Me and my iPod

Last year, unable to persuade the Boss that I needed an iPod for research purposes, I was seduced by the loveliness of Apple designs and bought a “classic video” myself. Of course I now have music on the go, have little docks around the house, use it when walking the dog, have used it on the ski slopes and bought a gadget so that I can listen to my favourites through my car stereo. Maybe the Boss had a point !

While researching mobile learning this week though, I decided to look a bit more closely at how iPods can be used in education and came across some useful and interesting examples. Podcasting is the most obvious use for accessing multimedia resources although the term is not exclusively related to the iPod. It makes use of the RSS (really simple syndication) standard and instead of going to the web to listen to audio or video, the content you subscribe to is automatically downloaded to your iPod when it’s connected to your PC for listening to at your own convenience. Yes, I do now listen to snippets from women’s hour from time to time – when I’m doing the housework of course. JISC now has over 40 podcasts available and you can subscribe via a feed to receive the latest podcast when it’s published or if you’ve holidays abroad planned why not subscribe to one of the many modern language courses that are available free from iTunes.

If you’ve a few minutes, the 2 short videos I’ve embedded are well worth watching and give a great, succinct and jargon free explanation of how iPods can be used in an educational context. Jonathan Nalder shows you how to download audio books, games, create quizzes & revision flash cards, transfer video and use some other features of iPods. Armed with this information I might have been able to plead my case better.





Interestingly too this week I was reading the 2008 Horizon report which each year identifies emerging technologies that are likely to impact on learning and teaching. It suggests that Grass Roots Video – and specifically the ease with which video can be played, captured,(often on mobile devices), edited and hosted online – will be considered in the mainstream for learning and teaching within the next year. In addition the report predicts that because of the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices (according to the BECTA ICT survey published this week , 39% of learners in colleges own a laptop or PDA), mobile broadband will be common place in two to three years. More food for thought.

Links:
http://www.mlearnxyz.net/
http://www.ilounge.com/
http://www.learninginhand.com/ipod/index.html
iPod in education - part 1
iPod in education - part 2