MacMost Now 1: iPods in Schools

A look at how iPods are being used in some schools, and how they are also being banned by others.

Check out MacMost Now 1: iPods in Schools at YouTube for closed captioning and more options.

Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary Rosenzweig with MacMost Now.  This is going to be a semi-daily program where we talk about all sorts of things having to do with Macintosh, iPod, and iPhone.  So today, what I've got is iPods in schools.  There's a story going around today about a school in Australia where the 8th graders are using iPods in their classrooms.  They're using them to watch lectures and reinforce learning.
And I watched the entire news report, which actually was from a TV station in New Zealand.  It was kind of interesting.  It actually really looked like they had a lot of Macs there as well as iPods, so I don't know if that's part of a huge sort of technology push there, but the bottom line was that it was working.
And this isn't the first time that iPods have been used in the classroom.  Even a few years ago the New York Timed had reported that they were using them in a classroom in Manhattan.  So it's been around for a while.  As a matter of fact, you go to iTunes music store and you can find free lectures online that you can download.  And there are also a lot of colleges that provide lectures, both audio and video, for iPods and MP3 players so you can watch them there.  So this is nothing new.
But just as many schools have been trying to use iPods for learning as ones that have been trying to ban iPods for various reasons.  For instance, a report from a few years back says that kids are behaving anti-socially.  They're putting on the iPods and they're not paying attention to their friends.  Of course, I used to do this back in the '80s and it was a Sony walkman.  So I don't really know what the difference is.
Another school, a whole school board, in fact, is trying to ban iPods for those sorts of reasons.  Also, they're finding kids aren't paying attention to where they're walking in school.  You know, I had that same problem.  I used to carry a book in front of me.  I'm just glad they didn't decide to ban books because of that.
They're also saying that iPods can be used for cheating.  I'm not sure how an iPod is less conspicuous than a piece of paper, but I guess that's the excuse they want to use.  I think they should be better off trying to ban actual behavior like cheating or bumping into people in the hallway than trying to actually ban technology that may help the kids.  I mean, the teachers and the school board may be too old to take advantage of this technology, but the kids are going to need it, so they might as well get used to using it in their daily lives.
So, basically, there's a lot of this going on.  And even here, in Colorado, we've seen our baseball team, the Colorado Rockies, use iPods to be able to watch video clips.  So I guess baseball teams have been watching video clips of pitchers and hitters for years before they play against them.  Using them on a personal small device allows the pitchers and hitters to be able to review them at their own pace rather than using a media room of sorts.
So there's a lot to be done using iPods in education, and we'll probably see a lot more.
So this was our first report.  Look for more on this channel from MacMost Now.  I'm Gary Rosenzweig.

Comments: One Response to “MacMost Now 1: iPods in Schools”

Daniel

15 years ago

Hi;
I like the idea of these little news facts added to MacMost video podcast. As a parent, I like to see what the school's views are on Apple & Tech.

You may wish to check your sound. When I played this on iTunes, I found it hard to hear even with the volume on full.

Hope to see more of these briefs.

Comments Closed.

MacMost Now 1: iPods in Schools

Comments: One Response to “MacMost Now 1: iPods in Schools”

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