Thursday, August 02, 2007

Lectures by iPod

Students in Hutchinson Kansas will be able to view classroom lectures on their iPods this coming school year.

The high-tech lessons will be part of a new project in which teachers make their lectures available as podcasts.

Using newly purchased digital video cameras, teachers can record what happens in class so students can later upload the material on their iPods and watch it again at their leisure...

...Teachers will start recording their lectures when the school year starts. The podcasts—digital media files that can be either audio or video—will cover reading and math material to correspond with No Child Left Behind education standards.

The podcasts will be added to computers, televisions and the district's new 80-gigabyte iPods. In all, the equipment for the podcasts, including six computers, cost more than $25,000.

The money came from a bond issue passed several years ago, school board member Jeff Nichols said. Each year, the district spends about $1 million to keep up with changing technology, he said...

This from Teacher Magazine.

~
I love the iPod. But I predict they will best serve auditory learners and students who are already well-motivated to learn. I have trouble imagining many poorly-motivated students getting excited about reviewing a class lecture...just because it is portable and can be viewed on a 2 X 2 screen. Stay tuned.

No comments: