically. A teacher started introducing iPods to students who were struggling to learn english as their second language. The teacher began uploading english songs onto the iPods and let the children listen to them. As a result students actually showed improvements, and by listening to english songs on the Ipod they were learning english. The teacher would collect the ipods at the end of each class to prevent damage or innappropriate use. Although, the teacher did receive some negative feedback about the approach like the price, and how the money could go to more useful areas she has brought up valid evidence that the ipod improved the students learning. In fact, experts claim that the best way to learn a foreign language is to immerse yourself in that language. If improvement was shown by just listening to American music imagine what audios, videos, lectures, newscasts, telivision shows, and media that is available to download onto an ipod could do. Students could immerse themselves with the American language through iPods in the classroom. The downloads would be a safe and efficient way to teach children foreign languaes through the use of iPods. In conclusion I think giving intrsuction and teaching through iPods is a very good idea, and I belive it could be used as a powerful educational tool.